Injinji Performance 2.0 Sock Review; Injinji Sock Giveaway Contest

Before today’s official review, a cool sale offer to pass along: GoLite is in the midst of a 12 Days of Savings campaign, featuring a killer deal on at least one item each day.  I receive banner links to a new item each day, but since I’ve long since stopped posting every day around here, I’m just including a direct link (on the photo below) to their site so you can return back later and check out the savings for yourself. 

And now we resume normal programming …

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Even before embracing minimalism a few years ago, I was familiar with Injinji socks.  They were something of a novelty among ultrarunners, although those who used them seemed completely enamored with their ability to prevent blisters on or between your toes.

Shortly thereafter, the whole minimalist thing exploded, and Vibrams became the sexiest thing going – sometimes literally.  And since most of us live in places where the weather gets cold – yes, even here in California – Injinjis soon became the cheese to Vibram’s macaroni, and surged in popularity along with the FiveFingers.

Here’s the thing, though: I wasn’t exactly wild about Injinji’s early offerings.  They were fairly comfortable and great at keeping grit from grinding against your bare skin during a long trail run, but I wasn’t really impressed with their insulating capacity or ability to dry quickly.  They also seemed to stretch out and lose their shape fairly significantly after a handful of wash cycles.

So when I was offered a few pairs to try again this fall, I made sure to ask the rep if something had changed from the pairs I tested from a few years ago.  It turns out, something had – and the new Injinji Performance 2.0 series will be available in early 2013.

Injinji Performance 2.0 series socks

The new line has less of a cottony feel than the previous versions, with improved CoolMax fabric that is more similar to technical running socks in its wicking ability and moisture management.  They use a variety of fabric combinations and weave patterns to improve the fit, and they seem more compressive than the previous line.  I’ve washed mine several times, and so far they are holding their shape quite nicely.

Injinji classifies the Performance 2.0 line according to activity, such as Run, Trail, and Sport. They are further categorized by height – from knee high all the way down to micro - and by fabric weight (lightweight, original, and midweight).  In other words, there are a lot of options, which should make it easy to find a variety you like.

My favorite of the new collection is a wool model from the trail line.  Although it isn’t as comfortable as some other materials, I’ve gradually become a fan of wool socks during wet or cold-weather outings, mainly because of its ability to maintain insulation even when wet.  Injinji’s wool socks are thicker than its other fabric blends, but they are quite effective at keeping your toes warm in shoes with highly breathable uppers.  The only downside is that if your FiveFingers are a snug fit, you may need to size up for winter running.

I suppose the bottom line is that if you liked Injinjis in the past, you’ll like the Performance 2.0 line for sure – and if you (like me) weren’t wild about Injinjis in the past, it may be time to give them a second look.  And following this post, a few readers will get the chance to try Injinjis for themselves.  The company is offering three winners a running sampler pack including a road model, trail model, and wool Injinji sock.  There’s no criteria to enter – it’s simply a luck of the draw thing of this one.  Leave a comment below to enter, and I’ll announce the winner on Sunday night.

Thanks very much to Injinji for sponsoring this giveaway, and good luck to everybody!

*Products provided by Injinji

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Injinji Performance Socks Review

Before we get to the review, let me clearly state my bias for the record: when it comes to socks, I’m completely, head over heels, ‘I’d get down on one knee and offer my final rose’ in love with Drymax. Having said that, I’m aware that there are other fish in the sea … and in my evolving role as a product guru, I’m more than happy to try other brands to see how they measure up.

Injinji is a fairly well-known commodity among ultrarunners. They enjoy a devoted following, and the company is affiliated with many high-profile events – such as a little race I completed in Auburn last month. The company sponsors four separate teams, in adventure racing, triathlon, ultrarunning, and regular running (although the distinction between running and ultrarunning seems quite blurry, as the running roster features a very popular blogger who has also become a fantastic ultrarunner). In other words, Injinji is out there, supporting endurance athletes and events in growing numbers since their inception about ten years ago.

As the official sock sponsor of the Western States 100, Injinji sent a pair to all entrants in advance of the 2008 non-race. This spring, when Wilderness Running Company sent me another sample, I figured that receiving two free pairs was some sort of sign that I should sit down and write a formal review. So away we go.

