All socks are not equal.

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Wayne

Mod
Mod
Dec 7, 2003
3,753
645
51
West Sussex
www.forestknights.co.uk
Having just spent a week in Ireland in several feet of snow.

My feet were very cold treating casualties at -7 for several hours at a time.

So what in your opinion should I have had on my feet?

I was wearing some well worn Bridgedales.

haix chainsaw boots.
 
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Nice65

Brilliant!
Apr 16, 2009
6,494
2,906
W.Sussex
Haix boots have a steel plate in the sole to prevent chainsaw undercut. Plus, the toe caps and that's half your problem right there. Thick insoles and army arctic socks will help, but high activity is the only way we'd keep our toes warm in winter.
 

dwardo

Bushcrafter through and through
Aug 30, 2006
6,454
476
46
Nr Chester
I found steelies almost as bad as having wet feet. Makes sense when the physics is considered.
Good quality wool socks and two pair at a time, thicker outer and thinner inner. Proper wool merino mix at around a shocking near tenner a pair but they do last, like your brigdales.
 

baggins

Full Member
Apr 20, 2005
1,563
302
49
Coventry (and surveying trees uk wide)
During the little chilly spell we had last week, my feet (and all my work colleagues) were frozen (we're tree surgeons), this is despite 2 pairs of wool socks. But, one of the days i was on maintenance and wore my old walking boots and my feet were toasty. Any boots with steel in will suck the heat out so quickly. Even my Lundhags, with just 1 set of wool insoles are pretty warm when I'm otter watching in scotland.
I usually wear a pair of thin Aclima liners and some thick Urberg hunting socks, both wool heavy.
 

bobnewboy

Native
Jul 2, 2014
1,296
849
West Somerset
I have found that the Varusteleka Särmä merino mix terry knee length socks have been pretty comfy over the past couple of months. Not cheap, but good. I dont do steel toecaps though.
 

Tiley

Life Member
Oct 19, 2006
2,364
374
60
Gloucestershire
I have tried all sorts of socks and have recently come across Corrymoor mohair ones. They are truly fantastic and, in my opinion, knock any merino, wool or bamboo varieties out of the ring. They are soft, warm and very, very hard wearing - and British! Thoroughly recommended!

As ever, I have no association with the company but I am one extremely satisfied customer.
 
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Dogoak

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jan 24, 2009
2,286
286
Cairngorms
It's well worth investing in appropriate footware, especially if your going to be in a static situation.
My winter boots are sized to allow for thicker or layered socks. When buying new boots it's best to try them later in the day when your feet are at their largest, tight boots don't help to keep your feet warm.
Winter socks for me are Woolpower Merino, got some different weights so I can layer if required, but my favourites are Dachsteins :)
It's not been really cold up here this winter so my Sorels have a had a rest and I've been using a pair of the issue ECWW boots with a GoreTex lining, I've been quite impressed with them and they've done the job admiraly.
It been donkeys years since I've had cold feet, been there, done that, never to return.
My sons been using a pair of 10mm Bison neoprene wellies this winter, £50 on eBay IIRC, and he's been well impressed.
 
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Broch

Life Member
Jan 18, 2009
8,064
7,856
Mid Wales
www.mont-hmg.co.uk
Just one reminder: I know people in the past have shoved an extra pair of socks on in order to keep their feet warm forgetting that their boots will now be much tighter thereby reducing blood flow and actually making their feet colder. Extra insulation requires bigger boots :) I purposefully bought my chainsaw boots a size larger but can't use them is summer; they're too hot with the extra padding :(
 
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Lou

Settler
Feb 16, 2011
631
70
the French Alps
twitter.com
No.... I NEVER wear two pairs of socks. You need space in your shoes to keep warm air circulating around. It doesn't really matter what type of socks you have, wool, cotton, synthetic etc. they don't even have to be very thick, but they must never ever be tight (I've even been okay outside with no socks in my boots before). In the winter I always wear slightly larger boots with an inner felt liner like Sorel Caribous (best boots for the job I've found so far). I've never had cold feet with this set up, even whilst standing around for hours on snow (at -15c).
 

Tony

White bear (Admin)
Admin
Apr 16, 2003
24,166
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1,921
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Wales
www.bushcraftuk.com
Yeah, I think that a lot of it is having the space in your boot or shoe to allow good flow of blood and be able to create a warm atmosphere around the foot, I've not worn them for years but my couple of years living in Newfoundland and eastern Canada would have been a lot less comfortable without my Sorels, I was often out in -10 to -20 deg and fine.

I think Socks make a big difference as well, but they're compromised if they're tight or the footwear is too tight. I like a new pair of socks as well, seems to be more loft in them! Insulative insoles for the footwear can help as well. Keeping feet dry si good as well :D
 
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Buckshot

Mod
Mod
Jan 19, 2004
6,466
349
Oxford
for me it's about encouraging blood flow into your feet.
room around your foot is definately a good thing for air to be
another option is to have footwear that will flex and allow the muscles in the foot to work, hence encouraging blood flow
 
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Juha

Member
May 27, 2017
36
4
Northern Finland
Little late but anyways.
You have to have big enough boots for cold weather, thick wool socks and merino liners. And also you do have to have good, thick wool insole. And if your feet gets wet, change socks immediately. If there is enough cold, -10 degrees celsius, then don’t use goretex, leather is better. If weather is really cold, goretex socks are almost dangerous. Here in Finland nobody uses goretex socks on winter.
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,665
McBride, BC
I have snowmobile boots. A shell and very thick, cloth-covered foam liner.
I'm not active enough to need spare liners but they are easy to find and buy.
I can jump in, barefoot, and do things outdoors at -20C in the snow.
Sled heads will ride until they have just enough gas to get off the hill.
So they dress accordingly with an Avalung and Pieps on top.

The liners pull out for proper drying. I think that this is almost a safety feature for your toes.
Never Goretex socks. Always pure wool. Be good to yourself!

Dakota oil-field boots are good to -40C for working outdoors on oil rigs.
As others point out = stay as dry as you can. Dakota sells spare liners
so you can start every shift in dry boots.

I can say that none of what I've described is worth a darn if you have to do much walking.
Just too heavy and too bulky.
 
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