Go to socks.

Summer-> Thorlo midweight hiking socks

Winter-> US Divers (or other brands) 3 mm thick closed cell neoprene divers socks over thin polyester liner socks. These are what is known as VBL socks (Vapor Barrier Liners) as they keep heat robbing sweat inside and away from your boot's insulation keeping your feet warm ALL day. You can also buy 4 mm thick diver's socks if your boots have room for them.

No other socks (other than thin liners) needed as the closed cell neoprene is very warm. The liner socks are for comfort and to protect the inside o the divers' socks.

Yea, you can use plastic "oven bags", etc, but they often bunch up and slide down and require thick socks over them for insulation. The divers socks are simply the best VBLs available.

Eric B.
 
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Fits has been good to me. Good cushion and warmth unless lots of hiking. Then they get cold like anything else.
Interested in this VBL as my feet sweat very bad and thus make them super cold once I stop. In the whitetail woods, you can't just stop and take off stinky wet socks like if you were on a mountain.
 
I wear mostly Thorlos and Swartwool. The thing I like about Thorlos is they come in different thickness and usually have extra padding in the balls of the feet. Both of these brands tend to dry very quickly!
 
Posted this before. SAMs club has a bundle of Merino blend socks that is as good as any I have worn. I have some that I wear on a daily bases that has to be close to five years old.
 
Smartwool for 20+ years never let me down once, and last a long long time. BUT, Cabela's also sells some great merino wool socks. Bought some Cabelas USA made merino wool synthetic blend extreme cold weather socks for my sons and I for last deer season and my sons LOVED them as for some reason that escapes me their feet get colder much more easily than mine. These Cabelas extreme cold weather socks were the thickest socks I've ever seen. My boys wore them in some all leather 200 grm thinsilate Bellville USGI ICW WP combat boots and their feet remained toasty warm in temps down to the teens while sitting in ladder stands for 4-5hrs at a stretch. I wore them in the same boots recently scouting some new private deer land I got and spent two days over 6 hours each day on my feet walking and scouting the land, putting up trail cams and taking notes and marking aerial photos with all the deer sign I found and my feet were plenty warm and very comfortable both days. The temps for those two days were never above the teens and the WC was at or below zero, in the early hours just after sun up the WC was around 12-15 below zero and my feet never even approached getting cold.

You can not go wrong buying Smartwool.
 
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I tried Eric B advise on the 3mm dive socks.
The extreme cold in Michigan is over, but steelhead fishing and smelt dipping have been a mild test.
These things just might be the real deal, looking forward to a good test this fall and winter.
Steve Bair
 
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