Introduction
Let’s talk about socks. When it comes to wearing them with Vibrams, some people love them and some people hate them. I’m in the “love” camp, and always wear socks when running. I find it keeps me from getting blisters when I’m running more than 5 miles or so and it keeps my shoes from getting smelly too fast. Just about the only time I don’t wear socks with Vibrams is if I’m doing a short gym/weight workout.
Currently there aren’t many manufacturers catering to the toe sock crowd. A quick search on
Zappos brings up Injinji and Smartwool and apparently
Fila also makes toed socks for
their Skele-toes lineup. One last manufacturer that has been around for several years, but that I had only recently heard of, is
ToeSox.
ToeSox makes a variety of products; their lineup includes socks with and without toes (think “fingerless” gloves) as well as socks with sticky dots on the bottom to provide grip when doing yoga. Interestingly, they even make a
5-toed sandal! Unfortunately I can’t tell from the website if it has a zero-drop heel.
In this review we’ll be taking a look at the Ultralite
Crew and
Ankle cut socks that are meant to be used with running, cycling and climbing shoes. The Ultralite series is the thinnest of ToeSox’s offerings, as they also make Light Weight (meant for general all-around use) and Medium Weight socks (intended for hiking and trails).
ToeSox — Materials, Colors & Sizing
ToeSox uses what they call Perf Dry yarn in these socks, which is a wicking synthetic fiber. For comparison, they feel quite similar to Injinji’s thinnest Lightweight sock. The Perf Dry is soft and comfortable against the skin and the Ultralites stretch and are easy to pull on. I’ve found that the Original Weight Injinji’s can require quite a bit of pulling to get them on until you’ve gotten them broken in over time (the Injinji Lightweights don’t seem to have this problem).
The ToeSox Crew cut comes in four colors: black, white, grey and royal blue. If you want to go nuts, the Ankle cut has a grand total of nine colors: black, white, grey, royal blue, pink, yellow, green, red and purple!
As for sizing, the Ultralites come in standard sizes of Small, Medium, Large and XLarge. As a side note, the Light Weight and Medium Weight ToeSox come in XSmall and XXSmall as well, so there are some options for kids too!
Fit
These socks appear to be pretty standard with the exception of center band which ToeSox refers to as the arch band. According to their marketing, the arch band is a “4cm arch support band that anchors the sock to the foot and relaxes the fascia by compressing it.” In practice, I could tell that they were just a bit more snug around the middle of the foot than Injinji socks, but in a side by side comparison when walking, running or working out at the gym, I couldn’t tell much a difference.
The top band is intentionally made a bit taller to keep the socks in place and not sagging down your leg. I have pretty large “cankles” so this isn’t normally a problem for me. I was pleased to find that they aren’t overly tight and don’t dig into my skin or leave too much of a ring after I take them off.
One last thing on fit—I have pretty stubby toes and the toe length in these socks seemed to be just right. Your takeaway should be that if you have extraordinarily long toes, you might consider sizing up.
Performance
With any sports attire or gear, the most important criteria for me is that I’m not actually aware that I have it on. When you’re running a marathon or are in the middle of an 8-hour bike ride the last think you want to be thinking about is chafing or ill fitting clothes.
So how’d they do? I put the Ultralites to a head-to-head comparison with Injinji’s similar Lightweight socks in a side by side test, running on the treadmill, lifting weights and running stairs. The thin material kept things cool enough, they felt comfortable the whole time, and I didn’t experience any rubbing or hotspots. The Injinji’s may be just a little more sheer when stretched, but the difference is quite negligible.
Closing Thoughts
If you’re the type that likes wearing socks with Vibrams then the ToeSox Ultralite series is definitely an option worth checking out as an alternative to Injinji’s Lightweight socks. With a similar fabric weight and comparable comfort/performance, having a choice is never a bad thing, right?
