Dutch combat clothing producer Applied Orange has introduced their new High Performance Combat Sock Summer. They are made from a blend of Cordura, CoolMax and Silver Nanoparticles to control fungal growth.
About a month ago, they sent me a pair and I have worn them several times. They worked as advertised and I didn’t notice any hot spots in a variety of footwear. Granted, I didn’t wear them with new boots, and the ones that I did wear were well broken in, but I can tell that you aren’t going to run into any issues with these.
Up front I’ll tell you that I was a bit put off by the knee high design. Additionally, I’m used to socks with a thicker nap. However, there are explanations for both of these features. According to AO, both British and Dutch troops like to turn the tops down over the tops of their boots. Fair enough. It’s a different style than I’m used to. Additionally, the thin sock will dry much faster in the field. One of the issues with sock featuring thick naps is getting them to dry, particularly in a hot-wet environment.
Overall, I like them. They are intended as a hot weather sock and AO told me that they have a winter sock coming soon.
Available in four sizes, these are manufactured in the EU and are available from ao-store.com/high-performance-socks
