Anyone spending the outdoors in cold weather will understand the significance of warm socks. Cold feet is a symptom that you may want to avoid because it feels pretty uncomfortable and can distract you from your hunt.
Be it going for a camping trip or spending your afternoon on a treestand, you will have a more enjoyable experience if your feet are kept warm.
To help solve this dilemma, I have reviewed the 5 best warm hunting socks that should provide for your individual needs.
Best Warmest Socks for Hunting
| Product Image | Product | Sizes | Material | Weight | Repels Odor | Ribbed Support | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
  | Darn Tough Merino Wool Socks | S, M, L, XL, XXL | Merino Wool, Nylon, Lycra Spandex | 1 Pound | Yes | Yes | 4.9/5.0 |
  | 30 Below Merino Wool Sock | XS, S, M, L, XL | Merino Wool (70%), Nylon (30%) | 1 Pound | No | No | 4.6/5.0 |
  | Carhart Arctic Wool Sock | M (6 - 12 Shoe), L (11 - 15 Shoe) | Merino Wool (68%), nylon (23%), Spandex (1%), Other fiber (8%) | 1 Pound | Yes | Yes | 4.7/5.0 |
  | J.B. Field Merino Wool Hiker GX | M (5 - 9 Shoe), L (8 - 12 Shoe) | Merino Wool (74%), Lycra Spandex (6%), Nylon (20%) | 0.5 pounds | No | Yes | 4.7/5.0 |
  | Smartwool Merino Wool Socks | M, L, XL (13 Shoe) | Merino Wool (73%), Nylon (26%), Elastane (1%) | 10.1 ounces | No | Yes | 4.8/5.0 |
Best Warmest Socks for Hunting in Cold Weather
1. Darn Tough Hunter Merino Wool Socks
Company Overview – Darn Tough is one of the top companies out there with the aim of producing the best socks in the industry. This is a company aims to produce the best category-specific socks for the outdoor, the casual and even the lifestyle market that any person can purchase.
Sizes Available – The Darn Tough Hunter has over 5 sizes for you to choose from – from Small, Medium, Large, X-Large to XX-Large.
With this many selection of sizes, you should be able to find one that suitably fits you. In fact, buying a one size fits all sock may lose its shape in just a short period of time.
Colors – As for colors, you can pick either Forest-color, Charcoal or Gray.
Where is it made – The socks are made in Vermont, United States.
Characteristics of the Darn Tough Hunter Sock
Product Dimension – The Darn Tough Hunter Socks has a product dimension of 11 inches x 9 inches x 5 inches.
Weight – The socks weigh 1 pound.
Materials – The sock is made from 3 kinds of fabric: Merino Wool, nylon and Lycra Spandex.
The fabric is made in a way which ensures no-slipping, no-bunching and no blisters of any kind will appear on your feet.
Also, Merino Wool are known to naturally regulate temperature and wicks moisture. Based on the materials used, the socks will not cause itchiness even if you keep them on for long hours.
High density cushioning – This sock is made with the thickest, sturdiest and highest density cushioning there is. This is one of Darn Tough’s burliest hunting socks.
High density knitting – The more stitches there is per inch, the more comfortable and durable the sock is. Darn Tough Hunter socks manage to do this without adding much bulkiness.
Features of the Darn Tough Hunter Sock
Slip-on Closure – You can easily slip-on the socks without much problems. Also, they stay tight against your calves and will snug on your feet. Perfect for keeping warmth.
Removes Moisture from your skin – This feature is especially important for people experiencing the outdoors during winter season. If you like to up-your game on keeping your feet dry, you can try out the method suggested in the video below.
Dries really Fast – This feature is ESSENTIAL for you to keep your feet cool in the summer and hot in the winter.
Repels Bacteria and Odor – With this sock on, it should be able to repel the odor from your feet even after a long day’s work.
Heavy Terry Loop Construction – The extra heavy terry loop construction on the socks helps to keep your entire foot warm. Terry Loops are basically used for reinforcing double loop cushioning, a feature that is essential for keeping warmth.
