Saturday, August 27, 2011

The Hiking Sock - Imperative Part of the Backpacking Checklist

By Joseph Robertson


Believe it or not, hiking socks are crucial to how you do on the trail - and thus are a critical component of any backpacking checklist. Actually great hiking socks could well mean the most important difference between a fun time on the trail and a unhappy time walking with blisters on your feet. That is the reason why you need to bring the best fitting pair of socks you can find when hiking. Hiking socks must be comfy, wick moisture, protect against shear, and support natural posture. Hiking socks should also keep your feet at a good temperature, distribute pressure, boost circulation, and absorb shock. All these are what make hiking socks as crucial as your boots and shoes when it comes to comfort. So when you purchase hiking shocks, consider these factors:

Blood Flow

Blood flow refers to the blood circulation through your foot. Intractable fabrics in hiking socks could end in decreased or cut-off blood flow in your foot. This would in turn lead to weakening of your feet or increase the rate that your feet get tired while walking. To help forestall blood flow cut off, use hiking socks made from acrylics in combination with other fibers. Terry weave and shear hiking socks can also help with this.

Moisture

When you exert force on feet, they can produce 1-2 pints of sweat made from either vapour or liquid per day. Feet that are damp supply the perfect breeding zone for bacteria and fungus. You can avoid this by utilizing hiking socks featuring wicking technology.

Position

Hiking socks should be in a position to help you maintain correct anatomical alignment. That way, early fatigue can be reduced because your hiking socks will keep your feet in line, therefore minimizing any effort on your part to do that yourself. As well as reducing fatigue in your feet, your hiking socks will help correctly position your foot in your boot or shoe. Correct posture due to hiking socks will make it less complicated for you to feel a bit like your boot is an extension of your body, rather than simply a mere garments.

Pressure Areas

Well, let's face it. Regardless of how comfortable your hiking boot must have felt when you first bought it, after walking several miles in them, you're going to feel all of the discomfort in the foot that walkers are meant to feel. This is due to pressure areas in your feet that cause pain and ultimately lead straight to damage if not addressed correctly. One way of stopping damage caused by these pressure areas is wearing comfy hiking socks. Hiking socks provide the necessary padding around bony areas in your feet, for example the heel and ball of your feet.

Shearing Force

Shearing force happens when your tissue is moving in opposite directions, or even more specifically, when you are jumping over a stream, or descending a vertical slope "activities that you are actually going to actively enter into when hiking. As you exert effort on your feet in preparation for a jump, part of your skin is moving one way and the tissue under it another. This causes a ripping action slightly below the outer surface of the skin and causes blisters. By wearing a great pair of hiking socks, you can reduce this.




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