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The Story Behind Our Unconditional Lifetime Guarantee
“I wouldn’t guarantee something that I didn’t make myself.”
– Ric Cabot, President & CEO of Darn Tough
If you’re familiar with Darn Tough, chances are you’ve heard about our Unconditional Lifetime Guarantee. It’s what ensures our socks are the most comfortable, durable, and best-fitting socks on the planet.
Our promise: If these aren’t the longest lasting socks you’ve ever owned, you can return them for another pair. No receipt needed, just the pair in question.
For long time Darn Tough wearers, you already know this. If your socks ever rip, tear, or lose their fit, we’re happy to replace them free of charge. No strings attached, and no, you don’t have to wash them before sending back to us. It’s nice if you do, but something about handling your dirty socks fires us up. It shows us where you’ve been – those leftover clumps of dirt stuck to your cuff a telling sign of off-trail exploration.
But why are they Guaranteed for Life? What’s our inspiration for making a sock and backing it up with an Unconditional Lifetime Guarantee? Here’s what our CEO and Founder, Ric Cabot, had to say about the story behind its inception.
Q&A with Ric Cabot
Where did the idea for a Lifetime Guarantee come from?
My goal at the time was to make the best possible sock that the market has to offer. I felt that if we couldn’t make it, nobody could.
At the time Darn Tough was created (circa 2003), everybody was outsourcing and moving textile manufacturing offshore. But we had something nobody else had – three generations of sock-making experience, total ownership of the entire process, and a willingness to keep making socks in Vermont. It shows our commitment to the process and to the product.
We wanted to give our customers assurance that what they were buying was genuine and authentic. And what better way to do that than by making it ourselves and guaranteeing our socks for life.
Was anybody else offering a Lifetime Guarantee on socks back then?
Nobody was doing it then, and to my knowledge, nobody is doing it now. There are some players who talk the talk, but most brands don’t stay true to their word. They might start out promising a Lifetime Guarantee, but quickly realize they can’t follow through. And usually, they don’t. Some might last 6 months and try and swindle their customers into making a purchase without reading the fine print.
Whereas for us, there is no fine print. Our Unconditional Lifetime Guarantee stands for itself, and our products do the same. No stipulations, no strings attached. Just quality socks for the outdoor and lifestyle markets that are Still Made in Vermont and still the best socks you’ll ever wear.
What’s your philosophy behind Darn Tough's Unconditional Lifetime Guarantee?
In addition to helping our customers trust and love the socks they’re wearing, our Lifetime Guarantee benefits us because it helps us improve our product. Everyone that works here knows we’ve yet to produce our best sock, and our Lifetime Guarantee is a huge part of that.
Every sock that gets sent back to us is a chance for us to right our wrongs. It’s an opportunity to evaluate wear patterns and develop new strategies to ensure our socks are the most durable on the planet. We look for trends, we make fixes, and we improve durability based on what we see when you send your socks back to us.
For those who don't know, how was Darn Tough created?
My father Marc started and founded Cabot Hosiery Mills in 1978. Up until the early 2000’s, all our business was private label, meaning that we knit socks here but sold them to retail stores to sell under their name. At the time, sock manufacturing was predominantly outsourced, and we lost some of our biggest customers.
In 2003, the Vermont City Marathon was coming up, and we decided to give away 3,500 pairs of new socks under the name Darn Tough. Our first sock was a running sock offering enhanced comfort, durability, and fit, and, of course, was backed by our Unconditional Lifetime Guarantee.
People really seemed to like them and wanted more. Nearly 20 years later, our business has grown exponentially, and just recently we surpassed Smartwool as the number one sock brand for the outdoor industry.
Our Founding Principles
Ric’s passion for creating a product that’s Unconditionally Guaranteed for Life is evident by his responses, but it’s not the only thing that makes our socks the best in the world.
