electric socks

A friend of mine picked up a pair like these, and liked them. They ate up several batteries on the 4 day trip in the mountains, so bring plenty.

How's your circulation while wearing your boots? I switched to a bigger pair and double socks, and I don't even need chemical warmers on the coldest days anymore.

don't know anything about electric socks, but know a thing or two about cold weather hunting and appropriate clothes.

make sure your boot fit is good. too big and you get blisters, too small and you get cold feet. 400 grams of thinsulate in a quality, properly fitting boot will likely be all you ever need. my 400 gram boots are meindl's, and i was wearing 'em yesterday in 6" of snow and 7°f when i busted another deer - and my feet never got cold.

use good socks - i like many of the types cabela's has. gets a little expensive at $5-15/pair, but hunting is my thing and worth it to me.

the boots and socks gotta work together. come up short on one or the other and you will have cold feet. make sure you try your boots on w/ your hunting weight socks.

i never did the electric sock thing because a friend of mine claims he did and they caught on fire. i wasn't there and didn't see it, but i found i didn't need them, either.

good luck!

don't know anything about electric socks, but know a thing or two about cold weather hunting and appropriate clothes.

make sure your boot fit is good. too big and you get blisters, too small and you get cold feet. 400 grams of thinsulate in a quality, properly fitting boot will likely be all you ever need. my 400 gram boots are meindl's, and i was wearing 'em yesterday in 6" of snow and 7°f when i busted another deer - and my feet never got cold.

use good socks - i like many of the types cabela's has. gets a little expensive at $5-15/pair, but hunting is my thing and worth it to me.

the boots and socks gotta work together. come up short on one or the other and you will have cold feet. make sure you try your boots on w/ your hunting weight socks.

i never did the electric sock thing because a friend of mine claims he did and they caught on fire. i wasn't there and didn't see it, but i found i didn't need them, either.

good luck!

don't know anything about electric socks, but know a thing or two about cold weather hunting and appropriate clothes.

make sure your boot fit is good. too big and you get blisters, too small and you get cold feet. 400 grams of thinsulate in a quality, properly fitting boot will likely be all you ever need. my 400 gram boots are meindl's, and i was wearing 'em yesterday in 6" of snow and 7°f when i busted another deer - and my feet never got cold.

use good socks - i like many of the types cabela's has. gets a little expensive at $5-15/pair, but hunting is my thing and worth it to me.

the boots and socks gotta work together. come up short on one or the other and you will have cold feet. make sure you try your boots on w/ your hunting weight socks.

i never did the electric sock thing because a friend of mine claims he did and they caught on fire. i wasn't there and didn't see it, but i found i didn't need them, either.

good luck!

I tried those one time - they didn't work very well because the electricity didn't provide much warmth at all (very weak), and the socks themselves were of poor to mediocre quality, so it turns out that a good thick merino lambswool sock without batteries is warmer.

Do you use anti-perspirant on your feet? An old hunting mag recommended that for keeping feet warm, may be worth a shot.

Nothing worse than cold feet. Have you tried some of those boot blankets. I have sat in 15 below zero with these over boots and a disposable handwarmer in each and no cold toes. The booties fold and are easily packed and the handwarmers last for up to 12 hours.
Go to www.Cabelas do a search for "Arctic Shield Boot Insulators"

I see that you are from Texas. Texas' climate varies widely. What part of the state do hunt in? And what is the climate like?

I (from central GA) used to get extremely cold feet, until I changed my dress. Beforehand I tried everything, even electric socks, but nothing helped. But I always noticed that my socks were wet when I took them off, even in dry weather. Well you may have guessed it, my feet were sweating. Wet socks and cold air, make for very cold feet. ~10 years ago, I changed to uninsulated boots, and standard athletic socks. My feet might get chilly in extremely cold weather (for Georgia <20 deg.), but they'd never get cold. I recently changed to "UnderArmor Heat Gear" socks. I am extremely impressed with them.

This may not be your problem, but if your socks are damp at the end of the hunt, it may very well be worth a try.

Wyman

I have a pair of electric socks that I bought 20 years ago. Activated, they were too hot, off, they were too cold. Nothing in between once they made your feet sweaty. I wore them two or three times and put them up.

+1 on the boot blankets!!!!

I have a pair called Ice Breakers boot covers. They are bulky, but they work very well. I have never had cold feet when wearing them.

Sock liners are another thing I wear every time I hunt. I wear a good quality wicking liner and usually wool socks over.

