2pk Men's or Women's Mountain Lodge 80% Merino Wool Socks Thermal Hiking Crew

I buy these items with my own pennies and try to provide an honest, and as helpful a review as possible. If you felt I was successful, please share the love and click on that "thumbs-up" icon!Short Review:If potential factory seconds are "ok" for you in the sock category, at $8.88 for two pairs, these socks came out to be some of the most affordable socks I found on Amazon. They are NOT 100% wool, but are blended at 80% merino wool, 17% Nylon, 2% Spandex, 1% Elastic.Long Review:Since I just received them, I will not be able to provide a "long term" review and give accurate information on how long these socks may last under normal wear and tear.Originally, I was looking for socks made from 100% wool. I came across these blended socks, and decided that the blend was "just fine!" - and here is why:NYLON: After years of handling fabrics, laundering them in large volumes, I have discovered that generally, Nylon is a hardier thread when you are using machines to wash. Cotton and wool tend to get pulled out by machines during wash cycles and end up as "lint". Nylon can improve the "life" of a fabric when it is threaded through the whole of a fabric, and helps in holding "structure" and life(?) of the fabric. Of the thousands of sheets, towels, clothes that flow through the company machines, we end up with pounds and pounds of shedded material in the lint bins - cotton and wool. Of the stuff that stays together, it is mostly Nylon and such synthetics. They pretty much hold your fabrics together as it goes through the wash. Unless you are hardcore washing everything by hand, or extremely careful with each article of clothing you launder, having Nylon in these socks make them a bit more forgiving if you were to throw them into a washing machine under the wrong cycle. Something that could easily happen to a sock as opposed to a sweater.SPANDEX and "elastic" helps in... well, elasticity. It keeps a sock "stretchable." - I have worn socks without spandex-like material, and they just flop around, stretch-out and keep pulling down around my ankles. I didn't like that much. I wanted my socks to stay pulled up. Spandex is pretty important in terms of comfort, and keeping that sock in place, fitted right on your foot. I would say that having Spandex and elastic material is acceptible in a sock - though less so in something like a sheet or sweater.MERINO WOOL (80%) - merino wool is somewhat finer (in terms of thread thickness) compared to wool. This translates to it being more comfortable on the skin, as well as tends to take more threads to cover the same surface area as normal wool. Official Army issue blankets sometimes are composed of less than this percentage of wool. Wool holds it warming properties even when wet, is resistant to certain forms of bacterial proliferation, and resistant to fire. 80% is not 100%, but will generally take care of 99% of whatever situations a normal consumer is placed in when there are cold weather conditions.Considering the pros and cons of these socks, they look nearly ideal on paper!Why 4 stars instead of 5?Well, they seem to be factory seconds! There are plenty of mis-stiches and it is generally pretty roughly put together. At the price-point, and the simple fact that they are socks (meant to be worn within a boot or a shoe as opposed to a beautiful sweater worn outside) - bad stitching detracts from the whole product in a tiny, tiny way. The only concern would be the life-span of the product, as bad stitching can many times contribute to un-raveling or "runs" within the sock etc. (decreasing the life of the sock in general). So minus a star for the factory-second bad stitching. If they didn't sell them as "factory firsts" and did indeed inform everyone on Amazon that they had these pulled threads/mis-stitched pieces etc., I probably would have still bought them, and given them the full 5 stars! But when you are buying something as "new" you do expect "some" QC, and the item to actually be a "factory first."Hope that helps!

Good value for the money. Roughly the equivalent of the D.G. Hill brand. Yes, there are better socks out there, but you will pay MUCH more for the really great ones.About the content complaints:Content will depend on color. The product description is correct... but only for the brown ones; 80% merino wool, 17% nylon, 2% spandex, 1% elastic. The grey ones are 71% wool, 26% nylon, 2% spandex and 1% elastic.Fit:The large ones are a perfect size 10.5 (men's), which happens to be my size. I really can't see a size 12 guy getting these on.They "stay up" fairly well. Made in USA, and shipped from Brooklyn, NY.And if this is your fist experience with merino wool, prepare to kick yourself for not doing it sooner.

Good value for the money. A little tight but still comortable once you pull them on (I'm a man who wears 9.5 US shoe and I got the large socks). The blend is delicious, warm and comfy. The do pill up in the dryer; if you care, dry them on the back of the couch.

These are made very well and are very warm wool socks. The price is fantastic 2 pair for $9.00, that's an excellent price I had to replace the mediums for a large size, but received very quickly. I have no complaints, and plan to buy more pairs soon. Thank you for the service.

I do like this, it is lightweight, warm, and comfortable. My only criticsm is that if I put them in the dryer they "ball up", even though they are brand new. So I hang them up to dry.

These socks fit snuggly. I am a 160 lb woman and feel there's a certain amount of compression in the fit that might benefit people who are using these as work socks. They seem to be well made. When I purchased these, I was looking for something with more cushioning and comfort in walking, and these do not fit that bill (for me). I've worn them twice, and feel that they are a good buy if you need that compression effect. If you weigh more, be careful, because they most likely would be too small, as they almost are for me.

These socks are nicer than the socks I get at Costco, and there's 80% wool, and I can wear them inside my Merrill boots without being overly bulky; And they don't slide on my foot as I walk, which means I won't need sock liners under them.

Not so thick that you to to upsize shoes or boots to wear and warm.