In fact, our Guarantee, he says, is one of three ingredients that help guide us towards knitting the perfect sock. Our Lifetime Guarantee might be the one that people are most familiar with, but like every great recipe, it’s the sum of its parts that makes the cake taste right.
So, to understand what goes into cooking up the world’s most durable socks, we must first make clear Darn Tough’s founding principles.
- Uncompromised Comfort, Durability, & Fit
- Still Made in Vermont, USA
- Unconditionally Guaranteed for Life
These three ingredients make up the recipe that we use to create the world’s greatest socks. Although we’ve yet to produce our best, we know we’re getting closer with every sock that gets knit at our Mills in Northfield and Waterbury, VT.
Uncompromised Comfort, Durability, & Fit
Comfort, Durability, and Fit are at the core of every Darn Touch sock, ensuring wearers won’t ever have to buy another pair. And our Unconditional Lifetime Guarantee backs up that promise. If your socks aren’t the most comfortable, durable, and best-fitting socks you’ve ever worn, we vow to replace them free of charge.
Still Made in Vermont
The ‘still’ in 'Still Made in Vermont' is a personal thing. It’s a constant reminder that while most sock manufacturing was forced out of Vermont, we chose to stay put and double-down on our strengths. It’s how we’ve been able to continue producing the world’s best socks right here in the Green Mountain State. And while it hasn’t been easy, that’s the point.
Life in Northfield, VT is often tough, and anyone who lives here can attest to that – it’s out of the way, colder than normal, and cell service is spotty. But the people here are built differently, including those who work at our Mill. It’s the real reason why our socks are Still Made in Vermont, because the people who make them are tougher than our socks.
Nobody ever outsourced anything for quality, and our choosing to stay in Northfield is a testament to that. It’s why this community knits what people consider the best sock they’ve ever worn, and that will never change.
Unconditionally Guaranteed for Life
Our Unconditional Lifetime Guarantee is just that – unconditional. That means we’ve got you covered. If these aren’t the longest-lasting socks you’ve ever worn, we’ll replace them for free.
We stand behind our Unconditional Lifetime Guarantee because we maintain the standards we set. In other words, we know the work we put in and can stand behind that work unconditionally with good faith. It’s what allows us to continue knitting the world’s best socks based on the feedback we receive when you warranty them.
Making the World's Toughest Socks
We didn’t just wake up one day and start knitting the world’s toughest socks. It’s been a goal of ours, sure, but we’ve taken many steps along the way to help us get it right. From knitting and boarding to finishing and quality control, our technique for creating the world’s toughest socks stretches across multiple disciplines. This includes our warranty program.
A big part of our Unconditional Lifetime Guarantee is that we control the entire process. It allows us to innovate and explore new ideas based on what people are interested in without having to answer to anyone (except you, of course). Making the world’s toughest socks isn’t easy, but it shouldn’t be. Especially when you consider the places people go and the heights people climb wearing our socks.
It’s in our blood – passed down from father to son – to have such passion and commitment to producing something that can be worn with pride and hung up to dry in celebration after a long day. Whether that’s hiking the trail or lounging at home, our socks are built tough for every occasion. Because, as you know, life is unpredictable. But with Darn Tough socks that are Unconditionally Guaranteed for Life, you’ll at least know you’ll never have to worry about buying another pair.
One Story Told by Many
We asked Ric Cabot one final question: Why can we guarantee our socks for life, but others can’t? His answer was simple:
“Our people. We have the best people in the world,” he said, “and that’s why we’re able to produce the world’s best socks.”
Family is important to the Cabot’s, and with nearly 500 employees across Darn Tough’s three Vermont facilities, that family is still growing and getting bigger every day.
We’ve made a lot of friends along the way, but within our walls, it’s the same story. One story – one of commitment and promise and passionate conviction – told by many. By all of you, and by everybody who’s ever worn a pair of Darn Tough socks. It’s how we’re able to offer an Unconditional Lifetime Guarantee that we know we can back up, because our people wouldn’t have it any other way.
