Each foot has five toes, yet they all go into one sock and get pushed together in the shoe. Some people believe each toe should go in its own fabric, like a glove. The Tetratsock from injinji is designed to allow the entire foot to perform naturally and freely inside the shoe.
Toes provide proper balance, posture, stability and grip. These abilities are kept when toes are in toe socks, as injinji calls them. The company just release a midweight toesock in its Tetratsock line. The midweight sock is designed for sports such as running, walking, cycling. The toesock provides more padding and several additional properties.
Restriction-free movement of the five toes eliminates skin-on-skin friction and therefore blisters, hot spots and other common foot ailments. The socks are designed with a reinforced compression arch and Achilles heel support.
In conventional socks, injinji claims your toes are forced to work together as one unit creating heat and moisture build up. Blood circulation is reduced by skin-on-skin friction that reduces healthy air around your toes. If you want to use the mitten and glove analogy, mittens keep your fingers warmer since they’re all together, though you lose dexterity. Gloves may offer less warmth, but increased dexterity.
The Midweight Performance Toesock ($16) is made from CoolMax freshFX fabric, which bonds wicking CoolMax fibers with anti-odor and antimicrobial silver. The socks also have nylon and lycra added for strength, flexibility, and a glove-like fit. We don’t know if these socks will work with shoes such as the Vibram Five Finger ones, but the concept is along the same lines.