Neoprene socks - Recommendations

The most important function of neoprene socks for open water swimmers and paddleboarders, is to keep the feet warm as long as you are on or in the water. They do this, in part, by creating thin water between the skin and the neoprene fabric, that gets heated up through body heat. Apart from this, they reduce the water flow, so the warmed water doesn’t continually get replaced with cold water from the outside. This way you can keep the feet warm for longer.

How effective they are at precisely that part, obviously also depends on the thickness of the neoprene. The thicker the neoprene, the better heat insulation. Usually thicker neoprene will also reduce the flexibility, but because the feet are very gross motoric, it takes a lot before you lose the lesser freedom of mobility. You can, however, quickly get too hot if you are wearing neoprene socks that are too thick for the water temperature.

For this reason, you should also consider which neoprene socks you need. If it’s for SUP, legs, and feet are very stationary, which means that in cold weather and water a pair of thicker neoprene socks will be preferable. If you swim in open water with a lot of swim kicks, it’s worth considering a thinner pair of neoprene socks.

The most important thing for neoprene socks, though, is that they fit correctly and don't let water through the opening. Because of this, the best neoprene socks for swimming have a solid Velcro close, that can be very tight and fit very close without stopping the blood flow.