socks or thermals on first?

A snowHead

I got blisters on the front of my shins this year for the first time this year. I suspect my boots might have been a little bit loose.
However, I was also wondering whether it could be have been caused by wearing socks on top of long thermals?
Thought I'd ask Snowheads.
Do you wear your socks underneath your thermals or on top?
Thanks

A snowHead

Thermals shouldn't go in your boots, fold them up so they end above the top of the boot.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Pull the thermals up over the socks that way it pulls the socks up fully. Then you can fold the thermals up to clear the top of the boot.

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@jayjayjam, many people say that you shouldn't have anything but sock in your boot. But I wear full length (almost to the ankle) compression tights under my socks, just taking maximum care to avoid the slightest wrinkle in either the tights or the socks.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I'm in the camp that says, "Nothing inside the Boots except your socks"....so just pull the thermals up a bit.

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I go against the grain on this one, with full length thermals and socks over the top, but like @Hurtle, I put them on very carefully. No blisters, never been a problem, though I have had to stop and rearrange things a bit occasionally in the early days (that would be a very rare thing now).

As if they would roll up over my calves Laughing

After all it is free

I use 3/4 length thermals so not an issue.

I spend the whole winter at work telling people not to put anything inside their ski boots apart from one leg and one sock. BUT... when I go skiing i put my socks on first, then pull the thermals up over them, and put both inside my boot Laughing

Have never had any problems.
I could roll them up over my calves, but my calves are so skinny that the extra actually helps me to not run out of clips on my boots to get them tight enough.

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I have 3/4 length thermals and still have to hitch them up a bit so not in my boots. They are a bit thinner than my full length icebreaker thermals and when it was cold cold last week and I reverted to the full length pair I had to make sure everything folded up to avoid being in my boots.

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Socks on, then full length thick tights and then tight stretchy leggings; then pull the latter two up just enough that they clear the top cuff of the ski boot and form a nice bunched-up warm seal at the top.
Mind you, given that my boots are always too big for my skinny lower legs, I might follow those above and try 'thermals' partly in boots too.

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Oh FFS. Piste skiing. Get up in morning pull on socks trousers top and remember your jacket. Go skiing. If your legs get cold when skiing buy more insulated trousers. Touring and gnarly high altitude stuff is a different thing. But there is far too much over-thinking this for tackling a few blue pistes.

Depends on the colour .. or the look you are going for. Laughing

You know it makes sense.

Thermals first
Then socks
Then pants
I’m a superhero & that’s how I roll.

If I had sock next to my skin, then my thermals wont be able to do the job of wicking sweat away like it should.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Socks then thermals, three quarter length slit up the seam so they will actually go over my calves. They probably don't go into my boots but I can't say I've ever noticed

@zikomo, rude and unnecessary

A snowHead

A snowHead

grief...zikomo I have told you SO many times....

no butter
clotted cream first
then jam on top

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@valais2, noooooo

Jam first. Always. So you are sure to get some with every bite. I respect your right to believe differently and will defend that right to the death, even when you are SO wrong!

Agree that butter is an abomination.

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Noooooo, always butter.

Then, on the scone lid it's cream first then jam. And on the base it's jam first them cream.

Simples!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Cut the fruit scone (pronounced to rhyme with “gone”) in half and butter both halves. Then jam. Clotted cream on top. No “lid”.
Perfection

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Butter???!?

B U T T E R ????????

What are you thinking of?

Rodda’s and nothing but Rodda’s

And jam.

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@jayjayjam, Bet you're sorry you asked now Laughing

After all it is free

….right, scone-drift notwithstanding, here’s some sock advice.

Blisters and abrasions are likely if you have socks INSIDE thermals, and if the socks are slightly abrasive - as some synthetics are - particularly nylon - then you can get shin burn, blisters etc.

So…despite full on forward pressure all the time (shown by the fact that all my shin hair gets worn off very early in the season and does not grow back until May) I have avoided any shin burn by:

1 using merino socks - Smartwool are good socks but others are available
2 using smooth ankle length seamless thermals - usually Peak Performance but also Pearl Izumi
3 tending to slightly downsize in thermals so that they are good and tight but still comfy, and smooth over the shin
4 putting on thermals and then socks OVER THE TOP of the thermals

This presents a very smooth but cushioned surface to the front of the shin.
It prevents any bunching of the thermals when you insert a foot into a boot.