Ribbed Support – The socks is designed to make sure that it will custom fit the user. This helps in ensuring that there is no slipping, no bunching and no blisters will appear on your feet.
Warning
Feeling of uneasiness when you first wear them – Your feet may feel uneasy when you first walk around in it. With the thickness coupled with how elastic the sock is, it may squeeze your feet. Since the fabric is tough, the fact that it feels tight makes it all the more uneasy.
The Solution is to purchase socks that is bigger in size. This helps to ensure that there is enough space for your feet to move around when wearing the socks.
My Thoughts
Suitable for all 4 seasons – The Darn Tough Hunter Sock is suitable for all 4 seasons because of its ability to dry really fast. It helps keep your feet comfortable in both summer or winter. You can experience the outdoors any season with this pair of socks.
This pair of socks still tops the list even if you are buying one just to keep your foot warm around the house.
Definitely able to keep you warm in the winter – The Darn Tough Hunter Sock will be able to keep you warm eventhough it’s really cold.
The Darn Tough Hunter Sock should keep you warm, comfortable and does not itch too. All these characteristics are essential for hunting socks.
This sock is suitable for all cold weather activities. They are suitable on most boots too.
Pros
- Extremely Durable
- Heavy Terry Loop Construction
- Ribbed Support
Cons
- Not easy to dry
- May feel tight at first try
2. J.B. Field’s 30 Below Thermal Merino Wool Socks
These J.B. Field’s Original 30° Below Socks are made to help keep your feet warm, especially when your place gets cold.
About the Company – J.B. Field’s was a company founded in 1877 to manufacture socks for the Canadian Logging industry. The company initially prospered by supplying the Hudson’s Bay Company with reliable and practical products. They are made for logging, fishing, mining and farming.
Where is it made – The 30° Below Thermal Winter Socks are made in Canada.
Sizes available – The socks comes in 5 types of sizes: X-Small (For Kids size 8 – 13), Small (Adult Shoe size of 1 – 5), Medium (Adult Shoe size of 5 – 9), Large (Adult Shoe size of 8 – 12) and X-Large (Adult Shoe size of 13 – 16). You can check out the full information in the table below.
Color – There are 6 plain colors and 2 assorted colors to pick from.
The 6 plain colors are Red, Black, Denim, Green, Mid-Grey and Navy. This would mean all 3 socks would be that 1 color.
As for the 2 assorted colors, they are (1) Red/Green/Denim and (2) Midgrey/Black/Navy). This would mean that out of the 3 pairs of socks, each of them will be assorted to these colors.
Characteristics of the 30° Below Socks
Materials – The socks are made from 30% nylon and 70% Merino Wool.
Made with Merino Wool – The Pre-Shrunk Merino Wool that is used to make this pair of socks helps to provide exceptional warmth to your feet.
Also, Merino Wool is really easy to care for too. Plus, it feels comfortable to wear-on since it is soft and highly breathable.
There are certain inherent qualities that comes with the wool too such as being wrinkle-resistant, able to have shape recovery and it does not lose its colour.
Features of the 30° Below Socks
“Superwash” Wool – This wool helps to ensure that your feet never get itchy. The wool is really soft too. Also, you should be able to machine wash and dry the socks without pilling or shrinking. You can stuff them in the washing machine without any worries.
Thermal Terry Loop – This sock is built with high-pile thermal terry loop which helps to trap warm air and help increase breathability too.
X-Hi Cushion – The X-Hi full terry cushion is added so that the socks can provide better comfort, more warmth and better external protection.
Warranty
J.B. Field is confident in the product that they manufacture that the 30 Below Thermal Winter Socks come with a No Risk Guarantee.
Warning
Way bigger than expected – The socks tend to be larger than expected and it may not fit as comfortably as it should. Also, this pair of socks is pretty thick. You may not be able to slip on 2 pairs of 30 Below Thermal Winter Socks and fit your feet into your shoes.
