Mole
Thru Hiker
I wear unlined trail runners most of the time. I've tried various setups for lightweight camp/sleep footwear. In winter,I use waterproof socks in the daytime, but they are too cold and wet for campwear once settled in.
In summer I go barefoot.
In winter I used fibre pile socks, initially Mardale Bivi boots, then a lighter homemade version.
A lighter setup was Heatholders acrylic pile socks.
In shoulder season, I often carried spare socks and sealskinz for using in camp/evenings with wet shoes.
But the last year I have not carried spare walking socks, just camp socks and 'UL waterproof outers' as described:
I use cheap acrylic pile thermal socks - lighter/less bulky than Heatholders, and for use with wet shoes, I have been using Subway sandwich bags - very light and thin and surprisingly tough. With the acrylic socks you get a similar feel to fibrepile socks (sweatier but not too bad at all). The bags make it very easy to slip shoes on and off too. Very warm,comfortable and practical - overall cost about £2 (plus a couple sandwiches at some point!). I first tied them after reading a thread on Backpackinglight.com
(I had a job for a few weeks where there was a Subway just round the corner, so stocked up on the bags
)
This has been the lightest, moisture tolerant most comfortable method I've tried over the 6 years I've been using Inov8s.
I like the idea of down socks for tentwear when freezing, but they aren't much use outside with wet footwear?
In summer I go barefoot.
In winter I used fibre pile socks, initially Mardale Bivi boots, then a lighter homemade version.
A lighter setup was Heatholders acrylic pile socks.
In shoulder season, I often carried spare socks and sealskinz for using in camp/evenings with wet shoes.
But the last year I have not carried spare walking socks, just camp socks and 'UL waterproof outers' as described:
I use cheap acrylic pile thermal socks - lighter/less bulky than Heatholders, and for use with wet shoes, I have been using Subway sandwich bags - very light and thin and surprisingly tough. With the acrylic socks you get a similar feel to fibrepile socks (sweatier but not too bad at all). The bags make it very easy to slip shoes on and off too. Very warm,comfortable and practical - overall cost about £2 (plus a couple sandwiches at some point!). I first tied them after reading a thread on Backpackinglight.com
(I had a job for a few weeks where there was a Subway just round the corner, so stocked up on the bags
)This has been the lightest, moisture tolerant most comfortable method I've tried over the 6 years I've been using Inov8s.
I like the idea of down socks for tentwear when freezing, but they aren't much use outside with wet footwear?
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