I do use thermals all year, but use thinner (well ventilated) ski trousers for Easter and padded trousers for deep winter.

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@jedster, …ah…each to their own in the base layer department.

I wear full length thin or thick because I get bloody cold at 3000m at minus 10 in high wind. And then at Easter I wear them because it’s sensible to get sweat away from the skin and up and out of the vents.
Thin shell trousers at Easter….thick insulated trousers in deep winter.
Thin shell trousers against the skin tend to be sweat bags full of condensation, even with Gore fabrics - you can get a bad temp gradient from the colder shell and the humid insides of the keks = condensation. So full base layer stops all of that.
As a long term climber and skier I always work on the basis of ‘transport moisture from the body as quickly as possible’ - and full length base layer always does exactly this.

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I was on a trip with c couple of begginers one year who were taking lessons. Not serious in any way and were happy enough to take the morning lesson, a loooong lunch and maybe a couple of runs in the afternoon. One of the lasses complained about painful shins, and how her boots hurt. We suggested changing them in the hire shop which she did, but still the shin pain. It took three days to work out she was putting her trouser gaitors inside the boots and the small metal clip was brutalising her shins. It never occurred to anyone!!!

For the record I'm 3/4 length and socks. Only socks and stink in my boots.

You know it makes sense.

Make sure you put on clean socks every day. Does make it tricky to get the boots on by day three though.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

I skied with the son of an enthusiastic and energetic elderly beginner one time - he had his first lesson in the morning and met me and his son afterwards, enthusiastic about his first ski experience but complaining about how slow the group lessons had been. He was determined to carry on despite our efforts to get him to sit down and have a break and after a couple of false starts got to the top of a drag lift with an easy green run down. His son warned him not to pick up too much speed but the old boy took off. Really scary, could have killed someone, but fortunately he stayed on his feet and the bottom was flat. So no great harm done (except that he continued to believe he was immortal) but he was complaining about sore shins. We sat him down and investigated.
He had "cable knit" socks on, big woolly things and the pattern was getting baked into his shins. We persuaded him to stop until he could get some more suitable socks. If he'd carried on the skin on his shins (very thin and vulnerable in many elderly people) would have been broken and his week ruined.

A snowHead

@DJL, …silly bu***r….a sort of reverse packing out of liners ….

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

For piste skiing. Insulated trousers in winter, no need for thermals. I don't generate much heat/sweat generally when piste skiing. Spring is thin trousers with a thin lining.

Touring/off-piste I wear shell trousers and suitable base layer (insulating qualities based on likely temperatures) to manage moisture more effectively.

As @valais2, says IF you have a base layer all the way to the ankle it should be seamless and go inside your socks.

But I still think there is a lot of over-thinking and faffing for the majority of holiday skiers who probably cover less than 10k vertical in a day, on piste, with lots of stops etc. It's not an arctic expedition. That said those who suffer from the cold badly, especially with a medical condition, do need to think about this all very carefully.

Cut scone in half, spread jam on both halves then top with LOTS of clotted cream. Under no circumstances should they be eaten as a sandwich, each half should be enjoyed separately. There are other ways of doing it, and I respect those other ways. But they are wrong!

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But sometimes getting all the gear right is half the fun! When it's cold weather, and I'm trying not to use too much heating, I wear very thin thermals under my jeans and sweatshirts in the house. Let alone on a ski slope.

I do very unheroic sailing but am unapologetic about having the right gear to keep me warm and dry. And once you're out there, whether on a chairlift or on the deck, it's often very difficult to rectify any mistakes. Not to mention almost impossible to contemplate having a pee......

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@jmr59,

After all it is free

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There’s some valuable insight into shin blisters and their avoidance from around the middle of this earlier thread… https://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=157627&start=80

Laughing

Help!!

socks or thermals on first?

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