Comparing Toe Socks

Here at Feetus.co.uk, we’re mad about toe socks. We’re the nation’s favourite toe sock specialist and we try to offer you the biggest and best range on the market. Commonly used with Vibram FiveFingers, toe socks are fantastic for all sports, and offer superior blister-protection compared with the conventional sock.

But are all toe socks equal? Are some brands better than others?

With such a vast array of different brands, styles, weights, heights, and colours, its easy to get confused. Unsurprisingly, we were overjoyed when one of our super-customers and fellow toe sock lover sent us this comprehensive overview of toe socks. He reviewed a range of toe socks from brands Gotena, V-Toes, and industry-leading Injinji. Here’s what he thinks:

Gotena Toe Socks – An Overview

Maybe I have freakishly long toes but I found the toe pockets on Gotena toe socks to be unbelievably short, therefore removing the freedom for each toe that I/we the consumer buy these socks for in the first place. The point where the toe pockets join is halfway up the gap in your real toes, the pockets actually act to keep your toes together, thus making them almost as bad, if not worse than, normal socks.

Yes the fabric feels nice next to the skin, seems well constructed and is very light – however, this comes with a downside in that there is no structure at all to the sock – now I know that the whole idea of “going minimal”/wearing less footwear etc. is less structure but getting these things on is like putting on Clingfilm socks – i.e. not easy to say the least – I actually find that my medium and “heavy” weight Injinji socks are way easier to get on because at least they have some “shape”.

As already stated, I may have really long toes (but I don’t think so, maybe just above average) but surely the whole idea of toe socks is to allow toe freedom and a few mm extra is not going to cause issues, especially in these modern elasticated socks – if you lengthened the toes in these by 10-15 mm they would still be fine for short toed folks (they just wouldn’t max out the stretch but that wouldn’t cause bunching). It’s something I think even Injinji are guilty of and they are the nearest I found yet to having long enough

I have to admit to being surprised at the narrowness of the toe pockets too as my toes are certainly on the skinnier side of average and these are tight – again, a habit of other toe sock makers I find hard to understand – maybe it’s the whole obsession with things fitting “snugly” and compression wear and all that nonsense but I’ve worn “normal” socks with no elastic and in a wide fit as an alternative to toe socks and never had any issues with the extra fabric, just that age old problem with shape and even being super wide, they still pulled the big toe in due to the taper of the toe box.

I don’t want to rant but come on some sock company out there, try this – make the toes a bit longer and wider and everything a bit less stretchy and not so thin that they have no shape at all – you might just be surprised at the results – socks don’t have to be this tight to keep them in place and then we’ll get the freedom our toes deserve.

Buy Gotena toe socks from Feetus.co.uk

V-Toes – An Overview

I’m afraid not much good to say here about V-Toes – they appear poorly made with loose loops at the end of each toe pocket, loose threads everywhere inside and again, toe pockets big enough for my 3 year olds toes, but these are for size 11 feet.

It is really hard to get on to each toe; I couldn’t possibly recommend them – I’m sure there are people who’ve found these OK but I think that’s more of a reflection of the poor standard of what’s available.

 Buy V-Toe toe socks from Feetus.co.uk

Injinji – An Overview

And to finish, Injinji Performance 2.0 Lightweight and Injinji Outdoor MidWeight NuWool – by far the best of the bunch – both well made with the ‘Lightweights’ still having enough shape/hold to make them a breeze to put on (a breeze for toe socks that is!), being Lightweight (obviously) and almost long enough in the toes.

The Outdoor range of toe socks are probably my favourite of the lot, not being overly thick but with enough warmth for the depths of a UK/Irish winter (not going to say Scottish winter as that’s a different ball game altogether) which is very useful with most minimal footwear being low on insulated properties.

Buy Injinji toe socks from Feetus.co.uk 

Toe Socks – A Summary

So to summarise it’s fairly clear – unless there’s a toe sock company out there making toe socks with longer toes and less restriction/too much elastic then Injinji are the clear winner for now.

It’s all very well saving a couple of quid [by purchasing the cheaper toe socks] but the Injinjis hold up well too.

To be fair to V-Toes and Gotena, I’ve not had them long enough to see if they last – but then I wouldn’t want them too as they are awful to wear. I’ve had a couple of pairs of the Injinji NuWool for a while now and they are going to take a long time to wear out.

Overall – If you’re looking for a reliable toe sock that not only fits well, but also offers supreme performance and longevity, the Injinji toe sock is what you need.

See the full range of toe socks at Feetus.co.uk