New range of gender-specific Brasher walking socks is British designed, manufactured and tested.
Good socks can make the difference between a great day in the hills and a thoroughly miserable one. Which is why you want obsessive perfectionists to produce your walking socks. Like the guys behind Brasher's new range of gender-specific British designed, tested and manufactured socks.
We actually saw the socks in the flesh a few months back, but let's face it, socks look like, well, socks - unsung heroes - but what really registerd was the passion of the Brasher team behind them. Clearly an awful lot of time and effort had gone into the development of the new range.
Four Socks
There are four different socks in the range with model names to match Brasher's footwear - Mountain Master, Trekmaster, Hillmaster, and Fellmaster - but all use carefully chosen fibre mixes and construction to match their intended use.
The Mountain Master is Brasher's full-on mountain sock using Merino Wool Ultra, which has been spun into a twistless yarn for '30% less friction, faster drying and moisture absorption'. It's designed for winter use and cold-condition trekking. The really interesting aspect of the socks is that they've been tweaked to work for men and women specifically.
Apparently the male foot doesn't get as cold as the female version, but kicks out more moisture so the men's sock uses additional, high-wicking Coolmax fibres to keep the feet dry. Meanwhile the women's Mountain Master is designed for additional warmth using something called Thermo Cool technology, what we're not sure what it is. Price will be £17 when they appear in the shops this August.
Next model down is the Trekmaster, again a winter sock, but featuring a mix of merino wool and Meraklon synthetic fibres. Intended use is winter trekking rather than full-on mountain action. Price will be £15.
Moving further down the mountain as outdoor marketing people often say, the Hillmaster is more of a general walking sock, but shares the Mountain Master's gender-specific use of different fibres - Coolmax for the boys and Thermo Cool for the lasses - alongside Merino Wool Ultra for merino's desirable qualities. Again, £15 per pair.
Last but not least, the Fellmaster is a three-season hill and mountain walking sock mixing merino and Coolmax with gender-specific fit and design and a price tag of £13.50.
None of them are cheap, but having seen them in the socky flesh, it's clear that they're thoroughly designed and state of the art in terms of construction with gender-specific cut and carefully placed Terry cushioning zones for maximum comfort.
And they're all patriot friendly being UK devised, tested and made. Out from August 2012 with more info at www.brasher.co.uk.
