Cold Weather Winter Boot Socks – Tight or Loose Fit?

Having good cold weather boot socks is important! However those socks won’t help as much if the boots don’t fit right.

One tip to keep feet and toes warm in your boots is partially about how your boots fit.

Have you ever put on winter boot socks and then crammed your feet into boots only to discover that your feet and toes get cold? Doesn’t make sense, right? You figure that those nice thick socks combined with your insulated winter boots ought to keep your feet nice and warm!

Here’s the secret:

Wiggle Room For Your Winter Boot Socks

It’s important that your winter boots don’t fit too tight. That means you should consider extra size when you buy them – for some thick winter boot socks. When you add heavy cold-weather socks, there should still be wiggle room at your toes and all around. And the boots shouldn’t feel uncomfortably tight.

The secret is allowing enough air to circulate in your boot to naturally fill the sock’s insulating fibers.

If the sock is compressed tightly in the boot, the natural warmth from your feet will be more readily transferred out and away from your feet. (Rather than filling the micro-spaces within the fibers of the sock material).

When there’s enough wiggle room in the boot for the sock fibers to hold air, the warmth from your feet will more readily stay in your boot!

Plus, if the fit is too tight, the insulating fibers in the boot itself will be compacted, which further reduces effectiveness of those fibers.

If your foot is constricted by boots that are too small to accommodate heavy or multiple socks your, feet will get colder than they should.

Buy Boots 1/2 Size Larger (or 1 Size larger)

Therefore if you plan to wear heavy thick winter boot socks (or multiple socks) ALWAYS buy boots at least a half size larger than you would normally wear. Sometimes you have to go a full size bigger depending on the boot or shoe. Me? My winter boots are usually 1 whole size larger than my shoe size.

For even better results when wearing winter socks, you might wear a sock liner under your winter socks. These are specially made to wear under heavy socks. They are very thin and usually made of a polyester material to wick away any sweat from your feet.

Cold Weather Winter Boot Socks

Winter Boot Socks

If you haven’t already, invest in several good pairs of winter boot socks. I’ve always like Merino Wool (they don’t itch). Given where I live, our winters can be long and cold. So I’ve collected lots and lots of boot socks over the years! Next thing I’m going to look into, are those battery-powered heated socks!

Here’s a great choice for Merino Wool boot socks:

Best Selling high-rated on amzn (men & women)

Ultra lightweight liner crew socks
(amzn)

[ Read: 5 Steps To Buy Boots That Fit ]

19 Comments

  1. Don’t use cotton ….. micro fibers or wool

    US Army has artic boots White ones go down to -60, The black ones go to negative 40.

  2. I wear and have had very good use from the omni wool socks at sams club. No itch and fit me very well. If i remember correctly (very questionable) they are about $15 for 3 pair.

    1. Country,

      I agree 100%. They usually only have them after October and into early Feb. last year I started getting an extra couple of packs for the shelf. Tough to beat the price and long lasting.

  3. Boots and socks are sometimes hard to find in the right sizes for those of us that have water skis for feet. : )

    Normal winters are very mild for the most part here. This weekend will be quiet different and good warm socks will be needed.

  4. Years ago when I lived just south of Siberia, my go-to were triple-wall smart wool socks from L.L. Bean. Never had cold feet and I was regularly outside in -40F and below weather. What helped was that it was nose-bleed dry in the winter and all the moisture (snow, sleet) sublimated to ice. For shoes I wore a prototype Teva rafting sandal. The thick base was nonskid (built for use with rigid frame inflatables) and held in heat of the foot. Lived near a Teva guy back home. As long as my feet were dry, they stayed warm in that sock/sandal combo. And I never slipped on the ice that covered everything. . . Storm splashed over the mountains last night with an east wind. Wind chill now is 10F with gusts of 40 mph. Unseasonable weather for these parts.

  5. I like the Smartwool brand of socks. They are expensive but they are worth it. I do not let my dog chew on these socks. They handle repeat wash and dry cycles well as being warm and comfortable on my feet.