I’m a big fan of compression gear and Injinji’s compression socks rank among my favorites in terms of tight fit and durability. Based on what I’ve seen from the Ultralite lineup, I’d love to see an compression sock from ToeSox.
ToeSox Ultralite Crew and Ankle socks can be purchased from the
ToeSox online store for $11 and $10, respectively — and thanks to a promo code ToeSox has offered
BirthdayShoes readers you can get 15% off your purchase of socks in teh UltraSport collection — simply enter BirthdayShoes at checkout! This offer will be good until 10/31/2012.
7 replies on “ToeSox Ultralite Crew & Ankle Socks Review”
I have a couple pairs of the ultralite crew ankle Toe Sox that my husband picked up for me at the outdoor retail show, and I have to say I actually prefer them to Injinis as the toes just fit my skinnier toes better (a more glove like fit) both width and length wise.
The toes on Injinjis are generally too long and too bulky for me. I wear them, but I get bunching up in all of my VFF’s.
On the other hand, my husband finds the Toesox (also the ultralites) are too tight around his bigger and bulkier toes and that they cut into the webbing between his toes more (he does have slightly webbed feet). He likes Injinjis better.
Great review. I checked out the Toe Sox website and I will order some soon. I love the Smart Wool toe socks.
Do the toes in Toe Sox stretch? That’s the thing I love about the Smart Wool socks, the toes stretch to fit my toe size.
I’ve spent a fortune on toe socks (I totally love them and have been wearing them long before I got my first pair of Vibrams), Injinji in particular. I love their rainbow striped ones =D Although the black rainbow ones seem to get holes in the big toe faster than the other colors (including the white rainbows). Not sure why, but I make an extra effort to keep my toenails clipped these days. I hate their super-thin socks.
Fila’s socks suck! I’m a size 10.5 / 11 mens, and could only find their socks in Large, not Extra Large (my feet really aren’t that big…) – they are way too tight and the ankle doesn’t rise high enough to cover the top of the Vibram shoe. Waste of money.
I saw tons of people wearing their skeletoes shoes at the Six Flags waterpark this year, but I think the soles are way too thick, and I don’t care for the 4-toe design. That’s marketing for ya.
ToeSox are okay, but the only ones I have found are synthetic – I find them pretty uncomfortable, they stink up faster, and wear out pretty quickly. Then again, I haven’t looked too hard, because I love my Injinjis (even if they ~are~ $12 each)
There’s also another little known brand of toe socks called Toetoe. It’s a UK based company but you order them online from a few places like Sockdreams.com which is actually a small sock shop in oregon. Best thing about them is they ship free with in the US. Back to the socks though, the reason why I will by them almost exclusively is because they are VERY resistant to that horrible 5 finger smell! It’s actually quite remarkable. The only downside is if your VFF’s fit you very snugly as they aren’t exactly thin, and a lot of them only come in one size and stretch to fit (they do stretch a lot!) so if you have large feet they may not be very comfortable. Lucky for me they fit and they save me from the smell for months!
re MasterBlaster
“ToeSox are okay, but the only ones I have found are synthetic”
I saw they have a cocona line also, did you try that?
too thick socks can peel off the cloth at the rubber sole of you five fingers, so be careful. or buy five fingers one size larger for winter!
Ahh.. so THAT is why my damn soles keep getting eaten away. I’m on my second pair of “Trek LS” shoes in 14 months and, for as comfortable and durable as the exteriors are, I’ve been pissed to find that the soles get eaten through at the heels. I always wear injinji socks with any of my Vibrams (unless I plan on getting them wet), otherwise they quickly smell wretched. But after two months, both pairs were worn completely through. My last pair died earlier this spring when the leather in the arch of my right foot cracked and formed a hole… disappointing, but I did wear them at least 4 days a week to work (I like my speeds or bikila LS for the weekends). But my new pair is already wearing out, and I am not happy! I tried gluing some “moleskin” to that section of the heel, but it too is becoming worn. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to prevent this?