Stox Energy Socks review: crew-height compression socks for hiking

Designed in the Netherlands, made in Italy and tested with Swisslastic AG Devices, these Stox Energy Socks might look like an ordinary pair of foot warmers at first glance, but there’s more going on here than initially meets the eye, at least if the marketing material that comes with them can be believed – and those guys always tell the truth, right?

With a premium price tag to justify, these crew-height compression socks for hiking boast big things, including the provision of a significant degree of muscle and ankle support to help prevent the trail-walking wearer from getting too weary while exploring the wilds. I’ve been putting them through their paces to find out whether they live up to their promises.

Materials

Stox describe these as merino socks, and say they are biodegradable and ecofriendly, but the wool content only constitutes a third of the ingredients that have gone into the overall mix, and the main material, Polyamide, isn’t usually biodegradable (or ecofriendly – I can’t see any mention of it being recycled either) and neither is the elastane. So that’s a very misleading claim right there… Bad marketing people!

That said, many of the best hiking socks on the market employ a mix of merino and synthetics because, for all its many, many qualities (sumptuous next-to-skin feel, breathability, moisture-wicking capability, temperature regulation and natural anti-bacterial pong-defeating powers), merino wool is prone to developing holes when used on its own. And no one wants to see their toes poking out the end of an expensive pair of socks after just a few wears.

Design and fit

There is a lot of decent design in these socks, including the circular knitting technology used, which results in a comfy seamless finish, and the well-considered use of additional padding in the footbed and around the heel. You can buy the best hiking shoes or most comfortable walking boots on the planet, but if you don’t pair them with decent-fitting socks, you are not going to have a good time on the trails, so good quality is worth paying for.

These socks are anatomically tailored for the left and right foot (and are clearly labelled accordingly) and the sizing is very specific. You need to choose from three sizes – 1M, 2M, 3M for men, 1W, 2W, 3W for women – according to your shoe size and (importantly) the girth of your calf muscle. For example, the M2, which I was testing, fits men whose US shoe size is between 10.5 and 13.5, with a calf that measures in the range of 15 to 17.5 inches. Stox say purchasers should be led primarily by their calf size, because unless you get that right, the all-important compression will not work as intended.

Feeling the squeeze

You might be wondering what compression socks do – advocates argue that they’re beneficial for medium- and long-distance runners and hikers because they assist blood flow to the leg muscles and can help alleviate something called DOM (delayed onset muscle soreness), a painful affliction that kicks in after long bouts of exercise. Many outdoor-active people, including some experienced endurance athletes, swear by the positive effects of compression products, but the science behind it remains inconclusive.

Compression is a force recorded in millimeters of mercury (the same scale employed to measure blood pressure). These socks have a rating of 23-32 mmHg, which is quite high. However, it’s worth pointing out that these crew-cut socks only extend a little bit above the ankle, to the bottom of the calf muscle (whereas most compression socks go right to the knee), and the support they supply is graded, so I don’t think there’s any risk of them negatively affecting your experience on the trails or (more importantly) your health.

If you suffer from cramps, muscle soreness or swollen feet during or after long hikes, it’s really worth giving compression a try, and these shorter socks are a good first step. (There are some obvious caveats here: don’t set off on a long walk wearing compression socks without having tested them closer to home first, and if you experience any discomfort, swap them for a standard pair of hiking socks.)

On the trails

I have been wearing the Stox socks for a couple of months now, during hiking, trekking, backpacking and fastpacking adventures. The first thing to note is that they are very comfortable on the trails. The extra padding is well-placed and highly effective, and the fit and foothold is excellent. The contoured left/right foot-specific fit is exceptional, and the compression means they stay in place all day long, massively reducing the risk of developing blisters and hotspots.

Compression can make me feel uncomfortable, but the smartly graded support supplied by these socks (and the low cut) provided me with extra security around my ankles (a weak point) and gave me more confidence on the trail, especially when I was wearing a hiking backpack. They’re also a lot easier to put on and take off than any other compression socks I’ve used (which sounds like a minor point, but at the end of a long day of hard hiking, it matters…).

I like the crew cut of these socks, which means you can use them throughout summer without cooking your legs. The use of merino wool does help to make them more breathable than they would be if they were entirely synthetic, but I did still find my feet feeling pretty hot on some occasions (something I put down to the tight fit and large amount of poly material in the mix).

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