Plain Looking Socks – Do take note that only the socks in Large Size have a plain look. This means it does not have any writing on the socks. The other sizes have the word ‘ICELANDIC’ written on the socks and there is a line that goes across the toes.
Not suitable for running – These socks are not suitable for winter running because they are too thick, and they do not fit as well as running socks. A better pair of socks would be the SuperWool Hiker GX low-cut Merino Wool socks.
They don’t stay up – The top of the socks tends not to stay up. It means that they are not as fitting as it should be. This is the case mainly because there is no elasticity that keeps the sock firmly up.
My Thoughts
Excellent winter socks – Believe or not, the J.B. Field’s 30 Below Classic Winter socks is one of the best-selling winter socks in Canada. The quality of this sock is amazing, which may be due to the fact that 70% of it is constructed from Merino Wool.
You can definitely keep your feet warm with this pair of socks, but it may feel a bit baggy.
Suitable for camping – If you are out for cold weather camping, I would highly recommend the 30 Below Thermal Winter Socks. The socks can keep your toes nice and warm. It definitely beats a range of wool socks out there in the market. The insulation of the socks is really good that it helps maintain your feet at optimum temperature.
Suitable for extreme conditions – This pair of socks is designed for people who want to keep their feet warm, dry and comfortable even in extreme weather.
For those who are doing winter sports, a more suitable pair of socks would be the J.B. Field’s Ski and Snow II Sock.
If you are interested in hiking, the Thermal Hiker II socks from J.B. Field may be more suitable.
Great for long-hours of walking – Since the socks are really thick, it helps to pad your steps. Even after several hours of walking or carrying out your duties as a survivalist, your knees and feet wouldn’t hurt as much.
3. Carhartt Arctic Wool Boot Socks
The Carhartt Arctic Wool Heavyweight Boot Socks is built at a suitable length with your work boots, has a soft cushioning to provide comfort and has awesome thermal insulation. It’s definitely one of the socks that top the list as the best warmest socks for hunting. It’s definitely made for rugged and cold-climate work.
About the Company – Carhartt was founded since 1889 in the time of locomotives. It was when Hamilton Carhartt & Company was founded by its namesake started producing socks using sewing machines.
Now, Carhartt has global operations in the United States, Mexico and Europe. If you want to know more about the company background, you can read more about it here.
Where is it made – The Socks is made in the United States.
Characteristics of the Carhartt Arctic Wool Heavyweight Boot Socks
Materials – The socks are made from 23% nylon and 68% Merino Wool, 1% Spandex and 8% of other fiber.
It is made with Carhatt’s tough yarn which helps make the socks more durable, making it ready for longer wear.
The wool is capable of thermal regulation, sweat transport and has odor-resistant properties. It should be able to help keep your feet warm and comfortable.
Product Dimension – The socks have a volume of 0.4 inches x 0.4 inches x 0.4 inches.
Weight – The socks has a weight of 1 pound.
Features of the Carhartt Arctic Wool Heavyweight Boot Socks
Pull on closure – It should be able to give your feet full closure which is essential for keeping warmth. With this feature, you can easily slip into the comfort of the Carhartt Arctic Wool Socks.
Machine Wash Friendly – You can stuff these socks into the washing machine without any worries.
Comfort Stretch Top – The top of the socks are manufactured in a way which prevents falling, pinching or even binding.
Abrasion Resistant Coralast® – This feature helps to maintain the socks’ cushion. The abrasion resistant fibers help to make it really comfortable to wear and it is long-lasting too.
The additional reinforcement in the heel and toe area helps to provide extra protection in areas that have frequent movement. This allows the socks to last longer too.
Fast Dry Technology – The FastDry technology helps to remove sweat that is present. Essentially, the sweat wicking properties help remove your worries about having to change your socks when you are trudging in the woods.
With the Fast Dry Technology, it helps to transport sweat so that your feet can remain dry.
Compression arch – The Compression arch is engineered so that the socks will optimally fit your feet and provide suitable support.
What kind of support? The arch provides full motion support and stability to aid you with those days where you need to spend long hours on your feet.
