Ausangate Socks Deliver Alpaca Fiber Benefits

Ausangate Socks offers a variety of high quality, multi purpose sock styles made from Alpacor® Yarn – an awesome blend that includes soft alpaca fiber.

Tapping into the natural benefits of Alpaca fiber, known to be lightweight and very soft, Alpacor® Yarn was created utilizing a process which blends this unique fiber with other natural and synthetic fibers in order to generate pretty much the perfect sock.

Ausangate Socks – Alpacor® Yarn Benefits

Ideal for the outdoor activity enthusiast, Ausangate Socks have a number of benefits.  After wearing them now for a few weeks, I can personally vouche for the truthfulness of the following.

Ausangate Socks are:

• Naturally anti-microbial
• Breathe well (combined w/the anti-microbial, this helps prevent odor)
• Moisture wicking – ideal for keeping your feet warm and dry during winter sports.
• Machine wash and dry-able (unlike other alpaca fiber only socks)
• Retain their suppleness, sizing, and elasticity well
• Hollow core of the fiber creates a vapor zone – keeping your feet warm in the cold, and cool in the heat

I experienced the moisture wicking and vapor zone temperature regulating features firsthand one day when I found myself stuck indoors in my Ausangate socks and winter boots for several hours.  While my feet felt comfortable the entire day, I noticed when I took my socks off later that night they were damp, from wicking the sweat away from my overheated feet.

My favorite overall feature?  The soft feel of Ausangate socks. The Alpacor® Yarn is extremely comfortable, and has a wonderful feel against your skin.  And as if all this wasn’t enough to convince you… these socks actually become softer with repeated washing.

The owner explained to me that Ausangate Socks are made in such a way that the only part of the yarn that touches your skin is the alpaca hair.  I like them much better than the [competitor outdoor sock brand] socks I own.

Ausangate Socks ~ Available Styles

My husband (hereafter referred to as Colorado Mountain Dad) and I were very happy to be able to try a variety of styles of Ausangate Socks, individually tailored perfectly for a wide range of uses.

Colorado Mountain Dad’s overall take? A former die hard fan of outdoor wool blend socks, he now declares, “These socks are pretty incredible.  I’m surprised how different they are [from his previous favorites], and how much I like them.  Ausangate is my new favorite brand of socks.” And this from a somewhat spoiled Sock Kid, who’s owned some high quality, specialized active wear socks in his day.

So here’s an overview of each style, along with our feedback on each.

Town and Country Alpacor Yarn Casual Sock

These are the lightest of the sock styles that we tried.  Great for everyday, this is a good choice to be able to enjoy the soft feel and benefits of the Alpacor yarn, when you don’t necessarily need the athletic aspect of the cushioning bulk or compression of some of the other styles.

I liked wearing these just lazing around the house, as well as to work.  Being the weight of a more traditional sock, they fit nicely under any shoe choice.  We tried both a gray and tan pair, and both were a really nice color (with a coordinating, slightly darker shade logo at the top).  Overall, I love these – they are very comfortable, nice quality sock.

Colorado Mountain Dad : “These are extremely comfortable for use as dress socks, when I need them, and I’ve worn them a few times with my suit.  It’s particularly nice when you also need to be outside in business attire, since they are much warmer than the dress socks I typically wear“.

Knee High Alpacor Yarn Ski Sock

These socks get their namesake from their ideal use for skiing, being thin enough for fitted ski boots.  We didn’t get a chance to try them out in this capacity, but will hopefully be doing so next month.  I still found plenty of other opportunities to wear them too, as they also offer other benefits.

When you put them on you’ll instantly notice they are a compression sock, with the full elasticized support felt from the foot portion up through the leg.  This makes them a great choice for travel – both long road trips and airline travel, which can affect your circulation.  If you have any issues with circulation, diabetes (or swollen ankles during pregnancy!), you are familiar with the use and benefits of compression socks.  (Ausangate has testing reports available, if interested.)