Obviously, Injinji are distinctive for their patented tetratsok design, which is a cool (if hard to spell) word they invented to describe the separate toe coverings; it’s the foot equivalent of putting your fingers into a glove instead of a mitten. This design has several intended benefits: it enables your entire foot to perform in a more biomechanically natural manner, and prevents the moisture buildup and “toe on toe” friction that leads to blisters.

(On a completely unrelated note, the tetratsok design has another fringe benefit: on summer mornings when I want to roll out of bed and slide into a pair of shorts and flip-flops for lounging around the house but my toes feel kind of chilly, I can put on a pair of Injinjis and still wear the flip-flops while warming up my toes. Sure, I look like a nerd - but the rest of my family has long since made that conclusion, so my overall rep is pretty much unchanged.)

Sock nerd in the house!

Injinjis are also very comfortable to wear, which was one of my concerns before trying them out. The individual toe sleeves are seamless, and the fabric blend feels very nice against the skin. The performance sock (the model I tested) features wicking CoolMax on the skin side and nylon on the outside, which help moisture transfer during long, hot activities. The double-layered welt top holds the shape of the sock and keeps all the parts positioned where they’re supposed to be.

Nevertheless, Injinji’s primary marketing strategy isn’t related to the sock’s comfort – it’s in how the sock helps your foot perform more naturally while running.

This “natural running” idea is one that’s gradually gaining traction in the fitness world, and one that’s been especially intriguing to me in recent months. I’ll explain more about my own interest in a separate post next week – but it’s important to note that Injinji has historically been way ahead of this curve. The company was founded with the primary intention of maintaining the foot’s natural anatomy and function in a way that traditional socks couldn’t match – basically, to mimic the feel of running barefoot.

There’s a difference you can feel with your very first run in a pair of Injinjis: instead of just rolling over the ground as a single cohesive unit, your toes immediately start shifting, adjusting, and gripping differently in response to each footfall. It feels a bit odd at first, but once you realize what’s going on, it’s kind of a cool thing to experience – it’s like your toes are waking up and saying “Hey! We can do whatever we want in here! This is great!”

From a biomechanical standpoint, this makes perfect sense: the toes were created (or possibly, evolved by mutation and completely random happenstance – that’s a separate discussion) to facilitate balance, stability, and forward propulsion of the foot. Injinji socks allow this process to happen, but how much functional benefit you actually gain is difficult to assess – which leads to the primary drawback I found with Injinjis.

If your intent is to replicate the function of the human foot while running, the socks you’re wearing can only go so far. A vastly more important factor in this regard is the type of footwear you use; if you’re wearing Injinjis in a pair of motion-thwarting stability shoes, or with artificial arch supports, or in bulky shoes with an elevated heel and hugely cushioned midsole, the normal mechanics of your feet are so stringently diminished that the socks you’re wearing probably can’t make up for it.

Fortunately, there seems to be a clear “less is more” revolution taking place with trail running footwear - as evidenced by the lightweight yet durable La Sportiva models (the Crosslite and Wildcat) I reviewed recently, and by other brands of footwear that strip away as many impediments to the natural function of the foot as possible (spoiler alert – this is also a HUGE hint for an upcoming review I’ve got on deck this summer).

One other small criticism of the Injinjis is the lack of variability in fit. More specifically, the toes of the tetratsok get progressively shorter from big toe to pinky toe – but my 2nd toe (would that that my index toe?) is longer than my big toe, so the fit of the sleeves feel slightly irregular on either side. It’s not enough of a problem to keep me from wearing them – just a little something else for me to gripe about.

No freak toes, please

Overall, the Injinjis are an interesting option if you’re looking to explore the possibilities of running with a more natural feel. They’re also comfortable enough to wear with your regular trail shoes for moisture management and blister prevention.

Injinji performance socks retail for $12, but Wilderness Running Company has them at a 10% discount through August 3rd, and if you use coupon code R&R10, you get an extra 10% off. It’s a good opportunity to start using your toes again.


See other product reviews on sidebar at right. If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at info@runningandrambling.com.

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