this post was submitted on 24 Sep 2025
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backpacking
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Wash them?
If you are backpacking, you should have at LEAST 2 pairs of socks and you wash them at the end of the day. Use campsuds or the equivalent. I also had a ritual of washing my feet every morning with the cold stream water right before putting on the socks. It helped prevent blisters. This was back in the day when you had to have a pure wool sock and a polypro liner as a separate sock. now the smartwool is much easier to deal with.
I guess my worry was that they wouldn't be dry by the morning.
I wash my feet before going to bed, and I have a second pair of socks that I only wear at night (when it's cold, otherwise none).
Like I say, if I had to go more than two nights, I'd have to figure something else out. Maybe two pairs of hiking socks, so one has 36 hours to dry instead of just 8 or 10.
That's actually not a bad idea.. I could do that now for little effort ๐ค
socks dont weigh much, then again I dont subscribe to the ultralight stuff. I am paranoid so I bring 4. One to wear, one I just cleaned and is drying, one for a backup (if I am hiking in wet conditions and want to change mid day or if I get a hole in one pair or...), and one as a backup to the backup. Three is probably enough, but I always have that second backup.
That's fair, perhaps I'll start doing that