The mesh portion makes them nice and breathable, and they have a full arch support which I always like in a sock – it feels great.  I do think this is a more of an active-use sock choice.  For me, if I just need socks to wear at the office, lounging at home, or running errands – the compression of this style is more than I need, and I’d grab my Ausangate casuals or boot socks first.

Colorado Mountain Dad:  “I enjoy wearing these BECAUSE of the compression feature.  I could tell they created increased blood flow [he experiences occasional circulation issues in his legs], but without the discomfort of normal compression socks I’ve tried.  I think they’re both helpful and really comfortable. ”

Medium Weight Alpacor Boot Sock

Heads-up, people!  These are my favorite Ausangate Socks!

They have become my #1 go-to choice for any outdoor activity.  The extra cushioning keeps your feet comfortable on long hiking treks or adventures of any kind.

The upper neck portion of elastic is somewhat tight, but that is necessary to keep them from gradually creeping down into your boot – which does not happen with the Alpacor boot sock.

This was the only sock style I noticed which experience a bit of ‘saggy’ stretch out after wearing them for a day… in the heel area.  However, they bounced right back into true form after washing.  And actually, the relaxed foot (and heel) on this particular sock style is probably why I end up grabbing them most often.  They have slight hugging compression in the foot arch (which again, I love – it’s just the right amount), but otherwise are relaxed throughout the foot and are extremely comfortable… really allowing you to notice and soak in that alpaca softness!

And note for you backpackers, the natural anti-microbial factor makes these a great choice for a sock you need to wear for days at a time.

Both colors available – gray and sand/brown – are nice, but I love the sand/brown ones best.

Colorado Mountain Dad: “My #1 pick.  These are favorite socks of all the styles I tried.  I actually liked these best for warmth just around the house, too.  They are thick enough, padded, and so comfortable – I put them on at night instead of slippers!  Can’t wait to go hiking in them.”

Heavy Weight Alpacor Boot Sock

Very similar to the mid weight above, except thicker and warmer.  One of their most popular styles, I’m told these are sold frequently at Bass Pro Shops.

I either didn’t receive a pair of these in my size (I think I received two pairs in the medium weight?), or if I did I had a hard time detecting the difference between the medium and heavy weight.

Either way, the design is very similar to the medium book sock as described above, and is one of my favorite styles.

Ultimate Insulator Snowboard/Ski Alpacor Yarn Sock

This sock features three compression ribs plus rib cuff and offers the ultimate snug fit for foot and lower leg.   Did you catch that snowboarders?  These will hook you up!

Of all the styles reviewed, these get my vote for best candidate to equip you for winter outdoor play.  They are very thick and cushy, with just the right amount of support in all the right places.

There were a couple of times, wearing them around the chilly house, that my feet felt somewhat cool.  So I’m not sure if they are truly as warm as a wool sock?  However, I’m not a big fan of wool – seems I can always feel the itch factor, no matter what the blend.  So this Alpacor yarn sock option would still be my choice, plus you get the added bonus of the moisture wicking when needed.  So overall, I think they do a decent job of helping to moderate your foot temperature.

They’ve got the compression of the ski sock, plus the cushioning of the book sock.  So if you find yourself putting on boots in the wintertime, and heading out to spending some active time in the snow… this is my #1 recommended Ausangate pick for you.

Colorado Mountain Dad:  “By the end of the day, I noticed very slightly that my legs felt itchy.  But it wasn’t the feel of the Alpacor yarn that was itchy… it was my leg itself, from the increased circulation.  I can definitely feel the compression in this style, too.  I’ve had ski socks before, but they weren’t as thick and warm as these.  I really like the weight of them.”

Ausangate Socks – The Giveaway

Ausangate has offered to give one of my readers a $50 Gift Certificate for Ausangate Socks (purchased from their online site).  This gives you an opportunity to select the color and styles you’re most interested in, and enjoy these great socks for yourself!

Enter using form below.  Open to US and Canada.

 Professional photos in this post courtesy of Ausangante Socks.  I received samples of Ausangante Socks at no charge, for the purposes of performing this review.  All opinions are my own.

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