Recommended boot socks and anything else to avoid blisters

[narfmasta]

Just got back from a pre-OCS weekend. 2 gunnery sergeants were in attendance and it was great to have them get in all of our faces and mess our stuff up. only problem I had this weekend was blisters. I got them BAD. My 2 layers of socks were bloody on each foot and I have 2 blood blisters on my second toe, both underneath the toenail. Apparently the Corpsman who was in charge of medical for this weekend told me to heat up a needle and it'll go right through?

Anyways, what type of socks do all of you recommend? Which for boots, which for my running shoes? Once I get that all squared away with that I'm good to go in June!

 

[RHPF]

5.11 and Fox River make good socks for boots. I also have some Fox River socks for my running shoes. They make a huge difference in reducing blisters.

 

[Marine4life]

If you suffer from sweaty feet, your best defense is wearing two socks. The inner sock should be a thin nylon dress sock. The outer sock can be any type of boot sock. Thorlos and Fox River are my two favorite boot socks. Also, change your socks often on humps, I would recommend at least once every 6 miles.

 

[CommodoreMid]

I actually had issues with the nylon dress sock thing when I tried it. It ended up bunching up and resulting in even nastier blisters than if I had just done two boot socks. But to each his own- try different combos on your own time and see what works.

 

[scotty008]

Believe it or not, body glide on the feet works wonders. Never had any problems afterwards. Excellent stuff...

 

[Lawman]

Fox River is my sock of choice for boots. They have stuff varying for all forms of weather and wetness.

As Marine4Life stated your gonna be needing to change socks often to keep yourself dry on a hump but they provide you with this during rest breaks just learn to get fast at it. Also make sure your boots fit really well as that will help keep movement and friction down. Your going to find you have trouble spots just due to the way you in particular walk, for me it was my outside toes make sure to treat that area with moleskin and tape for extra padding before a hump. And always always treat blisters early and keep treating them till they go away. My recommendation would be to have some Newskin in your footlocker for at night. This way you treat your blisters and leave them exposed to air while you sleep and they dont waste time building up a scab over the wound in which to work allowing them to actually heal the effected area. Also use your foot powder and keep a good eye out for atheletes foot which spreads easily in a squadbay.

Rest Up and Stay Strong, Ill see you at "Camp"

 

[schwarti]

Instead of a dress sock and a hiking sock, they do make sock liners - you can get 'em at hiking/outdoor stores. Used them on my desert survival program in Idaho, definitely worked wonders. Just make sure to treat your hot spots before they turn into blisters... or try, anyway.

 

[pat]

Ask a good running store, and they will tell you synthetics are the way to go. Cotton retains moisture, which will cause friction. Good synthetics will wick away the moisture, which allows a smooth movement. I swear by mine.

 

[fc2spyguy]

Smartwool I think is the best sock out there bar none. It's probably one of the most common socks you'll see being worn by the hiking/mountaineering people. Of course it comes w/ a $16+ price tag, but I don't wear anything other than them, and they last about a year.

 

[Slammer2]

Fox river was the only brand that I bought aside from the stuff they issued. They seemed to be good enough. I would use the body glide on the outboard side and top of my little toe and all around my heel. My foot would rub funny and cause burns on the side of my foot and toe. The ones on the back of the heel were the bad ones. Everyone had different problems.

 

[Carno]

I actually preferred to wear just those brown socks they issued us. Thorlos and Fox River socks always seemed to bunch up when I wore them.

 

[narfmasta]

Smartwool I think is the best sock out there bar none. It's probably one of the most common socks you'll see being worn by the hiking/mountaineering people. Of course it comes w/ a $16+ price tag, but I don't wear anything other than them, and they last about a year.

Money is not an option when it comes to my health... I would pay $50 bucks for one pair of socks if it meant I wouldn't get blisters which will hinder my performance at OCS. I found out this weekend that physically I can hack it and using my mind, I could overcome the urge to quit and actually still be fine. Pushing past the limit I thought I should stop was something that just surprised the hell out of me. As for the blisters, they hurt like hell, but I just focused on finishing the hump and the pain went away. But, I could definitely tell that they will slow me down if I don't figure something out...

Have any of you heard of using Brine Salt or something? One of the candidates was saying you soak your feet in that stuff w/ warm water every day for a couple of weeks and your feet will be like cement... Fact or fiction? If it is in fact true I am going to hop on that immediately.

Thanks everyone for your input! Seriously, the gouge here is amazing and is definitely helping me to prep for success

 

[Pags]

Smartwool socks. Wear em when I hike, wear em when I run, where em with flight boots, wore em in SERE, and wear em with civvies. Worth every penny you'll spend on them. They even make uniform ones so you won't stand out.

If you feel blisters starting to form, use some duct tape on them if you have it.

 

[gtxc2001]

As far as the liner socks go, I think these make the biggest difference. I've used several different types with varying levels of success. I have found that these http://www.sockcompany.com/wigoutlin.html have worked the best for me. They are superior to anything else I've used for staying put and not sliding around and bunching up while humping. Other liner socks I've used fit too loosely and actually cause more blisters. As others have said Smart wool makes good stuff. I've also used Thorlo's military boot socks. Changed liners every stop and outer socks at least every other stop, used liberal quantities of foot powder, and made it through the humps with no blisters.

 

[HueyCobra8151]

I bought the cheapest synthetic running sock at my local store. It was like $10-15 for 3 of them, made by ASICS.

Brought 6 pairs to OCS, wore them underneath my black socks. I usually just wear cotton ankle socks underneath my black socks though.