Hi Crowd!
While everyone else in the world is either betting on World Cup games, refreshing their Claude accounts to see if they have access to Fable 5 again yet, or spitting their coffee all over their laptops when they saw that Kamala Harris is privately reaching out Zohran Mamdani and others to think through a Palestine strategy for a potential second presidential run, I’ve been staring at my feet. To be fair I might have done some of those other things too, but the feet thing is more interesting. Of course I’m talking about socks which anyone who has been following for a while should know I’m obsessed with.
For years I was on team Darn Tough, said and done. I didn’t think I’d ever need to consider another sock brand. Pricey but worth it, super comfortable, genuinely tough and if they ever got holes there was a lifetime no-questions asked guarantee. I took advantage of that several times over 15 years or so, and it was flawless. Then I moved to Canada.
Apparently Darn Tough’s lifetime no-questions asked guarantee applies worldwide except Canada where it’s managed by a 3rd party and very much questions asked. First time I tried to do it they hemmed and hawed about how long I’d had them and if “lifetime” really meant 3+ years. They finally agreed and sent me different socks. It’d always been an exact 1:1 replacement and I wanted micro-crew not ankle socks ffs! Anyway, I started considering other options.
High end merino is the gold standard, once you go there it’s basically impossible to go back. I love bamboo for underwear, but haven’t found it in everyday socks yet. I tried some basic Stance athletic socks just to see and they were super comfortable when I put them on, and wet and stinky by the end of the day. No go. I tried a few other options from local stores and they were all in the “well this is ok maybe it’ll work ugh no wtf” and got holes quickly. I have some friends who raise alpacas as pets and are always raving about their wool so I think that subconsciously influenced me and I got sucked into some Instagram advertising for THE BEST™ alpaca socks from a company called Hollow so I ordered some of them and they were very comfortable but a bit of a pain as they couldn’t be dried. Darn Toughs have no washing restrictions, you can wear them for 5 days straight with no problem, then just throw them in any wash and you are good. Hollow had “wash at this temp, do not tumble try” etc rule. Which, whatever if they are wonderful then so be it.
Hollow did not have a lifetime no questions asked guarantee. They had a 90 day guarantee. On day 100 one of my socks got a hole. I figured maybe they’d be cool and contacted support, they said sorry 90 days has passed too bad for you. Around the same time they also sent a “please give us a review!” email, so I did. I mentioned the 100 day hole and said that felt pretty shitty. Someone from the team replied and said they agreed that wasn’t ideal and they would work something out, and to send in an a new email noting the discussion. I did. They replied. Sorry 90 days only too bad for you. Yes really. So I left another review noting this bullshit and they replied again and said omg so sorry for the mixup someone didn’t tell someone else and how embarrassing and someone would be in touch asap to make this right, deepest apologies. I thought OK maybe shit just got mixed up and that happens. Then I got new email from them, with a 10% off my next order discount code. That was them “making it right” apparently. Unrelated, they were having a 40% off sale on their site at the time.
I did not order more.
I spent a few months wading through reviews and tried half a dozen different sock brands and types and in the end of it all I just anytime any of the new things gets a hole I just go back and order Darn Toughs, even without the lifetime guarantee. So that was a fun 4 year lesson / reminder that when it’s already a solved problem don’t go fucking it up by trying to re-solve it some new way. Sometimes the existing solution is just fine.