When I first started walking with my local LDWA group I wore boots because that was what I’d always worn. Scotland, the Lake District, Dartmoor, the Alps; all demanded solid footwear. For continental Europe in summer the boots might be lighter, but they were still boots. But many of my new friends in the Thames Valley Group turned up in all weathers to walk 20 miles or more, often through mud, puddles and wet grass, wearing trainers. OK, the shops might call them ‘approach shoes’ but, well, they’re really just trainers.

So I tried doing the same. Walking in the lowland English countryside, trainers are certainly much lighter and less tiring than boots. But …. after seven or eight hours of soaking wet shoes and socks my feet were not pretty. And the blisters were large and rather painful.

“How do you manage?” I asked. Some swore by shoes with a Goretex layer. I’ve tried this, but my feet get too hot unless the temerature is below about 10 degrees. Some just walk with wet feet and have got used to it. And someone mentioned waterproof socks.

The idea of waterproof socks has been around a long time, but I only started hearing positive comments about them about a couple of years ago. A particular brand was mentioned – Sealskinz. I looked them up. They seemed to get good reports from walkers and cyclists, and they come in various lengths and thicknesses. I bought a pair of mid-weight, mid-length ones and tried them out for the first time a few days ago wearing trainers on a fifteen mile walk in the Chiltern Hills, complete with mud, puddles, wet grass and (near the end) rain.

Mid-weight mid-length Sealskinz sock

The good news is that while my shoes were soaking and muddy for the whole of the day, my feet were still dry at the end of the walk. Nor had they been too hot, although the temperature had been about 14 degrees most of the day. And no blisters! So full marks to Sealskinz for doing the job.

What of the socks themselves? The first thing that struck me when I took the packaging off is that they don’t feel like normal woollen socks. They have three layers: the inner is a blend of Merino wool (soft, comfortable, non-smelly), acrylic and polyester plus some Elastodiene and Elastane, all knitted into loop pile padding at the heel and toe. Then there’s the breathable waterproof layer (no, it’s not Goretex). The outer layer is nylon with a little Elastane. The Elastane makes the socks stretchy – they stretch more across the sock that along it. The middle layer makes them slightly stiff, more like lightweight neoprene. They don’t quite stand up by themselves, but you feel they nearly do. They don’t hug your feet like wollen socks, it’s more like they contain them. But they were comfortable to wear for 15 miles, and most of the time I forgot I was testing something new.

Inner layer – loop padding on heel and toe

The washing label says you can machine wash them at 40 degrees, but I hand-washed mine instead. Because of the membrane I squeezed them rather than wringing them and hung them indoors to drip dry. This took a lo-o-o-ng time! They might dry quicker after a machine wash and spin.

It remains to be seen how robust they are and how long they will last. Once the waterproof membrane goes there won’t be any point in wearing them just as socks. Until then they will be my winter wet walking socks. I’ll report back on how they last. I’ll also consider buying a lighter weight pair to use on the bike.