Sock of the Month: Drew & Darn Tough
Lewiston, ID: Approximately 12 hours from my archery elk camp in Montana. It's the grand opening of our store in Lewiston, ID. Everyone is excited, customers are buzzing about our giant store and the expanded selection of Farm, Ranch and what seems like everything else you could ever need, including a Salted Nut Roll... I had no idea I was about to discover the Darn Tough Hiker sock. The sock Drew is wearing in the photo is the first sock in this extensive list...see what kind of socks you can discover here.
At, the time I was excited for the opening of our Lewiston store... but not just for the new store. It's mid-September and my phone is blowing up with texts and pictures from my buddies in the field. My mantra for the weekend, "Stay focused on Lewiston, your week of hunting will be better if you leave here knowing you didn't daydream about elk all day".
While helping customers during the weekend event, I found myself back in the footwear department and helped show a customer where Darn Tough socks are located. Luckily for me, our footwear buyer was there to assist her with the selection process. Not knowing what these socks were all about, I hovered over Kayla while she explained. After she was done, I quizzed her some more.
Last season, I had a horrible time with my feet. Hunting Montana in September can be really cold and really hot. The '14 season was really hot and my feet sweated to the point where they eventually rubbed raw from the friction between foot, sweat and boot. It took more than three months for them to get back to normal... I suppose I could have utilized one of the many products we sell at our store for boot-care... could have fixed the waterproofing on my boots, because what people don't really think about when their boots are muddy and used hard is this: not only is the waterproofing compromised from the OUTSIDE-IN, meaning water gets IN, but the boot is also compromised from the INSIDE-OUT... meaning, the boot isn't as breathable, and the sweat pools in your shoe.
So, perhaps my feet would have been less traumatized had I taken steps to get my boots in better shape (full footwear care blog here), using these products online here... which I will do from now on, even if I think my gear doesn't need it... better safe than sorry as the saying goes.
But back to my Darn Tough revelation... when I told Kayla about my destroyed feet, she said two things 1) duh- for wearing cotton socks (rookie/cheap move), and 2) that these socks would do the trick.
I'm a self-described "frugal person," but after my 2014 experience, I had to do something and bought two pairs based on Kayla's recommendation. The rest, as they say, is history. Those two pairs of socks helped me put on over 100 miles that next week, much of which was scalding hot for September: a couple days reached 95 degrees. My hunting buddies couldn't believe how well these socks resisted "the stink," and I couldn't believe how well they reduced the friction between my feet and my old boots, which yes, were the same pair as the previous year.
Let's get a bit techy here for a second--WHY are these socks so DIFFERENT??? Besides being built on a mill in Northfield, Vermont (and that's every single pair--not "one" or "two" out of 100s like other sock companies... EVERY pair of Darn Toughs are made in America), besides being "Unconditionally Guaranteed for Life"... and basically just an all around hardcore sock from an ultra-American company... these are made with Merino wool, from a breed of sheep above and beyond the average sheep. You can read an extensive blog about the benefits of Merino here, or watch the video below.
