sealskinz socks

[dakari-mane]

So just before i cycled home today through the pouring rain I gleefully pulled on my new sealskinz socks "Ha-ha!" thinks I "I've got you beat mother nature!".

30 odd mins and 9 miles later I'm stood in my hallway pouring a not inconsiderable volume of water out of my liquid-retaining-feet-bags. Needless to say I am somewhat less impressed. "Can stand in a bath" they said, lied they did.

So my question is: How do you keep your feet warm, dry and not prune-like on tour through the wet?

I'm planning a 500 mile jaunt through wales in two weeks time. Wet feet i'd really like to avoid.

[khain]

Sealskinz stuff is very poor. I had two pairs of their gloves, neither of which were reliably waterproof, and when they did get wet they stayed wet for days.

Keeping your feet dry is practically impossible. I use Gore-tex cycling shoes, which work reasonably well but after a while rain will run down your legs and into them. Waterproof trousers are no good for cycling. I've tried overshoes but they haven't been much use in constant rain. Maybe someone else can recommend a decent pair.

Good hiking boots are about the best thing but a bit heavy.

[geofft44]

I've never had a problem with sealskin socks when motorcycling, cycling and walking. Mine are around 4 years old so I wonder if they have changed them. I agree the comments on the gloves but wonder if the water gets in through the top.

[Si]

Problem with any waterproof sock is that it comes with a hossing gurt hole in the top (where your foot goes in). Rain will run down your leg and into the sock, where it can't get out again because there is no corresponding hole in the other end. I never use my sealskinz with shorts, rather I make sure that I have a trouser leg around the top of the sock to stop the water getting in that way. Thus I have always found them to be very good at keeping my feet warm and dry.

[John-D]

Problem with any waterproof sock is that it comes with a hossing gurt hole in the top (where your foot goes in). Rain will run down your leg and into the sock, where it can't get out again because there is no corresponding hole in the other end. I never use my sealskinz with shorts, rather I make sure that I have a trouser leg around the top of the sock to stop the water getting in that way. Thus I have always found them to be very good at keeping my feet warm and dry.

+1

[22camels]

I think the water leaks in through the top, as said above, but there are also some dud pairs that have leaks in the sock itself. For the latter though, I think you can claim on the sealskinz warranty and get a replacement if it's less than a year (or maybe two) old.

I got my first pair over a year ago and they were leaking from the start, I'm not sure how, but later on I poured water into them in the bathroom and it was leaking out of the bottom, so they must have come with or developed a hole. I was going to contact sealskinz to ask if I can get a replacement but left it too long and I think it's now too late.

But today I ordered another pair of sealskinz! Thought they deserved another chance! This time when they arrive I'm first going to do the bathroom experiment and make sure they are not dud. I am also going to try to stop water seeping in through the top by wearing trousers, though I've also heard of people wrapping some sort of ankle bands at the top of the socks.

Trouble is there are not many other options.

[Tangled Metal]

Please be aware that sealskinz have a big problem with counterfeiting of their products apparently. So if you got a good deal on them perhaps they're not the real things. Having said that water can wick down the leg to build up unable to escape.

Also your feet have more sweat cells than any other part of your body IIRC. The membrane of these is porelle, if that was used in your jacket you'd be dripping wet in no time. Although it's not likely to be just sweat, but it all adds up.

I commute half an hour each way wearing sealskinz socks, even when not raining. When it is raining I am wearing waterproof jacket and trousers. As such rain runs down the trousers avoiding the sock opening. If you wear them without protecting the opening you could get rain wicking inside the sock. After the commute my feet are usually get damp from sweat that.cannot get out because the shoes and socks are wet through, but at least they're not completely wet and cold like when I used to ride with normal socks. However it is the case that I often have to squeeze out the water from the outer layer and then dry it out through the day. They are slow dying though.

[ferdinand]

When I'm out on a run I never wear anything else - I use the medium weight Sealskinz which were a distress purchase after a National Cycle Route was flooded over pedal depth one day.big have them particularly to protect my dear - diabetes.

I have had no problems, but I always have trousere overlapping the top if the weather is bad.

I have heard people way that they wear out too quickly, but I am fine after a thousand miles or so (not a lot tbf).

Ferdinand

[pwa]

Waterproof footwear (socks, shoes, wellies) obviously only keeps rain out if you have some way of stopping rain running down your legs and in through the tops. So with sealskinz socks you will need waterproof trousers than cover the top of your socks.

[mjr]

I've sealskinz gloves and they're brilliant but you do need to make sure the ends are inside the sleeves so the inner doesn't fill up with water that runs down your arm.

[hamster]

I've sealskinz gloves and they're brilliant but you do need to make sure the ends are inside the sleeves so the inner doesn't fill up with water that runs down your arm.

And definitely the same for socks too! Mine have lasted well but the tops are getting loose, however they still resist water from below.

[pjclinch]

As others have noted, the usual problem is water going down your legs (or arms, in the case of the gloves).

Easier test than standing in the bath is fill the sock/glove with water, peg it up, and see if it drips (leave a tissue underneath to catch any).

A pal who hated wet feet once wore hefty leather hiking boots with completely enclosing waterproof yeti-gaiters, and goretex socks... and got her feet soaked when the rain soaked in to her trousers wicked down them and thus in to the boots. I did try not to laugh.

One caveat is that while dry feet, all else being equal, will be warmer than wet feet (because water conducts heat better than air), if the outside of the sock is soaked in cold rain you can still end up with quite chilly toes even though they're dry. More than once I've been convinced mine were leaking because my feet were cold, but when I took them off my feet were completely dry.

Pete.

[pedalsheep]

if the outside of the sock is soaked in cold rain you can still end up with quite chilly toes even though they're dry. More than once I've been convinced mine were leaking because my feet were cold, but when I took them off my feet were completely dry.

That has also been my experience. I spent most of a ride mentally composing a letter to Sealskinz telling them exactly what I thought of my new socks only to find when I took them off that my feet were bone dry! I find its best to wear overshoes as well.

[Vorpal]

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=80789&p=716560#p716560

[mjr]

Easier test than standing in the bath is fill the sock/glove with water, peg it up, and see if it drips (leave a tissue underneath to catch any).

Turn them inside out first. Some technical fabrics claim to let sweat out a little while not allowing water in.