Quality is going down over years.
"If my memory serves me right the merino wool percentage used to be higher. Now the Hike+ is only 49% merino wool and 51% plastic. Before the socks were smoother but now there is "ribs" on the surface which creates these stripes of swelling on your skin when you wear them for long periods of time. Things are suppoed to get better over time but I feel as though the quality has only gone down over the last several years I have bought Icebreaker items. When I trained in the army 5 years ago I had a pair of Icebreaker socks that also had some thick ribs/stripes around the ankles and wearing it with boots damaged by legs as it causes lines of swelling. Socks should have smoothe surfaces that lay flat against the skin, there shouldn't be multiple lines with edges that causes swelling."
