The Joy Of Socks

Nathan Doyle wrote:

Socks are like crack gloves. That's it, that's my comment. Interpret it as you see fit.

In offwidths certainly.

Socks have saved my ankles many a wound.

Nathan Doyle wrote:

Socks are like crack gloves. That's it, that's my comment. Interpret it as you see fit.

Real climbers don't use socks - they use tape.  

LeaRn to make a tApe sock you gumbies.  ::grumble::

We just wanted to be like Bachar.

Ricky Harline wrote:

I bought liner socks on Amazon, I used to use thin dress socks. The liner socks are so thin you can't even tell that they affect the fit, but they make free shoes significantly more comfortable. I'm hardcore on team liner socks now. 

Light dress socks are my go-to for my climbing shoes, but I'll have to check that out.

Big fan of socks for those long slab days, but also have worn them (and sent!) on some hard basalt climbing. Thin woolies are the way to go; I have a pair of what look like darn tough dress socks that hold up very well to sweat and odor, and fit quite nicely in my high tops.

That said, some sportier shoes can feel like socks these days, comfy without harming performance. 

So, I guess the story is, comfort is king.

Nathan Doyle wrote:

Socks are like crack gloves. That's it, that's my comment. Interpret it as you see fit.

less pain on my feet, less pain on my hand(s). 

I'm in. Socks and jammies fo lyfe, yo.

+1 for team sock.

Mr Rogers wrote:

+1 for team sock.

Team mascot be like

Isaac Mann-Silverman wrote:

In offwidths certainly.

Socks have saved my ankles many a wound.

Anyone else tried ankle taping? We came up with a method at a sharp large grained granite area one time.

Run strips of tape down the side of your ankle, over the "ball", under your heel, and back up the other side. Secure with tape wraps around the narrow part of the ankle, like you would around your wrist with a tape glove.

Desert Rock Sports wrote:

Sock life and not stupid tight shoes...Seriously, its bizarre watching these newer climbers struggle to pull on these god awful aggressive tight shoes, and try hard on a V5 in the gym with large holds, and quickly pop their heels out when they get down. Like bro, chill, why are you torturing your feet for this thing? 

I actually think it used to be way worse, people used downsize to an insane degree. The street shoe sizes for climbing shoes were all over the place, and they stretched more. People would STRAIN to get into and out of shoes, there was no "popping" of the heel going on, you had to haul on a quickdraw clipped in to the heel loop. 

Culminating when our party was dangling in space on a hanging belay, both of us hauling on quickdraws clipped in to his bouldering shoes, tangled together like a game of twister, power screams echoing across the valley as he failed to get his "agressive" bouldering shoes on.

With better shoe lasts, better shoe designs in general, and street shoe sizes being fairly accurate these days, I think downsizing is needed less than ever. 

So yeah, why not socks? As long as they're thin and not cotton...thick cotton socks are still a bit bizarre I mean really.

As I get older, I find myself using thin socks more and more. Comfort beats performance when I can't perform so well anymore, anyway, lol.

I do both.  Some shoes are sized for socks and some are sized without.  It all depends on the route.

Another aspect to note is that feet will swell with heat, so you can start pitches 1-6 with your performance socks, take them off around p7 when your foot is getting uncomfortably tight and the fit is back to normal comfort with no sock. Plus, your socks can now dry out and be "fresh" for the walkoff. 

For the performance aspect, I have always felt I crack climb better when I'm not distracted by how much my dang foot hurts, which is what socks seem to mitigate, so I'd argue it sock allow me personally to climb harder than I might otherwise.

climber pat wrote:

Thanks for the reference.  I might try a pair.  But the company's sizing brings up my biggest bitch about sock.  Just 3 sizes to cover 10 shoe sizes.  For me if a sock is even slightly off in size it become uncomfortable; either too tight and constricting blood flow or too loose and ill fitting in the shoe.  I had to give up on darn tough because I am just in between sizes.  For the moment smartwool XL fits my feet just right.  

At $18 for a pair of socks they should be custom making them to fit each individual customer's foot. 

climber pat wrote:

I have never climbed without socks and very rarely thought that tighter shoes would make a difference.  My weakness is always hand and arm strength. I am pretty well known locally for good footwork.  I have bought a couple of tight and downturned pair of shoes over the years just to see and immediately went back to climbing in socks.  It is not worth the discomfort.

I prefer thin wool socks available. Smartwool used to make some very nice thin wool socks but I cannot find them any more

Hey the thinnest smart wool socks I can find are their dress socks, which are even thinner than their old super light running socks. They're tall though, because dress socks. 

I find them on sale for $10 at Nordstrom rack or online. 

I feel like If you need socks for your shoes to feel comfortable then you probably need different shoes. 

Socks do sound comfy though, maybe I shall one day try it out. There are a surprisingly large number of stock advocates. Who knew?

Harry K wrote:

I feel like If you need socks for your shoes to feel comfortable then you probably need different shoes. 

Socks do sound comfy though, maybe I shall one day try it out. There are a surprisingly large number of stock advocates. Who knew?

Not everyone wears for comfort. I wear them for performance. Dead serious. My sweaty feet really cause havoc when I try to use very very small feet.

Shoe fit is so damn particular, the malleability of sock fabric can help fill in those pesky gaps that would otherwise make the shoe just barely a bad fit. I don’t sock up often but they get a thumbs up from me as long as they’nt cotton 

Isaac Gray wrote:

At $18 for a pair of socks they should be custom making them to fit each individual customer's foot. 

It's true the Outway socks are expensive, but I think I've had them for 2 years now and they seem to have maintained their fit.  (plus I really really like buying goods not manufactured in China.)  The ones above are inexpensive ones from my "climbing sock" collection. The Wigwam ironman triathalon ones have gotten baggy over time.  The Asics ones have been good, lots of elastic and have maintained the fit, but I prefer a higher sock to the ankle length.  The DeFeet ones I picked up in a running store.  Those have maintained their shape over years and are the right height, but they are just a tad thicker.  I tend to wear those for trad days when I have my looser fit climbing shoes on.