Smartwool are awesome

Get the correct ones for the weather you are in too!

For many MANY years I relied upon a pair of LL Bean winter pacs - the kind with the wool felt liner. Recently, maybe because of my age (50), I've found that the felt pac boots provide absolutely no support, and if I wear them more than for an hour or two - or with a lot of walking - they make my feet sore. They fit more like simple slippers, which didn't do me well worn on all day/weekend activities with the Scouts.

Because of that I decided to avoid the felt pac type of boot and since then have purchased a pair of Sorel Conquest boots - boots that use Thinsulate insulation.

Unfortunately I haven't yet had a chance to wear them for an extended time yet ... but I think they'll work just fine.

Here in the Boston area we have Dr. Murray Hamlet, a researcher formerly at the Army Research Institute in Environmental Medicine. He is someone who knows just about everything there is to know about being out in the cold (and I do not say that lightly). He has given being-out-in-the-cold talks at REI and the Appalachian Mountain Club.

One of his recommendations is to spray your feet with an antiperspirant (not deodorant) for a couple of weeks before going out for an extended time in a high threat cold environment. This will seriously reduce the amount that your feet sweat and keep your socks drier and thus keep your feet warmer.

It is an easy experiment to try; simply spray one foot in this fashion and not the other. See if it makes a difference when out in the cold.

Hamlet also has developed sock systems for all-weather and extreme weather situations. See http://techspun.com/whichsock.html and http://www.techspun.com/comments.html.