26 Nov Why These Socks Are Used By Servicemen All Over The World
Why These Socks Are Used By Servicemen All Over The World
In today’s blog we’re going to talk about a piece of kit that most people don’t really care about, but that is actually vital for your overall performance.
We’re going to talk about the importance of socks and how one Finnish company has succeeded in making the very best within the military industry. Today we’re going to cover the Uphillsport tactical socks.
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That said, let’s begin by showing you a small visual example of why you should care about your sock selection in the first place.
IMPORTANCE OF SOCKS
We know most people don’t care for socks at all and that simply wearing decent boots with Gore-Tex will do. Well, nothing is less true and here is why.
Sweaty Feet
On a non-active day, both your feet can loose up to a shot glass of water per foot. While on a normal active day your feet easily lose up to 300 milliliters of water per foot.
If you’re doing something sportive that’s even more and add extreme conditions to that and it gets even worse. The wrong pair of socks can’t remove all this moisture and wet feet get blisters or even wounds, which can become very uncomfortable or even painful.
The Job Of Socks
So, in reality it’s actually the conjunction of your boots with good socks that make up a healthy environment for your feet and prevent these problems.
Good socks allow your feet to breath, keep them warm or cool and thus also make a huge difference in your physical performance. And that’s where the Uphillsport brand comes in place. So let’s introduce you guys to this company.
INTRODUCING UPHILLSPORT
Uphillsport is a Finnish company which we discovered on IWA back in 2019. The company its experience comes from the co-operation with the Finnish military. Thanks to development and understanding the battlefield demands, Uphillsport socks make the very best socks a soldier can have these days.
Why These Socks?
Why is that? Well, the weather conditions in Finland are very challenging. Temperatures can vary from -52°C up to 35°C, which requires extreme performance of the socks people wear over there. And because we’re talking about the military, their usage is rough with dirt and sand easily going inside the boots.
So, to tell you a few requirements, these socks need to provide the right temperature, they have to breath, provide comfort and need to be very durable as well. As you can hear, that’s quite a lot of stuff to take into mind and that’s exactly what these socks are made for.
What Sets Them Apart?
All these things are nice to know, but how did they actually manage to set themselves apart from others and produce socks that are able to do this. Well, this all has to do with their unique manufacturing process.
The Problem With Sock Making
Socks are usually made of a single material like Merino wool, Polyamide or Polypropylene, each with their own special purposes. Example given, moisture control is the job of Polypropylene while Polyamide provides long term durability.
Most manufacturers that want to combine these various layers in a single sock for the best functionality, just put these layers on top of each other. But this creates the problem that each layer can’t fully do its purpose.
Solution To The Problem
To work around that, Uphillsport has succeeded in knitting these different layers through each other. So that the heel is for example in a different material than the toes or the calf. This means you get multilayered socks for all conditions which are thus extremely functional in their performance.
The Prove That They Work
In fact, their socks have proven to be so effective that they have already made a big name within the military market. In 2019 they’ve had already one million pairs being used in action and in the meantime they’ve already made a model specially for the Dutch marines and even some USA Special Operatives have already used Uphillsport socks.
Ethical & Eco-friendly Production
Above all this, Uphillsport also cares for their material sources and the environment and have ethical and eco friendly certifications thanks to their efforts. So having introduced you guys to the company, we’re now going to talk about the selection of tactical socks we currently offer from them.
UPHILLSPORT ASSORTMENT
At the moment we offer 5 models of Uphillsport their tactical line. These are very easy to distinguish & clear in purpose. We might expand our assortment in the future, because there are some new ones with entire other purposes as well, but for now these will cover most of your needs.
Uphillsport “Contact”
Let’s start off with the Contacts since they are the perfect example to show the power of a good sock. These are just a thin layer but can make all the difference already.
Features
The Uphillsport contact socks are designed for the point man, meaning high performance and active movements in warm conditions.