  6. SS, thanks for the vote of confidence. circulation assist, if ONE does not have low blood pressure. Vitamin K2, 200mcg daily with Vitamin D3 8k units+ ALA one capsule daily..w/l carnitine if available.. Make sure taking immune boosters ,unless known high on zinc, iodine and copper. all are necessary for vascular health.
    suggest what i did… Do a deep dive on food sources of each of these minerals and if not getting consistently in food- supplement with at least 100% of MINIMUM daily. I did this for iodine and my heartbeat came back up to my 5 year normal. and did this for copper and the blood vessels in hands stopped breaking. You do know what your normal resting heart beat is: the first thing in the morning,Dont You???

    1. MSB’er “The Original Just Sayin’ ” who kindly shares her extensive knowledge re herbals, supplements, nutrition, etc with us

  7. We use 100% silk undersocks by REI and merino wool boot socks by Smart Wool and our boots are a full one size up. For skiiing and winter conditions we use the sorel artic boots in black and white. They are super durable.

  8. We use 100% silk undersocks by REI and merino wool boot socks by Smart Wool (they are super durable) and our boots are a full one size up. For skiiing and winter conditions we use the sorel artic boots in black and white.

  9. We also keep in the truck a set of Neos Navigator 5 overshoes for each of us, which are designed to go over regular shoes, running shoes, hikers, etc. These are the tall ones that for me come up to just below the knee. We have used them numerous times while traveling / camping / boating, particularly in the Sierras, when we were caught in mud/ rain / sleet / snow and they kept our feet dry and provide good traction. Also have a set of the strap on ice studs for each set of boots.

  10. – Smartwool socks for me. Youngest DD was complaining about cold feet with new job at Lowes hardware, gave her a set of three pair for early Christmas present. She tells me she loves them and was actually looking at some more at another store nearby (didn’t get them because. well, Christmas).
    – Papa S.

    1. – Definitely loose fit, especially when out in cold. I remember a comment of mine about being out in three meters (call it ten feet) of snow on the Czech border and having enough layers on that a .22 probably would not have made it to my skin (wind chill was minus eighty F). Air Force-issue Artic Muk-Luks were on my feet (actually got them from a guy who wintered over in Antarctica) but they were not tight.
      – Papa

  11. In the army in Germany in winter, we had the big galoshes with buckles to wear over our boots. I would put on the green wool army socks, a warm pair of slippers, and stuff wrinkled up newspapers in the galoshes to keep them firm on my feet. While others complained about cold feet, I was warm. Of course, you couldn’t afford to drop anything on your foot as there was zero impact protection!

  12. SoulSurvival when I lived at 9k elevation in central Colorado and had a snowplow business back in the 80s I used to wear “moonboots” they were the warmest most comfortable boot around and surprisingly held up damm good. Later I discovered 100% rabbit wool fur socks that are available on ebay, the great thing is they are as good if not better then merino wool and significantly cheaper. Remember the old army adage “wool is warm and Cotten is rotten”, a decade ago I started buying pull on bass brand boots with inserts I have experimented using them in zero degree weather without even socks and my piggies still stay warm.

  13. If given the choice I buy Smartwool socks. Smartwool has a number of different styles and thicknesses for you to choose whats best for you. Spendy, but they last and last in my experience.
    As for boots, ample toe room is mandatory. I also do not like to lace them up too snug around my ankles. I think it hampers good blood flow, thus causing feet to get cold sooner.

  14. – When I was in the Army in Germany from the late seventies until the Wall came down, I had to wear dress/issue-type black leather boots. Always a full size larger in winter than what I wore the rest of the year, and typically I wore two pairs of the green issue wool socks. Out in the weather most of the time, never recall having cold feet. When in civvies, even back then wore Smartwool or merino socks year around. Wool is cool when you need it to be, warm when the weather is cold. Always leave room in the toe box on your boots, even if you are rappelling down the side of a mountain.

    – Papa S.

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