Darn Tough Socks by Darn Tough

I wear these socks... they are my personal favorite... I prefer the thicker no show ankle socks for my sneakers.

I'm not sure if the warranty covers all the fuzz they collect... after a fear years they collect a LOT of fuzz on the exterior of the socks... no holes though.

I give these sock 9.5 out of 10 acorns. The only reason it's not 10 out of 10 is because I wish there was a higher percentage of natural fibers in these socks. Depending on the thickness of the sock, there is more or less wool. Here's some examples:

Tactical Over-the-Calf Extra Cushion
79% Merino Wool 20% Nylon 1% Lycra® Spandex

Mountaineering Over-The-Calf Extra Cushion
72% Merino Wool 26% Nylon 2% Lycra® Spandex

Solid Knee High Light Cushion
62% Merino Wool, 35% Nylon, 3% Lycra® Spandex

Over-the-Calf Padded Light
60% Merino Wool, 36% Nylon, 4% Lycra® Spandex

Tactical Over-the-Calf Light Cushion
53% Nylon 44% Merino Wool 3% Lycra® Spandex

RFL Over-the-Calf Ultra-Light
47% Merino Wool, 49% Nylon, 4% Lycra® Spandex

Thermolite® RFL Over-the-Calf Ultra-Light
51% Nylon, 45% Thermolite Polyester, 4% Lycra® Spandex

Coolmax® Micro Crew Cushion
58% Coolmax® Polyester 39% Nylon 3% Lycra® Spandex

As you can see, the wool socks range from 79% wool to only 47%. The Coolmax and Thermolite socks have NO wool in them. I have only bought Darn Tough's wool socks, so I'm limiting my review to them.

I personally LOVE these socks. I wear them all year round. I bought pairs for my husband and my kids. I generally wear through socks in about 1-3 months. I previously had bought Costco's wool socks, and those were getting holes within a month! With my Darn Tough socks, they last at least a year before developing holes. The thinner ones develop holes sooner than the thick ones. The holes also do not run, as far as I can tell. With some socks, you get a hole and if you keep wearing the socks without darning them, the holes become ginormoous. Not so with Darn Tough socks. The holes stay about the same unless you wear them bigger. Since I have always returned my socks for new ones, I have not darned them (I worry that my darning might void the warrenty). But I imagine that with darning, they would last even longer.

Sizing:
I do find that they strink a little in the drier, even though they are supposed to be drier friendly. My son's socks shrank too small for him (I ordered new ones in the same size, and they were a little big, so it wasn't just his feet growing). So, I always try to make sure to hang them to dry, but sometimes they get missed.

I also find that, since I have wide feet, I need to order a size up, but that's largely because I'm right at the transition between Small and Medium, with a shoe size of 6.5 womens.

Wear and Tear and Comfort of Various Socks:
I've worn the "Light," "Padded light," "Padded cushion" as well as "Extra cushion" socks. The light socks wear too quickly, so I pretty much just use them for when I'm going somewhere, as they are generally nicer, dressier socks. And, because they are thinner, I can feel any little rock or twig that might enter my minimulist shoes, so I prefer the thicker socks for working for that reason, too. The Padded Light and Padded Cushion also wore through a tad too quickly, and they wore through right where the padding ended and the thinner part of the sock began. The Extra Cushion socks are BEEFY and a bit too warm for me. I've had them for almost three years, and they still have no holes. All my "Padded Cushion" and "Padded Light" developed holes.

Returns:
I have now returned batches of socks twice. I tend to save up as many as I can to mail them at once to save on shipping. To return the socks for replacements, you have to fill out a form and mail in the socks, paying for the shipping there, but NOT the shipping back. The first time I mailed socks, they picked out similar ones and mailed them back. I sent in black Knee-High Padded Cushion socks, and got back black Knee-High Padded Light. I was kind of bummed, because they were thinner and I was afraid they'd develop holes sooner. They did. Within a year, I mailed them all back (the padded cushion socks lasted 1.5-2.5 years, the padded light only lasted a year).

This second time I mailed socks, instead of a paper form to fill out, it was an online form. AND, as a big plus, they give you store credit at darntough.com for the worth of those socks, and you can pick out the ones you want. I LOVE this option. This time around, I picked out their new Tactical Boot Cushion socks, as well as some Knee High Light Cushion socks. These both have thick cushioning covering the sole of the foot, with less cushion on the legs and top of the foot. These socks are not too warm for me--I've been wearing them in 80degree F weather, and they are very comfy. And, since they are so thick on the soles, I think it will take me years to wear a hole in them. And, because the soles are so thick, if I get small rocks and sticks in my shoes, I can't even feel it due to how cushioned these socks are. I really love my tactical socks. I also like that they come in solid colors, so I can wear them with all my clothes. When I ordered my replacement socks, I ordered a few extra with my own money, just to get three pairs of each style I wanted.




Tips for Ordering:

Check amazon for sales--that's how I got my first few pairs of socks. They were only $3.89 each! I haven't seen a sale like that since, though, and I checked a LOT so I could get some for my husband affordable.

GoBros.com often has sales of 15% or more off of Darn Tough socks, and also socks on clearance. I got on their mailing list, and I bought socks for both my husband and son from them.

If you're ordering lots of pairs, resist the temptation to buy lots of different styles. You have to have a PAIR of socks to return them. If you buy a purple, a striped, a brown, and a black pair of socks, and lose one purple sock and one brown sock, you can't return those pairs. But, if you buy four pairs of brown socks and two socks, you'll still be able to return three pairs of socks.

Here's some of our socks hanging on the line--we're a Darn Tough Family!


Love these tactical socks!