They are made of polypropylene to transfer all that moisture in your footwear up to your calves. The polypropylene is also treated with a special permanent antibacterial silver-ion treatment, much like in the padding of helmets these days.
They also feature a seamless toe and a grip on the arch, so that the socks stay wrinkle free in place. Meaning no more blisters with these.
Our Experience
These are really build for those short fast pace raids. If you put these on, you can literally feel the air going through your toes. We use them for our cardio training sessions and after those trainings we can feel the moisture on the calf areas of the socks while the rest of our feet are still dry.
Uphillsport “Combat”
These are the ones that are being used by over a million active servicemen nowadays and we totally get why that is the case.
Features
They are made of merino wool, polypropylene and lycra and are perfect for all actions in medium and cold conditions. They are also extremely durable thanks to an outside polyamide layer and are designed to dry fast and not absorb sweat or smell.
Also whatever you do with these, they stay in place very well. No more worries about the calf of the socks coming down again.
Our Experience
These pairs are the ones we have been using most of all in our tactical footwear, since they match our Belgian weather best and up till now they don’t have any sign of damage yet.
To give you an idea about these, when we have had a full day of training or did a proper outdoor Airsoft event, our feet come out dry at the end of the day which is pretty remarkable.
Uphillsport “OPS”
Furthermore, we go to the OPS socks which are designed for high demands of performance. They are build for multiple days of trekking and changing conditions, going from warm days to overnight freezing temperatures. In other words, these are the ones you need for Military simulations and courses that take up to several days.
Features
Their feature to adapt to changing conditions comes from the multilayer design made with polypropylene and merino wool.
They are also designed to dry fast, do not absorb sweat or smell and they have a special Merino wool sole that improves breathability, softness and warmth.
Uphillsport “Recon”
Next up, we come to the Recons and these are basically the same as the OPS, but have Coolmax embedded in them for a slightly cooler feel than the OPS socks. As for the rest, they serve the same purpose.
Our Experience
These together with the OPS are the most comfortable ones. It somehow feels like you’re stepping on a wool cushion. And just as with the other socks, they both have a seamless toe and their calf stays in place as well.
Uphillsport “Arctic”
The last ones we offer are the Arctics and these are designed for the coldest conditions. They are build to work in moist, cold, icy and windy climates of arctic terrains.
Features
This is possible thanks to their special thickness of Merino wool that holds air inside for ventilation and insulation and thus keeping the frost outside your boots. Also these are designed to dry fast overnight and do not absorb sweat and smell.
And to give you an idea of their thermal grade, supposedly you can use these for several days in arctic terrain without getting any frostbite.
Our Findings
Testing & Results
We have been using these various sock models for nearly 2 years, going from an hour of sporting to full day tactical courses and full day outdoor Airsoft events. We even wear them in our daily lives and if we look at their current state, we can say they all have very minimal traces of usage.
Which is pretty amazing, because we have been used to socks that are practically ready for the garbage bin after a half year of wearing them.
To give you an example of this, a while back we used to train at our local gym and my brother got blisters on his feet from running on the treadmill while using jus regular socks. A day or two later we went back to do some cardio and he simply changed his socks to the Contacts from Uphillsport. The impressive part about this was that his feet healed even when we continued our training which shows how low the friction of these socks is.
Anyway, performance wise these really do as described and make a massive difference in your performance. To be honest we are actually amazed that an item as simple as a sock can in fact do this much.
Customer Satisfaction
The customers that already bought pairs of Uphillsport through our shop are also immensely satisfied with them, because they have been ordering extra pairs quickly after their first purchases. And some already made the statement that these are better than other reputable brands in the market.
Available Colors
The Uphillsport tactical socks are available in brown, green or black. Except the Contact version is only available in black.
Thanks for reading our blog
“Why These Socks Are Used By Servicemen All Over The World”
If you’re interested in getting a pair of these high performance socks, you can find them through shop.reconbrothers.com.
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