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 | | Stormy Afternoon at Lake Song Kol | | by Hamish Fenton |
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Bridgedale Summit Socks Tested |  | |
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Bridgedale Summit Sock
Tested
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Price:
£12.99
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Weight: 280 grammes (pair size
42-44)
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Features: Winter
mountaineering sock using WoolFusion - New Wool (47%) Nylon
(34%) Isolfil® (18%) Lycra® (1%) - zonal padding in
strategic areas,
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Warm, durable, good wicking.
A little thick for non-winter use, no women's-specific
version.
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The Concept Socks aren't generally regarded as sexy, but
they're pretty damn important and a poor-fitting one can ruin your
day. Socks need to absorb lots of moisture - your feet pump it out -
without becoming uncomfortable, wick that moisture outwards. They
also need to cushion the parts of your foot which take the most
friction punishment, thinks forefeet, ball and heel areas .
The Summit is Bridgedale's all-round winter sock, so it also needs
to be warm enough to be used for, say, winter mountain walking,
mountaineering and ice climbing.
 Features
Socks may not be sexy, but they have tough job. Your feet can
literally pump out half a pint of liquid over the course of the day.
If the sock can't deal with that, your feet will get damp, the skin
will soften and swell, losing its tear resistance, and there's a good
chance you'll get painful, disabling blisters.
Bridgedale use a cunning system called WoolFusion to help their
socks both wick and absorb moisture. Wool is great at soaking up
liquid without feeling cold, but isn't a great wicking fabric. To
improve wicking, Bridgedale wrap a twist of wicking Isofile fibre
around new wool which helps to transport moisture outwards and away
from the skin.
Heels and toes are also protected by another WoolFusion technology
which wraps the wool in Nylon in these areas to increase wear
resistance. There's padding in high friction areas too for comfort
and stretch lycra-based panels designed to give a closer fit at the
ankle and mid-foot.
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In Action We've been using a pair of the latest Summits,
that's them in the pictures, for the last couple of months. But
that's only half the story - we've had three pairs of Summits on the
go since 1999 and they're still going strong.
 They've
been used at over 6000 metres in the Andes, for trekking through snow
under Everest., for Scottish winter mountaineering, for general
walking and on alpine ice falls and they've never let us down. In
fact they've become our default winter sock choice.
Quite simply, they get on with doing the job. Internal loopstick
padding makes them instantly comfortable, they're warm, manage
moisture brilliantly and are amazingly hardwearing with it. Mostly
you don't even notice they're there, which is what you want really.
Even when things get damp and nasty - think water over the cuff of
the boot - they've always managed to keep comfort levels
bearable.
Cushioning seems great as well. Stiff-soled winter boots are tough
on feet, but we've rarely blistered wearing these socks thanks to the
combination of moisture management and effective padding. Wear? Like
we said, they're still going strong after six winters of regular use.
Get technology right and you shouldn't even notice it's there
and that's what we reckon Bridgedale has done with the Summit.
You can talk about WoolFusion and fabric technology for as long as
you like, but what really matters is that the Summits handle
moisture, minimise the effects of the trashing your feet get in
winter, keep you warm and comfortable and just keep coming back for
more. The best winter socks we've used and good value even at over 12
quid because they last.
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Performance
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Value
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Pushed for time
Best winter socks we've ever used and that's after six
years worth of trashing. Comfortable, manage moisture,
cushioned and durable. Look no further.
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Know more or want to?
If you'd like to add your own experiences of this
product check out our user review system and post your opinions to
the world. If you have questions you can mail
us direct, ask
Richard Gear or try a posting to our
gear
forum.
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