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Toe Sock Review – Injinji, Toe Toe, Feelmax

By Al Gauthier ⋅ August 18, 2009 ⋅  Email This Post ⋅ Post a comment

Toe Sock Review – Injinji, Toe Toe, Feelmax

Are Toe Socks For You?

There are two groups of barefooters when it comes to socks: the anti-sock people and the pro-sock people.

If you happen to fall into the pro-sock category, then this review is for you.  If you are a sock snob, you can move right along and read some of our other great posts.  We wouldn’t want to bore you with stories of five-toed socks that you would never wear – no matter how good your toes my look in them!

We wanted to investigate two things when reviewing toe socks for Living Barefoot.  First, we wanted to see if there was an advantage to toe socks over regular socks.  Second, we wanted to see who made the best toe socks.  We tested a small selection of socks from Injini, Toe Toe, and Feelmax for this review and have come up with the answer to both questions as well as our usual in-depth product comparison.

Toe socks, if you don’t already know, are socks that are just like gloves for the hands, only made out of sock material for your feet. Each toe has its own pocket.

Sock Installation

It must be said that putting on a pair of toe socks can be a very time consuming adventure.  There can be much hopping around on one foot and the use of colorful language is an unfortunate by-product for first timers.  For your first installation, I suggest putting aside a little bit of time and finding a comfortable chair to sit in. You may wish to set aside a bottle, er, glass of wine to make the experience even more enjoyable. This isn’t something you want to do in a big rush.  Toe socks, like shoes, are designed only to work with the correct foot, so make sure you line your socks up properly and the right way around.  Yes, they have a top and a bottom too!  After slipping the first part of the sock over your foot, use your fingers to pull each toe into its own pocket.  Yup, it takes just as long as you might think, but after time you’ll get faster at it – but not much.

The feeling

Toe socks feel quite different than regular socks.  Even toe socks made with thin material may stretch your toes apart slightly. Each of your toes is separated by two layers of sock material (the pocket that toe is in and its neighboring pocket). Resist the urge to tear off your new socks.  It will take a little bit of time to get used to the sensation. Have another glass of wine as you let your feet become accustomed and in no time they will feel more comfortable.

Benefits of Toe Socks

Because each toe has its own pocket, I found all of the toe socks I tested to feel warmer than regular socks.  Partly, this may be because you are no longer able to feel your clammy feet. Sweat that would otherwise stay in between toes as condensation is wicked away into the sock material.  This makes for dryer feet compared to regular socks. I found this to be a rather unexpected benefit and one that I think is quite noteworthy.  After a day of wearing toe socks I also noticed that my feet were slightly less fragrant than with regular socks. I would suspect that there isn’t as much room for bacteria to thrive.

There is also the matter of better ground transmission through your socks.  I had been wondering whether this would be a noticeable benefit.  I was surprised just how much better the ground felt through the toe socks over the regular socks.  Although whenever possible I would choose to be barefoot, when socks are preferred for weather or other reasons, toe socks will now be my sock type of choice.

Toe Socks and Shoes

If one could imagine Vibram FiveFingers having children, I would expect them to give birth to toe socks!  One of the more compelling reasons for a barefooter like myself to buy toe socks is for the extra warmth provided when wearing Vibram FiveFingers.  FiveFingers of course are unable to take any other type of sock and thus toe socks are the perfect, if only, solution.  As expected they are the perfect addition for those cold winter months when a little extra warmth is needed.  I was able to wear my FiveFingers in degrees below 0 degrees Celsius.  These temperatures would otherwise have been too cold for the FiveFingers. Fivefingers that are slightly too large, or on the roomier side, are an asset with toe socks.  While my toes were able to push their way into all of my FiveFingers, those models that fit more snugly when barefoot became almost too tight with toe socks. If you are purchasing FiveFingers for use in winter, I recommend buying the KSO models, which are more forgiving when worn slightly loose without socks.  This will allow for the extra room needed for your toe socks, while still allowing them to work very well without.   All activities were comfortable in FiveFingers while wearing toe socks. The extra thickness will add a little maneuvering time when putting on your FiveFingers (see my suggestions on beverage choices for maximum enjoyment). There is after all more toe for each pocket, and less sensation for orientation.

