REI Silk One Liner Sock

This liner sock improved my ability to hike and remain blister-free, as advertised. If you're looking to pair a liner sock with wool socks to reduce friction on your feet and avoid blisters, these will do the trick.

If you have ever hiked or walked long distance in regular socks and switched to wool socks, you will understand the "revelation" of how much better your feet felt when making the switch. If you haven't tried liner socks inside your wool socks then you haven't had the second revelation: It's even better!

After switching to wool socks, i noticed that I still had to apply a rub-on product to my feet to manage hot spots on my feet in order to prevent blisters. This set me on a hunt for a pair of liner socks that I could wear under my wool socks to further avoid friction on my feet. I wanted something thin so I didn't feel like I was wearing two pairs of socks and I wanted them to be effective. These REI Silk One liner socks were both!

Effective:

Since wearing the socks, i have not had to apply any rub-on products (such as Body Glide) to avoid blisters. The only blister I have gotten since wearing these socks was completely my fault: I threw my boots on WAY too quickly on a shuttle back to the trail and didn't tighten my shoelaces properly. As a result I got a blister on the back of my heel because my foot was REALLY flopping around in the boot... my fault, not the sock liner's fault. In fact, the sock liner prevented this stupidity from wrecking my feet and it took a half day of walking like that to notice I had done such a shoddy job of tying my shoes that morning.

It's worth noting that these aren't toe socks, so you may need to manage friction between your toes another way if you have issues with that. I haven't had issues with that to-date.

Effective in Wet conditions:

To further demonstrate the effectiveness of these socks, I want to point out that I have walked over 20 miles with WET feet in this sock combination and did not get a blister. I wear "waterproof" boots which don't dry once they get filled with water and are wet.

Since I hike on the Florida Trail, I have found myself walking in ankle to thigh-deep water multiple times a day on a few sections and have walked all day for multiple days with wet feet and have not had any issues while wearing these sock liners.

Durable:

I've hiked over 100 miles with these socks and they have held up well. I can't see any particularly thin spots and definitely no holes or fraying.

Comfort:

These sock liners really aren't noticeable (which means they're comfortable) when walking all day on the trail. The only time they are uncomfortable is the first few minutes you wear them after they have been washed and (hang) dried. They get stiff after drying and feel stiff on your feet for a few minutes. Once they warm to your body temp, they are good to go!

If you're considering a pair of liner socks to reduce friction and help with blister management and/or moisture management, I recommend giving these a try.