What socks are best for ruck marching and what other tips are there to help with foot care during long distance rucking?

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 23 Mar 2019 19:56:01 -0400

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Mar 23 at 2019 8:28 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Sat, 23 Mar 2019 20:28:56 -0400

I did well with army issued socks. Make sure your boots are broken in.

Response by CW2 Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 23 at 2019 8:40 PM

CW2 Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 23 Mar 2019 20:40:29 -0400

We recommend 3 brands to soldiers preparing for ARSOF Assessment and Selection courses. This is not "government sponsorship" of the brands, just what we have seen successful candidates wear, and what we in SOF particularly lean to.
Fox River
Darn Tough
Smart Wool
Especially smartwool, you will pay a good amount for socks, more than you probably would consider a single pair of socks costing. But it is well worth it
Rocky makes some decent socks as well, but the three listed above are really really good socks.

As for other foot care, there are some tricks but they vary from person to person. Some people duct tape their feet where they know they get blisters, others use body glide to get the feet sliding more. Some use the 2 sock trick, with one thick one and one really thin "liner" to help slide in the boot. You need to figure out what works for you, find out what part of your feet get blisters and mitigate those spots. I personally just use a good set of Fox River's, and good boots. Great socks with bad boots is like buying great golf clubs but not knowing a thing about golf - essentially nothing. Issued boots are made to last until you get another clothing allowance, and be the right color. Other boots are made for performance, but you have to sacrifice some things, usually longevity. They're lighter so they don't weigh you down, but if there's a pointy chunk of gravel, you may feel it. See where I'm going?

Know how to treat a blister. don't cut it, or pop it, peel it, or any weird crap like that. You'll need a needle and thread. Thread the needle. Insert the needle in one end of the blister and sew the thread completely across it and out the other side. Remove the needle but LEAVE THE THREAD. It should be going through the blister with tails coming out both ends, perhaps 2 inches sticking out each end. This will slowly drain the blister and essentially "glue" the piece of skin back on. Remove the thread once it is healed pretty well. It will be kinda gross, the thread will be "sucking" the stuff out of the blister and will then evaporate, but it works!!!

Response by WO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 23 at 2019 8:45 PM

WO1 Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 23 Mar 2019 20:45:31 -0400

I love my fox rivers, and if its a particularly long ruck, make sure to change them whenever you can.

Response by SGM Bill Frazer made Mar 23 at 2019 8:48 PM

SGM Bill Frazer — Sat, 23 Mar 2019 20:48:53 -0400

Any good thick sock to include the issue ones. Try to keep dry. Soak feet in brine or pickle juice a couple of times to harden skin. Use foot powder regularly, Have boot well broken in.

Response by SSG Brian G. made Mar 23 at 2019 9:35 PM

SSG Brian G. — Sat, 23 Mar 2019 21:35:52 -0400

Toughen your feet up. I used to run around a lot with no shoes on and barefoot. Takes a bit to build those callouses up but once you have them you are good to go. Next is find a good foot power and apply it regularly. Now for socks. You are going to want to put out some money here on good quality socks. Some double up, some don't. Carry extra pairs of socks, you WILL need them.

Get two pairs of good quality boots and break them in good. I mean real good. This will be crucial and save you a fair amount of pain. Once you have broken them in, get a pair of good insoles, the memory foam kind and put them in there. This will help cushion your feet and help to wick away moisture and keep them in one spot rather than slipping and sliding around. This will also allow that you have a bit more for the laces to bite to.

Learn where your wear points are in your boots and if you need to add additional padding at those points to avoid getting blisters for as long as you can. Trust me, you WANT this. You will get blisters eventually, it happens but the longer you can avoid it the better. When you do get a blister do not ignore it, treat it but do it the right way. Do not rip it off, cut it or pop it. You want to basically treat it like a candle wick. Thread a needle and run it in one side, then out the other. Leave about an inch of material on either side and snip it off. The fluid will drain out and the skin that was puffed out will reseat slowly back into place. After a bit when it has healed just pull the thread out.

Learn how to balance your ruck load and pack ONLY the minimum necessary.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 23 at 2019 10:25 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 23 Mar 2019 22:25:11 -0400

The key thing for a successful ruck March is the right boots, change of socks and some foot powder. If you have on the wrong boots, it wouldn’t matter what kind of socks you have, you will be hurting!!!

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 23 at 2019 11:59 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 23 Mar 2019 23:59:48 -0400

I don't recommend Fox River, in my opinion they're too thin. I like NGenius, smart wool, FITS, and my newest favorite are Under Armour boot socks.
Also, taping your feet or wearing sock liners also helps. Put the powder in your socks, not your boots.

But honestly, if it's under 12 miles, it's not really long distance. Your ruck boots, some powder and decent socks should suffice.

Response by SSgt Terry P. made Mar 24 at 2019 10:49 AM

SSgt Terry P. — Sun, 24 Mar 2019 10:49:47 -0400

SPC Private RallyPoint Member When in Marine basic,we did a lot of "rucking".One trick we had was turning our issued socks inside out,cushioned the foot and wicked away perspiration better.May sound like a joke,but it isn't,i am not into making jokes at the expense of someone's health.

Response by MSG Danny Mathers made Mar 24 at 2019 2:14 PM

MSG Danny Mathers — Sun, 24 Mar 2019 14:14:35 -0400

All the providers have good recommendations for socks. I used issued boots and issued socks. My key to getting through Selection was to powder my feet & change socks as soon as I had a break. I would change boots if they got wet or too hot. Believe it or not your feet will get hot as well as your boots. I have even tried knee high hoses under issue socks which work very well in cold weather ruck Gut.

Response by SSG Carlos Madden made Mar 28 at 2019 1:02 PM

SSG Carlos Madden — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 13:02:24 -0400

Invest in some Darn Tough socks. They have a lifetime warrantee and very popular for thru-hikers.

Response by Cpl Phillip Brame made Apr 5 at 2019 12:01 AM

Cpl Phillip Brame — Fri, 05 Apr 2019 00:01:01 -0400

I have done many a ruck march, it has been my experience that wearing a thick sock is not a good thing as a matter of fact in my time a wearing woman’s panty hose was the way to go. As for keeping dry just cut off military issue t-shirt about half way along with the sleeves. Use body and foot powder. Make sure that your boots are a proper fit and lace them up loosely.

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 22 at 2020 11:10 PM

MSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 22 Aug 2020 23:10:49 -0400

I use Darn Tough Merino wool blend socks. I've rucked enough, now, that I don't need to use sock liners for extra moisture wicking. If you are still getting used to the ruck, use sock liners in addition to socks.