Varying degrees of success were had with more traditional footwear.  Here the fit of your shoes comes into play.  While the thickness of toe sock material is not significant, the combined added width in between each toe (eight layers between toes and the two outer layers) makes for a noticeable difference in fit.  Shoes that are already tight, or did not allow for any additional room, may be too tight while those with ample room will fit well.  While the wicking properties are improved, so are the insulating properties.  I found toe socks added too much heat in shoes that were already warm.  Those that had excellent ventilation benefited from the use of toe socks and kept my feet comfortable.

Activities

I found all toe socks reviewed to equal their regular sock counterparts for any activity, taking into account the extra warmth and the added width.  When sweating a lot, the toe socks were able to absorb sweat better and keep my feet dry far better than regular socks. In shoes with excellent ventilation, this added to the cooling effect.  Toe socks make for excellent hiking socks. Some are even make specifically for this purpose. Toe socks also reduced the chafing that can be caused with regular socks while hiking.

On Their own

Outside of shoes, toe socks are warm and comfortable.  I enjoy the added tactile feeling over regular socks and the lack of any clamminess on cold feet.  Given the variety of color and design choices available, they are also fun to look at.  They fit so well that you could even pick up items with your toes, almost as well as if you were barefoot.

Brands

There are three major brands of toe socks.  We tested all three:  Injinji, Toe Toe, and Feelmax.

Injinji:
http://injinji.com
These were the best quality socks out of the three.  The construction quality of these socks seemed slightly higher than the other two brands and they survived the best through the testing period.  Injinji has several lines of very well thought-out socks.  There is the Performance Series, The Outdoor Series, The Travel Series, The Echo Series, and The Yoga Series.

We tested the performance series for this review and found the wicking properties to be the best out of the three brands. Made of: 70% COOLMAX® or recycled COOLMAX® EcoMade™; 25% Nylon; 5% Lycra® they are recommended for Running, Walking, Cycling, Track & Field, Cross Training, Multi-Sport.  They sport the “Seal of Acceptance” by the American Podiatric Medical Association if that’s important to you. If there is a complaint, it would be about the color choice available for these socks.  At the time we received samples, only white and a rainbow color was available in the performance series.  I have always avoided white socks.  While they seem to be the de facto standard for sports, they stain and look disgusting too quickly.  To their credit, however, Injinji has recently released a set in different colors for their performance series socks.
MSRP: $12-$14 US

Toe Toe:
http://www.toesocks.co.uk
These socks came in the best variety of lengths and color choices.  They feel very comfortable. Our samples were made of a slightly thinner material than the Injinji socks.  While most of the same general categories are present for Toe Toe socks, Toe Toe’s focus is pointed a little more squarely at the aesthetics over the technology, not that there is anything wrong with that. There is a vast variety of colors and styles to choose from for men and women, and they certainly don’t ignore technology all together.  Some of their socks even claim to improve balance!  I’d love to have a representative from Toe Toe join us on our show to explain how their socks improve balance.
MSRP: $17 US

December 2009 Update: We were contacted by ToeToe who wanted to convey the message that our review was not a perfect comparison as they have a line of performance socks and we compared a non-performance sock to a performance sock from Injinji.  We encouraged them to help us set the record straight officially by sending samples for review.  So far they have not accepted the request.  We also asked them how their socks improve balance.  They asked us to wait for a response pending research that is currently under way.

Feelmax:
http://www.feelmax.fi
From the makers of Feelmax shoes, come Feelmax toe socks.  These were made of the thinnest material. The toe pockets in these socks had little holes where the base of the toe pocket meets the main part of the sock.  While I do not think that this was a flaw in the sock, it did provide a little bit of extra ventilation, which was appreciated but probably not intended.  From our photographs you can see that the color of the skin shows through in the heel, highlighting the thin material. The overall quality of these socks was slightly less than that of the Toe Toe socks, however, the difference was mainly one of lighter construction rather than inferior quality.
MSRP: $10 US
(Thanks to Sock Dreams for supplying Feelmax samples)

Conclusion

If you are someone who will wear socks anyway, toe socks are a worthwhile investment.  They provide extra tactile feeling, wick sweat very well, and are warmer than regular socks.  They are the only sock option for Vibram FiveFingers and, with enough toe room, are a comfortable alternative in any shoe. You will not go wrong with any of our reviewed brands. Injinji will give you the best longevity, Toe Toe the best options, and Feelmax is the thinnest of our top three.

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Tags: feelmax, healthy feet, Toe Socks

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