RunningNov 4, 2026
The vermont mill that bet everything on a lifetime sock promise
Official homepage: https://darntough.com Darn Tough sells socks under a guarantee most businesses would consider a suicide pact and it made them an institution. In the early 2000s, Cabot Hosiery Mills in Northfield, Vermont was dying. The family mill, founded in 1978, had shrunk to 35 employees and a handful of knitting machines as American apparel brands moved production overseas. Ric Cabot's response was to double down on quality instead of cost: launch a premium sock so durable that the company would promise, unconditionally and for life, to replace any pair that ever wore out. This review examines how that gamble built one of the most trusted names in American-made gear, what the lifetime guarantee actually costs in practice, and whether the …