Note: Wildly Goods provided these items for review.

Anyone who moves from cotton socks to wool socks, will quickly tell you how much better life is on the wool side of the world. Comfort, odor — all of it is better. I really love testing socks, so when Wildly Goods reached out, I couldn’t wait to see what they had to offer, and I am glad I got these to review — they are outstanding.

Material

These socks are a blend of 80% Extra-Fine Merino Wool, 16% Polyester, 3% Nylon,1% Spandex. I am surprised by the low spandex content as they seem like they would have more than that. But I am not surprised by the high merino content, and the ‘extra-fine’ here is no gimmick — they are among the softest merino wool socks I have ever tried. I can’t find anything detailing out how fine a micron they use, but I would guess it is below 18 micron.

The one downside to this blend is durability, and while the socks are still holding up perfectly for me, they are getting quite fuzzy. Something I will need to keep an eye on.

Fit & Style

When I wrote my notes for this review, I wrote that these are: half hiking sock, half athletic sock. Meaning they are not quite as thick, or compression prone as a true hiking sock, but they are also not quite as ambivalent as a basic athletic sock. Wildly Goods seems to agree, as they note: “hybrid design blends the features of high-end hiking socks with everyday comfortable socks”. That is spot on.

I can easily wear these rucking with boots or any other heavy duty wear, as I can slip them on with a dress boot or sneakers and be comfortable all day. I think these socks strike the perfect balance. They won’t be dress socks for anyone, but if you wear dress boots, you could easily wear these most days.

They will replace athletic socks for just about anyone though, and they will also be the socks you want to pull on to be cozy next to a fireplace.

Performance

Ok, so let’s talk about performance, and with these it is very straight forward. There is a huge amount of merino in these, so they are odor resistant. I would say 3-4 wears and you’ll notice nothing. Soak them in water after each wear and you could go for a very long time.

There’s no true compression. But the socks are padded strategically, and vented on the top. Overall they wear very comfortably no matter what shoe you are pairing them with. Just excellent. But the true standout feature is how soft they are. They are just cozy to have on your feet, they feel like you are cheating a bit.

Lastly, I washed and dried these like I would a cotton t-shirt. They are getting fuzzy looking, but otherwise I have not noticed any ill effects, so you are likely fine to treat them as you would any other sock — which is a must for me.

Overall

When I last did a round up of socks, the now discontinued Outlier Megafine sock was my top pick. These will replace those, since these are available. In a lot of ways these are the same but with less compression.

I would love to get these in solid colors, as I think you could then really get away with them in most situations. As it is, I am going to wear the heck out of the two pairs I have.

Here’s the thing about these socks: they are $20 for two pairs. That’s an insanely good value for socks of this quality and performance. Get on it.

Highly recommended.

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