injinji Comfort Crew Socks - 2007 BCS

I bought these for my Mom as she has some problems with her toes getting sore while shopping and whatnot. These are hard to find instore so I tried from here. Not only does she love them because they helped her greatly (much less pain walking!), she wants me to buy at least six more pairs in various colurs!

I wanted some toe socks as given some as a gift and found them great at separating the toes comfortably. My little toe tends to get stuck under the next toe so these are great at fixing that! I also like the shaped heal and the fact that they stay up without cutting off the blood! All round great design.

Great socks, super comfortable.
But, the socks have started to get all these loose threads on the inside.
They are still holding up....it's just weird.

I was inspired to try these socks when I picked up a case of athlete's foot while on vacation in Europe (even though I was diligent about wearing sandals in the shower). If you've ever had athlete's foot, you know what a bummer it is to get rid of, especially when your toes are constantly rubbing against each other. The solution seemed obvious...separate the toes! After trying these socks for a couple weeks, I was sold. I immediately ordered enough to replace my standard socks. I am looking forward to trying them out on our annual trip to the Grand Canyon. A ten mile hike in scorching heat usually produces many blisters on each foot. Traditional socks only trap in heat and moisture (similar to a sleeping bag), creating the perfect environment for blisters to form. Even performance socks that wick away moisture cannot prevent friction between the toes, especially when hiking and climbing. The best part are the looks I get when I have my shoes off. Hey, it's not like they have little piggy faces on each toe! But if they did, mine would be smiling...

This was my first time trying on toe socks, and I must say I probably won't go back to wearing regular ones. I'm using these as my general purpose socks now.

At the beginning, the space in between each toe was odd. However, after a few hours I felt quite comfortable. It's pretty much like wearing gloves for your feet. I have two problems with these Injinji socks though:

1. Putting them on takes considerably longer than regular socks. Unfortunately I have not evolved to the point where my toes are as dexterous as my fingers, so it takes me about 1 to 2 min to put both socks on. I pretty much have to slide each toe in the proper slot, and the pinkie toe is by far the toughest to get in.

2. Taking them off automatically turns everything inside out due to the grip in between each toe. The toe slots are also usually buried inside when this happens, so I have to pull them out one by one and put them back to normal form.

The first problem is by far the most annoying. If you can get live with that or get around it, then I would recommend these socks.

We did a 53 trek with these. We did get a couple of blisters, but I cannot imagine what our feet would have looked like without them.

These soxks felt strange at first, but didn't take long to appreciate the comfort of having my toes slightly seperated. Thia makes walking around a LOT more comfortable even when worn with work boots. Highly recommend these for people hiking and/or on their feet for long periods of time.
JC