Odor Control – The odor control function is definitely something every outdoorsman should look out for, helping your feet feel fresh. The socks help to fight odors using proprietary technology to help keep the socks smell fresh.
Warning
Remember to get an insulated boot too – The socks are capable of keeping you warm, but when you are out in the cold such as – 30 degrees you may want to equip yourself with insulated boots as well.
My Thoughts
Really Durable – The socks are made to last really long, it may even last as long as your boots!
Great for daylong outdoor activities – The Carhartt Arctic Wool Heavyweight Boot Socks is suitable for keeping your feet dry and comfortable all day. Definitely something to look out for if you want to go to the outdoors all day.
Best socks your money can buy – This pair of socks is pretty cheap and it may be the best socks that your money can buy. It has all the needed functions to efficiently act as a warm hunting sock.
4. J.B. Field’s Merino Wool “Hiker GX” Socks
Sizes – The J.B. Field’s Super-Wool Hiker Socks comes in 2 sizes: Medium (5 – 9 Shoe) and Large (8 – 12 Shoe).
Where is it made – The Socks is made in Toronto, Canada.
Characteristics of the J.B. Field’s Super-Wool Hiker Socks
Material – The socks is made from 6% Lycra Spandex, 74% Merino Wool, 20% Nylon.
Pre-Shrunk Merino Wool – The J.B. Field’s Super-Wool Hiker Socks uses the best quality wool which are imported from Australia. Since it is made with the Pre-Shrunk Merino Wool, the socks should have amazing softness and provide sufficient warmth to your feet.
Low-Cut – The J.B. Fields “Hiker GX” is low-cut, which is ¼ of the length of the popular Merino Wool Hiking Socks. Depending on your preference, the low-cut may actually look better on you if you wear shorts when you are doing outdoor activities such as cycling, hiking, hunting or running. You can check out the video below on how to properly wear a low-cut sock.
Thickness – The socks has medium thickness which is sufficient to keep your feet warm during the winter season.
Features of the J.B. Field’s Super-Wool Hiker Socks
Impact Support Zones – The socks come with strategically reinforced zones to give added durability.
Arch Support – The socks comes with Arch Support, Double Cuff and Contoured Half Cushion which helps make the socks fitting. These features help provide better comfort and protection too.
Comfortable and Breathable – Since the socks is mostly made from Merino Wool, the socks obtain the inherent quality of being comfortable and breathable.
My Thoughts
Suitable for Hiking – It’s called the ‘Hiking’ socks for a reason. I understand that this article is meant to cover the warmest socks for hunting but I thought it would be helpful to include a low-cut sock.
The Super Wool Hiker Socks will definitely be more stylish than other long warm socks if you wear shorts for your hiking trip.
Really Durable – These pair of socks can withstand wear and tear. Although you consistently wear it for around 6 months to a year, they will remain in great condition.
Bang for the buck – If you are short on a budget, this pair of socks can satisfy your needs with a smaller amount of cost. You will be impressed with the high-quality workmanship for the amount of money paid.
5. SmartWool’s Hunt Extra Merino Wool Socks
Company Background – Smartwool is an American Company that is founded 25 years ago in year 1994 by Peter and Patty Duke. The company has from the very beginning got involved in the Clothing industry. They are well-known for providing equipment for hiking and various outdoor activities.
In 2010, Smartwool signed a contract to get an exclusive source of Merino wool from a New Zealand Merino Wool Company.
Characteristics of the SmartWool Hunt Extra Heavy Over The Calf Socks
Product Dimension – The socks have a product dimension of 11 inches x 5 inches x 4 inches.
Weight – The socks weigh 10.1 ounces.
Materials – The SmartWool Hunt Extra Heavy Over The Calf (‘OTC’) Socks are made from 73% Merino Wool, 26% Nylon and 1% Elastane.
Sizes – The socks come in 3 sizes: Medium, Large and X-Large (Shoe size 13)
Where is it made – The socks are made in the United States with Imported Yarn. It is knitted in the USA. The Yarn is mainly imported from New Zealand.
