Here is a guest post from Sarah Irving, she is an outdoors travel blogger who has kindly left us a review on our Tread Comfort walking socks. Living in Manchester, Sarah loves exploring and learning about new places. We wish Sarah all the best and thank her for this kind, honest review!
I don’t know about you, but I hate having cold feet! There’s nothing which will ruin a long walk like freezing cold tootsies. Sockmine have a wide range of socks suitable for the summer and winter. As a new brand to me, I was curious to give them a try. If theme is one thing about me, it is that I like to give things a really, really, good try before I review or recommend them. And that is what these socks got!
TECHNICAL SOCKS
I walk a lot. And when I say a lot, I mean miles every day a lot. In all-weather. As such, I have some pretty strong criteria for socks which will go the distance with me. I also have very wide feet (thanks to being barefoot most of my life) and they are also quite big. It might not seem like much, but these can mean that I don’t get colourful socks as I have to opt for mens to get them to fit and many are too tight. The tightness strangles my feet and encourages their already strong tendency to get ‘white toe’. This all adds up to me wanting something which will let my weirdly sized extremities.
A SOCK FOR ALL WEATHER
…and all occasions. I lean towards buying technical socks for my all rounders as they do tend to be made a lot sturdier than your run of the mill socks.
When choosing socks, I generally get relegated to the boring plain dark coloured ones available for men. Apparently ladies don’t have wide or big feet and men dislike colourful technical socks. Seeing that the Sockmine Tread Comfort Pink with Coolmax were both pink and available in size 8-9.5, I was a happy big footed lady.
I decided that if I was going to give them their first outing, it needed to be somewhere they could really prove their worth – or not, depending. So when I headed down to Cheltenham for my friend Zoe’s Get Outside Challenge, they were my sock of choice.
THE GET OUTSIDE CHALLENGE VS SOCKMINE SOCKS
The challenge the Sockmine socks had on the Get Outside Challenge was to keep my feet warm and comfortable. It would be especially challenged after water sports and because it was one of the wettest weekends we had in a long time!
Having spent a good few hours doing the likes of AquaVenture and kayaking, with more outdoor activities left on the plan, I needed my feet to warm up. And fast!
WARM FEET
After paddling around in the water for a few hours, my feet were pretty numb and white. Ready for some warmth. I found that the looser grip ankles on the Sockmine brilliant! They slipped over my stiff feet and didn’t restrict the blood flow back to my poor pale toes. It wasn’t long before my feet had warmed up, so they definitely ticked that box.
Waking up the next day to another batch of cool wet weather, I gave them another go. We would be spending the day on wet ground, something which normally leads to cold feet and that characteristic whiteness. Even from the moment I slipped them on (after removing my two pairs of bedtime Hotter socks), they felt warm. There is enough space in the toe area for my toes to wiggle, which I think plays a part.
They certainly did the trick for the camping weekend, but how would they fare for my every day city walking.
MY REVERSE COMMUTE
I work from home so make sure that to get out and about I created my very own reverse commute. This means that I walk around 3 miles in the morning and again, three in the evening. Doing a commute of my own creation. I wear Vivo barefoot shoes, which means that I am closer to the cold ground and when the cooler weather kicks in, I need something to keep my feet comfortable.
I do most of my miles long the inner city Manchester canals, so you can imagine that there is a fair bit of splashing at this time of year. I add to this with a bit of Pull Snap Stomp as part of the Inland Waterways campaign. It is to get the Himalayan Balsam under control, so means a bit of mud wading and slopping about.
KEEPING THE COLD OUT
I have been pleasantly surprised by how insulating the Sockmine Tread Comfort have been, actually. There aren’t many socks which allow my feet freedom of movement while keeping them warm. These seem to do just that. And without leaving me looking like I spent the day with a load of elastic bands around my ankles at the end of the day.
ON A LESS PRACTICAL NOTE
So the Sockmine socks have been a winner in the warmth and comfort scale, but I simply had to mention the non practical side of them. They are pink! As a very colourful person, I love nothing more than a flash of colour between my rolled up trousers and my shoes. That little bit of brightness on a cool autumn or winter day. The fact that I could get these technical socks in a colour which wasn’t part of the gray-scale spectrum is a clear winner for me.
OVERALL OPINION OF THE SOCKMINE TREAD COMFORT
I had high hopes for these socks and I am pleased to say that they have totally met my needs. Even down to the colour. They brought my feet back to temperature after hours in the water with no trouble at all. Dry quickly after sploshing through puddles on my reverse commute. And also give me wriggle room for my wildly energetic toes.
There is one small downside though. And a very small one at that. Considering the short amount of time they have been used and with so few washes, they have gone quite fluffy already. It doesn’t bother me, but for some who have a more meticulous ‘fashion’ sense, this might be a bit annoying. FOr me, though, the comfort and quick dry are the most important things.
Would I buy some more when I am needing some? Of course I would. At £11, they are in the reasonably priced bracket. I will be monitoring them carefully over the coming months (and hopefully years) to make sure they are good for the money, but for now, if a pair turned up in my Christmas stocking, I wouldn’t be disappointed.
All I hope for is that eventually they will be available in a spectrum of colours!
We just wanted to thank Sarah again for the great review! If you are interested in grabbing a pair of our Tread Comfort socks, visit sockmine.co.uk now.
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