Including price, durability, and moisture wicking in hot weather?
If you're buying the right wool socks there's ones available for every season. Cotton holds moisture. A good wool blend wicks moisture and will not hold it. Wool keeps you warm even when it's wet. Cotton does not. Fancy alpaca wool socks or cheap smartwools seem to pill up fairly quickly but others like DarnTough, Lorpen, FarmToFeet, Hiwassee are highly durable as long as you don't dry them like an inbred (I wear the same 3 or 4 pairs on consecutive days every day for forestry field work seasons for years on end). The only place cotton wins out is price. But that's the same quantity/quality debate to be had with any item.
I'm worried about it keeping me warm when I'm working in the yard and it's 105°F. That's why I want it to breathe. I also don't want it to cost 5 times as much unless they're going to last 5 times as long. I can walk around the house in my cotton socks without shoes and they last me about 5-7 years.
There's summer weight wool socks too that don't get hot and that won't hold sweat like cotton does. Good wool socks are as or more durable than similarly-priced cotton.
(post is archived)