Crew-Height Socks – Crew sock height can vary from 6 to 8 inches, from the heel to the top of the cuff. The socks come with taller crew height to help accommodate a wide range of hunting boots.
Flat knit toe seam – There are flat seams jutting out near the toe area to help you position the socks better. The seams uses the SW001352 style. With both the flat knit toe seam coupled with the Merino Wool blend, you can be sure you will be comfortable wearing these.
Features of the SmartWool Hunt Extra Heavy Over The Calf Socks
SmartWool Fit System (WOW™ technology) – The SmartWool Fit System that comes with an arch and ankle support which helps to keep your socks in place. There wouldn’t be any problem of the top of the socks falling down which render the socks to become saggy.
Basically, the ankle and arch braces will ensure the socks securely fit you.
The WOW™ technology is Smartwool’s original technical fit system which renders the sock to flex without bunching.
If you want to learn more about what arches do, you can watch the video below.
Allows Washing Machine Wash – You can put the socks through washing machines, but using warm water and a gentle cycle.
Make sure you avoid bleaching too. Also, it is ideal to wash it with tumble dry low.
Extra Heavy Cushioning – The SmartWool Hunt Extra Heavy OTC Socks comes with extra heavy cushioning which helps you run through any woods floating. How does it do that? The Extra Heavy Cushion helps to absorb impact and provide warmth when you are out in the cold weather hunting.
Warning
Avoid Ironing and Dry Cleaning – The socks are not suitable for ironing or dry cleaning. Try to avoid these as much as possible.
Takes a longer time to dry – Since these socks are thick, they tend to take a longer time to dry. Remember to be patient and avoid ironing and dry cleaning them.
Have enough room in your boots – The socks are pretty thick. Make sure you have sufficient room in your boots to fit both your feet and your socks.
My Thoughts
Made for Hunting – The SmartWool socks helps you get ready for hunting. The distraction-free comfort allows you to stay laser-focused on your game. You can be on your feet all day without any itch.
Great for extremely cold weather – Since this is an extra-heavy OTC hunting socks, it will be able to help you brave really cold weather. If you have a problem of getting cold feet in the winter, these socks will be one of your best bet. They feel really warm when you put them on. Make sure you get this pair of socks if you have to brave colder months ahead.
Suitable for a Survival Situation – If you are packing some socks for an emergency situation while hunting, camping or even hiking, the SmartWool Hunt Extra Heavy OTC Socks are one of the best there is.
Avoid cotton socks at all cost because they tend to absorb sweat which cause blisters and swamp foot.
Buyer’s Guide – Tips for Buying Warm Winter Hunting Socks
1. Avoid Wool
Wool socks, especially those cheap ones tend to make your feet feel itchy and they wouldn’t be able to hold their shape well too.
In fact, those wool hiking socks will likely cause your feet to itch. Do opt for socks that are made from nylon or Merino wool for better comfort.
2. Check out for Thermal Qualities
Since we are looking for the warmest hunting socks in the market, the thermal qualities of the socks are vital. The socks should be able to keep your feet dry and warm for minimum 10 hours.
3. The Material the socks are made of
The fabric which a pair of socks is made of can make a world of difference. Amongst others, it affects the thermal quality and durability of the socks. This would mean a drastic difference of the amount of comfort the socks can provide just because of the materials used to manufacture the socks.
As mentioned, you should avoid cotton for outdoor socks. It wouldn’t be able to withstand the amount of stress you put it through in outdoor activities.
Concluding Thoughts
I hope that the review was in-depth enough to give you a good idea of which socks to pick. All of the socks above are made from Merino Wool, because this is an essential material to help keep your feet warm and comfortable.
Some of the socks above are really affordable too. I have handpicked the best socks in the market for cold season hunters.
I am Jeremy, the outdoor enthusiast behind Survive the Outdoor. I love all things about backpacking, travel, hiking and just spending my time in nature. After years of experience testing out various gears, I’ve decided to write this blog to help out as many people as possible.
