I was first exposed to compression socks back in spring of 2018, when Holly and I led Hobnail’s inaugural trek Nepal’s Mt. Everest Base Camp. I must’ve read somewhere (or Holly did) that if you’re embarking on a long-haul flight, you should wear compression socks to improve the circulation in your legs and feet, among other things.
Sounded like good advice, so we bought a few pairs — the cheapest ones we could find on Amazon. From that point up until last January (of 2026), I wore those old cheapo socks, not realizing that compression socks can be made much better than the ones I had.
Yes, I was a dummy.
Last fall, when the time came to begin preparing for a 14-day trip to Japan, I figured it was a good time to grab some new socks. I’d also been dealing with plantar fasciitis and had read that a well-made compression sock — particularly one offering good arch support and cushioning — could help make an angry foot a little happier.
A quick Google search for “high-quality compression socks” revealed SockWell. Having written several articles on the subject, I’ve become wired to notice the phrase “Merino wool,” so when I saw that in the description of SockWell socks, I was immediately hooked.
Yes, they were more expensive, but that was OK with me. These socks came in a variety of sizes, compression strengths, and designs, as opposed to the generic white cotton/spandex ones I’d been using, so I bought a pair.
Quick note: At the time, buying a pair of compression socks wasn’t nearly as dramatic as I’m making it out to be right now. The excitement would come later.
When they arrived, it was obvious just by looking that these socks were in a different category from the Amazon pair. Honestly, on the day of my flight, I was excited not only that I was heading to Japan for the first time to trek through the jungles of Okinawa’s Yaeyama Islands and snowshoe in the mountains of Nagano, but also because I would be trying out some awesome new socks.
It’s the little things, right?
But first, what do good compression socks do, exactly?
The basic idea behind compression socks is surprisingly simple. Your veins have the unenviable job of pushing blood from your feet and lower legs back uphill toward your heart. When you’re sitting relatively motionless for hours — say, somewhere over Alaska in hour seven of a 13-hour flight from Nashville to Tokyo — blood can pool in your lower legs and feet.
Frankly, just writing that gave me the creeps.
Good compression socks gently squeeze the legs, with the greatest pressure around the ankle and gradually less pressure farther up the calf. That’s why they’re called “graduated compression.” The pressure helps your veins move blood back toward the heart, which can reduce swelling and that heavy, tired-leg feeling you sometimes get after a long flight. It’s also why compression socks are commonly recommended for long periods of sitting or standing.
But here’s the part I didn’t understand during my seven years of wearing the cheapos:
Not all compression socks are created equal. Or even close.
A high-quality manufacturer like SockWell makes different levels of graduated compression and builds it into a properly sized sock rather than simply making a leg tube that feels ridiculously tight and makes you look like your Papaw when seated with your legs crossed. SockWell also add things you actually notice when you’re wearing them all day, including arch support, seamless toes, and cushioning options.
Yes, I sound like a commercial, but bear with me.
For me, the Really Big Deal is the Merino wool. As I’ve written before, this miracle fabric helps to manage moisture, regulate temperature, and control odor. Cotton, on the other hand, tends to soak up moisture and keep it there against your skin, which is no good. In the outdoor industry, the phrase “cotton kills” is a real thing, because being stuck in cotton clothing in cold temperatures can actually result in hypothermia.
But Merino wool socks? Your feet stay drier, the socks are comfortable across a surprisingly wide range of temperatures, and after spending the better part of a day trapped inside your shoes, your feet are less likely to become a biological weapon when you finally take them off.
And please don’t do that on a bus or airplane around other people. You may find yourself hitchhiking — or parachuting — home.
Now, complete transparency. Is it possible to compare the experience of wearing great Merino wool compression socks to wearing cheap ones or none at all?
That’s a tough one. First and most obvious answer to that question is this: Did you survive that long flight with no blood clots? If the answer is yes, then they probably worked as advertised.
But it’s pretty difficult to quantify how you actually feel after a flight. Compression socks, after all, don’t prevent jet lag, so chances are pretty good that you’ll still feel pretty lousy after a 13-hour flight, even with good socks.
In my own experience, I can tell you that wearing SockWell socks is a much more pleasant experience than wearing the cheapos. That’s an easy comparison. When I arrived in Tokyo, I wasn’t desperate to get them off.
From a plantar-fasciitis perspective, my feet did seem to feel better after wearing the socks, but again, it was hard to tell if this was just my imagination or not. I don’t think it was.
But this is undisputed: I wore the same pair of socks for at least four days of trekking — plus, the flight out and the flight back — without washing them once. The following was true:
- They never stunk.
- They never had that stiff, icky, multiple-day sock feeling that plain cotton socks will give you on repeated wearings.
- They were equally comfortable and unstinky when I arrived back in Nashville.
That, my friend, is amazing.
But here’s the really fun part.
Last spring, Holly and I were discussing new items to include in Hobnail Welcome Boxes, the packages of goodies that every Hobnail trekker receives upon booking. The idea arose of having Tennessee-themed items — if you haven’t already guessed, we’re based in Tennessee — so Holly did some research on companies headquartered in the Volunteer State.
Guess who’s based in Chattanooga?
SockWell!
I was floored when Holly told me this. I had no clue. So, within hours of that meeting, I was on the phone with Lauran Fletcher, National Sales Manager with SockWell, and that call resulted in an exciting new strategic partnership. As of a couple months ago, when a Hobnail trekker books a trek and receives their Welcome Box, they will find a spanking-new pair of SockWell Merino wool compression socks inside — in their correct size and with gender-specific design.
Even better, SockWell is providing Hobnail Trekking customers with a 25%-off coupon code that can be applied to anything on their website. Use THIS link.
Why did we create this partnership? For Hobnail, it’s easy: it gives us another opportunity to provide value and quality to our amazing community of travelers and trekkers while also promoting an awesome, Tennessee- and American-made company. For SockWell, they receive exposure to a new community of potential long-term customers who need their exact product.
And for you?
You get to fly off to some epic location for the adventure of a lifetime and feel good doing it.
Simple as that.
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