Varusteleka Hiking Socks, Merino Wool

Absolutely lovely, it's hard to find socks this good in the UK market for this price - these are probably better than high end bridgedale level. the problem is I only ordered 2 pairs.

Särmä just keeps on winning. Cozy and tough hiking socks. I have abused them a decent bit and they have taken the abuse like a antique housewife. Would strongly recommend.

These are good quality hiking socks, period. They do all the things the socks from ‘Best Hiking Socks of [year]’ articles do: Cushioning underfoot, a more elastic upper to keep the sock snug against your foot, construction without seams that would rub against your feet, a merino/synthetic blend for a performant sock that won’t disintegrate – if you’re into hiking, you know all of this, and you know the small number of name brands that get brought up every time. With gear, there is the desire to have the top of the line stuff always, no matter how warranted in a given use case. When I compare these against the name brand socks I have (the Vermont ones, whose manufacturer abbreviates to DT), can I see differences? Yes. The DT ones have tighter, more dense knitting and terry loop cushioning. They feel like a sturdier build than the Särmä socks. Does this result in differences when they’re on my feet? Honestly, none I have ever noticed. And both pairs are in equally good shape still. Can I imagine more extreme use cases where opting for the DT socks over the Särmä ones would be worth it? Yeah, I guess so. But at the same time, I am 100% convinced that for nearly everyone who puts on hiking shoes and walks around outdoors, these will be more than good enough, with no measurable drawbacks. And they cost significantly less. ‘Good enough’ isn’t the stuff of sexy tag lines in advertisements, but it’s the real gold medal of manufacturing, and the best product sector to look for.