I’ve been a Merino wool sock guy for a while now. I used to cheap out, trying to buy budget Merino wool socks where I could find them, but rarely did I have a sock that lasted more than a year. I kept reading about Darn Tough socks and how great they were all over Reddit. Basically the premise of Darn Tough socks is that they aren’t cheap, but they’re durable and Darn Tough will warranty them no matter the reason. In essence, a pair of socks purchased could be a lifetime investment – socks for life!
I finally gave in and started buying Darn Tough socks to replace my worn out Merino wool socks just over a year ago. All was well, the socks were great, but it finally came time to try out that warranty when I got a hole in my socks. It was time to find out – is the Darn Tough warranty worth it?
I’ll give you a TL;DR here and tell you that YES, the Darn Tough warranty is worth it! But let’s get into the numbers to show you how it’s worth it.
The pair in question was a $25 pair of Darn Tough Men’s Hiker Micro Crew Midweight Hiking Socks. I got a hole in them for a totally benign reason. I was letting my dogs in the back door and got a sock caught on the sharp corner of the storm door and it poked a hole in my sock, caught, and opened the hole up a bit. I want to stress that the hole was no fault of the Darn Tough sock design – any sock would have ripped under the circumstance.
To warranty the socks, you have to pay your own shipping to send them in to Darn Tough. I’m a notorious cheapskate and so I use Pirate Ship to buy my shipping labels. Given the weight and small shipping envelope size, I paid $3.96 to print my label and drop it off at the closes Post Office.
After a couple weeks, I finally heard back about the warranty. Darn Tough emailed me a warranty code for their website for exactly $25 that included free shipping. I hopped on their website, picked my replacement pair, added the code a checkout, and voila a new pair was on its way. I was only out the $3.96 I paid to ship.
Here’s the math
$25 initial purchase + $3.96 shipping – $25 warranty code + free shipping = $3.96
It only cost me $3.96 out of pocket to get a new pair of socks.
For the sake of argument, let’s say I have 10 pairs of Darn Tough socks – all the same style just different colors. Basically, I could warranty individual pairs of socks 63 times before I paid what I originally invested in warranty shipping fees. That’s pretty epic.
Obviously, you could stretch this out even more if you warranty multiple pairs of socks at the same time. This also doesn’t factor inflationary increases in shipping costs over time. But it does demonstrate that yes – the Darn Tough warranty is worth it. Also, the warranty applies even if you got your socks on sale or clearance!
Timeline
How long did the warranty process take? From the date I shipped it to receiving my new socks was 17 days. Not bad! I slacked and missed the warranty code email for 8 days. It took 2 days to ship via USPS. It took 12 days for Darn Tough to process my warranty after receiving my busted socks. Then it took 3 days to ship the new socks to me after I placed my order on the website.
Darn Tough vs. Smartwool Warranties
How does the Darn Tough warranty compare to that of its other major competitor – Smartwool? Smartwool’s warranty is actually pretty good, but they only warranty for 2 years. I’ve warrantied Smartwool socks before and got what I needed, but Darn Tough warranties for life. Darn Tough’s warranty beats Smartwool’s by a long shot. Smartwool makes great socks, but Darn Tough makes just as good if not better socks but with a way better warranty.
Final Thoughts
Given the quality of the socks and the lifetime warranty, I have a hard time recommending any other brand than Darn Tough for Merino wool socks. They’re just the best out there with an unbeatable warranty. It’s important that I note that the warranty applies no matter the price you paid – if you got your socks on sale or clearance the warranty stands just the same. I hope Darn Tough never pulls back on their awesome warranty, because as long as they have their lifetime warranty they’ll have a customer for life. And I’m sure I’m not the only one that thinks that. Don’t make the same mistakes I have – don’t waste your money on any other brand of Merino wool socks – get Darn Tough.
Dad Likes Gear 
A wise man once told me, never pay full price for Merino Wool socks… listen to this man, he knows what he’s talking about!
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I find joy in hunting for Darn Tough Irregular wool socks for a fraction of the cost at TJ Maxx. I dont think they are covered under the same warranty but still just as durable and comfortable and I feel like I won bargain of the day when shopping with my wife.
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