Do we care about socks? Probably not in most cases, they’re just mixed up pairs of clothing that one gets lost in the wash! But in the case of walking socks for your D of E expedition you really need to pay attention to them.

It’s worth buying a couple of pairs of really good walking socks as they will help to protect your feet from blisters and make the whole D of E experience much more comfortable.

As with all outdoor gear, there is a wide range to choose from, they will be thicker than your normal socks and should not have seams where they are likely to rub and cause blisters.  I personally like the Merino wool socks as they are comfortable and keep my feet relatively dry.

You can also use sock liners which reduce the rubbing in your boots and hence reduces the chance of blistering, you should be able to detect early signs of blisters as you will be able to feel hotspots on your feet as they are rubbing, if your feet are rubbing in your boots you will get blisters, there is no maybe on this one and any signs of the onset of blisters should be dealt with immediately, if you leave it till the end of the day then it will be too late.

I recall an instance when a young person ignored the signs of blisters while on expedition and refused to tell anyone about it as they thought they would have been taken off the trip, they came to me at the end of the expedition to ask for advice but it was beyond what I could do and we ended up in A and E seeking professional help, their feet were still hurting weeks later, don’t put it off, get it sorted as soon as you see or feel any sort of problems, treated early will almost certainly result in a speedy recovery.