9 out of 10 acorns because I wish they had more styles I could wear with my dresses.  Not necessarily dress socks, but neutral colors that wouldn't clash so bad.

After seeing all the reviews here I ordered a couple of pairs a couple years ago.  I wear them during work, eight or more hours a night,on my feet on concrete.   I'm actually wearing one of those pairs right now. They still look nearly new and my feet still aren't sore or tired at the end of a shift when I wear these.   The difference between these and other socks is so extreme I spent another 100 dollars on their website to get enough pairs to wear them every shift.  I don't know how many years it will take to wear them out.  Outside of work I usually run around barefoot.

I give these socks 10 out of 10 acorns. I have replaced all of my socks with Darn Tough, with the exception of my winter expedition socks. For those, I still use very thick wigwam socks. I originally bought some of these socks in the winter of 2016 after a few referrals from friends. Since then I've bought about a dozen pairs of varying shapes — mostly the Hikers and the 1/4 Hikers. They are the only socks I wear during the summer, which means they get a lot of construction time and a lot of backpacking time.

Some of my favorite parts about them:

- I can wear them 2 days without washing or smell or sweat-crud
- A quick rinsing in a stream will remove almost all sweat / smell
- They dry very well, even when packed up damp
- They're so cozy — really. It feels great to put them on and they have the "feels good no matter how sweaty" feature that most wool socks have
- I don't know which pairs I bought years ago versus newer ones. They are, indeed, darn tough

I've gotten too old to wear crummy socks and I'm through with those flimsy white bits that stretch out, wear out, and stink to high heavens. These are expensive, but my feet deserve it.

I give these socks 10 out of 10 acorns.

The pair that I bought were https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A6BG08Y
These are 68% Merino Wool/28% Nylon/4% Lycra Spandex as someone else pointed out.  

I gave these socks a try, because some ultralightweight backpackers gave their full support of them.  They were touted as tough socks that could stand up against the stink of thru-hiking.  I personally haven't used these in any extreme conditions, but they have lived up to the hype.  They are comfortable, and warm.  I got the athletic version, because I wear them quite often with my athletic shoes on days that I am walking any sizable distance.   I did think about docking an acorn, because of the price.  However, their unconditional lifetime guarantee has given me extreme confidence in the brand ...... and I really enjoy the socks.  Merino wool is not cheap, and the synthetic fibers in this sock help to give it a good comfortable fit.  I do have some 100% alpaca wool socks that I purchased from Ecuador, but I would never consider hiking in them.  Those are more for sleep socks, while these are for active wear and tear.

6 months in, and I give these socks 9 out of 10 acorns - I love them!

My favorite are the over-the-knee light cushion socks (full cushion of other brands are hard to fit into my shoes, so I didn't try those.)

Comfortable, not itchy, the elastic is holding well, so they are not stretching or sliding down my leg mid-day.

The wool helps them to stink less, so I can wear them several times before washing is necessary.(and warmer than cotton, always!!)

After trying the dress socks and light cushion, I'll always go light cushion - the dress socks were a little short and not as comfortable for the same price - and the regular socks look just as good(they're always under your pants anyhow, so maybe I just don't understand the reason for dress socks).  

One sock got a small run in the elastic, which is too small of an issue to warrant using the return process, but still disappointing(could have been my fault though, I don't know.)

Highly recommend, and will be buying more when budget allows!

I give these socks 10 out of 10 acorns.  I won't wear any other brand since I discovered these.  I occasionally try another brand and I never feel like they live up to my Darn Tough socks.  As people have said, they are kind of expensive, but with a lifetime guarantee, I would paid double what they cost and still be happy with them.  They are the most comfortable socks I have worn and must be sprinkled in magic dust, because the really do stay stink-free better than any other socks I have ever worn.

I give these socks 8.5 out of 10 acorns.

These socks are at a higher tier of price point in the 'sock market' so I have high expectations for the product that I am receiving. The socks are well made, and they have a decent knit to them. They wash well and so far have shown no signs of wear. I do believe a competitor sock is slightly more comfortable but it does not have a lifetime guarantee.

I would recommend these socks to others.

I have tried all different kinds of socks for around $10-$12 for 6 pairs. I rotate the pairs and the all start getting holes in 6 months. I tried some with a high cotton content ($25 for 8 pair) for a more natural sock. Same thing, holes in 6 months. I am on my feet most of the day and change shoes a few times.

A flat rate envelope from my zip back to darn tough zip is $11. A lot of reviews indicate they wear out fairly quickly and I'll have to factor in the hassle of the post office. The kind I would get do not have a high percent of natural fibers.

I am not sure I am a good candidate for these.

How are these holding up for you? Is it worth it from a cost saving perspective, comfort perspective or other?

Josh Hoffman wrote:I have tried all different kinds of socks for around $10-$12 for 6 pairs. I rotate the pairs and the all start getting holes in 6 months. I tried some with a high cotton content ($25 for 8 pair) for a more natural sock. Same thing, holes in 6 months. I am on my feet most of the day and change shoes a few times.

A flat rate envelope from my zip back to darn tough zip is $11. A lot of reviews indicate they wear out fairly quickly and I'll have to factor in the hassle of the post office. The kind I would get do not have a high percent of natural fibers.

I am not sure I am a good candidate for these.

How are these holding up for you? Is it worth it from a cost saving perspective, comfort perspective or other?

Hey Josh, I also wear out cotton socks in six months or less. I usually get a year out of Darn Tough socks, sometimes two years. I've sent socks back on two different occasions now. The shipping is expensive. But I find it worth it when my account fills up with a hundred dollars of credit for new pairs. I will mail another box to them sometime in the next couple of months.