How many socks should you pack for a hike?
Plan which pair to wear each day and when to wash it. Keep a dry pair aside for camp, sleep or a change of plans.
Example: 5 days, 3 pairs (1 kept for camp), washing after days 2 and 4, 12 hours to dry. You have a dry pair every day.
Dry pair every day
Your example rotation
| Day | Wear | Wash that evening | Dry by morning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pair A | No wash | 2 ready · 0 damp |
| 2 | Pair B | A, B | 1 ready · 0 damp |
| 3 | Pair A | No wash | 2 ready · 0 damp |
| 4 | Pair B | A, B | 1 ready · 0 damp |
| 5 | Pair A | No wash | 2 ready · 0 damp |
What the calendar assumes
Walking starts at 08:00 and a planned wash finishes at 18:00. A washed pair becomes available only after your entered drying time. It assumes every walking pair you wore is washed at each wash stop. Pairs kept aside for camp are never counted as walking pairs.
If you want to rotate liners and outer socks differently, run a separate calendar for each. A download includes the numbers you entered; keep it private if that matters to you. The plan is worked out in your browser and nothing is sent to a server; once it is calculated, your answers are kept in the page address so you can share the plan.
What if your socks dry more slowly?
Raise drying time to 16 hours in the example. Both walking pairs remain damp at the start of day 3, so the calendar shows the gap. Change the wash days, the number of pairs or how often you change pairs to find a plan that works for your trip.
Read the backpacking rotation guide, the exact care instructions and the liner and outer-sock checks before relying on a plan.