I had some of the battery socks 30 years ago. As I recall they worked on two "D" cells each, and didn't last long. As a kid playing in the snow I use to freeze my feet regularly. Many times I could only feel from the ankles up, felt like your running on two sticks.
Later I froze them on a deer hunt near Canada when part of my big toe turn black and fell off. That was a hurt that lasted along time. I think those early years did harm to the foot circulation as I can't handle even 25 degrees. I use the heater pads now.

Last year I forgott my hunting boots at home and ended up wearing a pair of plan leather work boots during a 3 day 10 degree hunt. I dont remember the brand of socks that i had on but there were about $7 from Runnings. my feet never got cold. I wouldnt recomend this practice but if you get a good pair of wool socks you should be fine.

do you not find it a bit awkward having to run out the extension lead to the socket?

I tried the electric socks a few years back...they were not as warm as a good pair of wool socks...at least 80% wool will insulate, even if its wet.

That said...1400 grams of Thinsulate in your boots (Rocky Bear Claw Arctic hunting boots) works pretty good too...get both and you'll have warm feet.

cold feet

seriously talc your feet first then put on some nice thick wool socks and don't overtighten your boots. If if is really cold then put another pair of cotton socks underneath.

however we rarely have temperatures below -5. i rarely hunt in weather like that.

uk

My dad had a pair twenty years ago. He cut the battery hook-ups off and wore them as regular socks.

seriously talc your feet first then put on some nice thick wool socks and don't overtighten your boots. If if is really cold then put another pair of cotton socks underneath.

Click to expand...

I agree with talcing your feet, but do not wear cotton under wool. Cotton holds moisture. I powder my feet, put on a thin pair of polyester cheapo dress socks, then put on heavy wool or technofabric socks, then boot up.

For you guys who say you can stay warm with 400-1200 gram insulated boots and socks, consider yourself lucky. I bought some 1300 gram 1/2 size large boots and sock up in the above described manner and I sometimes still get numb toes.

I have often wondered about those boot blankets, I guess I'll have to try them.

Boot Bags

I'm new here, but could not resist this! I used to coon hunt in the winter here in S. GA ...those high rubber boots got colder than a well diggers butt in Iowa...this goes against the sweating as the reason of cold feet! Put on a good pair of cotton socks....pull on your favorite brand of light bread sack..Sunbeam worked great for us...put on another thin sock over the bread sack .... when you got home and pulled the boots off your inter sock would be dripping wet and stink like the coon dogs ...but I never had cold feet again!

JimK

A humble suggestion: I bet you wear a baseball cap hunting. Start wearing a toboggan or a watch cap. Keep your head warm. I'll be willing to bet that you'll be amazed at how warm the rest of your body stays. The body is like a chimney, an awful lot of heat goes out the top.

wt101 has a good point.
the years have worn the hair off my head. i wear a thinsulate lined knitted hat or a fleece hat in the winter.

I find that if i talc my feet and wear cotton under nylon they don't sweat. when it is cold. decent boots with decent insoles help.

Get yourself a Russian ushanka hat off Ebay. That'll keep your head warm and help you keep the rest of your body warm as well. Those Commies came up with a few good ideas, and those winter caps were one of them.

For boots, make sure that they're waterproof if you're going to be hiking in snow. Gore-Tex is a wonderful invention. Also wool socks. Wool dries from the inside out, so even if you sweat some they'll still help keep your feet warm.

Layer your socks, a light liner sock made of polpropolyene or silk, that will wick moisture away from the foot then a insulating sock merino wool the will insulate even if wet. You don't want to compress the layers but rather leave enough room in the boot to trap air which is warmed by body heat. That is the way those overboots, mentioned by the previous post,works.

I have several different pairs of boots , two of the same model by Rocky the only difference in those two pair is the size, one pair is a full size larger for double layering socks for extreme cold.

Stay away from cotton in cold weather especially if you use it for a base layer , cotton holds the moisture against your skin, thats why cotton is so cool in the summer

Wool or the newer "performance" fabrics transfer that moisture away from the skin and into the insulating layer to finally be evaporated by your body heat, thus keeping the skin dry and warm.

Dagger Dog is wise. He knows exactly what he is talking about. DO NOT wear cotton if you want to stay warm. You need: 1.) good liner socks 2.) nice wool or synthetic blend socks (must be 'moisture wicking') 3.) Good pac boots with 1000 to 1400 grams of insulation. You can find all of these things at cabelas or basspro. Also, if you keep your upper body warm with a good layering system and a good hat to keep your head warm you will be better off. once again: STAY AWAY FROM COTTON. once it gets wet it loses its lnsulating properties. Fleece, wool, underarmour, to name a few are good to go. You're welcome. (you will thank me{and dagger dog} later)