The Alternate Stitch

5-ish Reasons You’ll Love Merino Wool Socks for Winter
And after keeping your feet cool and fresh all summer, Merino Wool socks are still going to be your warmest socks and the best socks for winter. Let’s celebrate 5-ish reasons why Merino Wool makes the best warm winter socks.
The Best Socks for Sweaty Feet
While most people don’t really want to talk about their sweat, or hear about other people’s sweat, there is a lot of value in speaking from experience and learning lessons from others. 
Why You Should Wear Hiking Socks
One of the principal rules of hiking, especially multiple-day outings, is to take care of your feet. This means keeping your feet dry, warm in cold weather, and cool in hot weather with no sock slipping or bunching. The question is, do you need hiking socks to do that?
How to Choose the Right Running Socks
In this post, we’re going to cover how you should go about choosing the right pair of running socks. We’ll discuss the importance of running socks, what key features to look for, and what about Darn Tough Running socks make them the gold standard for every runner, from beginner level to elite professional.
Small Feet, BIG Problems… Not Anymore
Do you struggle to find socks that fit your small feet properly? Well... You're in the right place. Susie (shoe size 4) shares her tips, tricks, and solutions to find socks that fit just right, without the heels riding up past your ankles.
Are Expensive Socks Worth It?
Why are some socks expensive? Are expensive socks worth it? These are legit questions with prices going up. So if a multi-pack of cotton socks costs the same as a single pair of Darn Tough Vermont Merino Wool socks, why not just go the less expensive route?
Men's Hiking Socks: A Buyer's Guide
We make a lot of men’s hiking socks. Good ones, too. With a goal to make your purchase easier — and to create some passionate responses internally — we went ahead and picked our “best hiking socks” (at least for this year).
Women's Hiking Socks: A Buyer's Guide
We knit a lot of hiking socks. Specifically (at the time this post was written), we knit 48 different styles alone in women’s hiking socks. Safe to say, like any parent, we’re proud of all our socks. But today, we thought we’d lay out our buyer’s guide to the best women’s hiking socks.
Merino Wool vs Regular Wool: Not All Wool’s Created Equal
We choose Merino Wool because it’s wildly resilient and incredibly versatile. Two great things for hiking socks, snowboard socks, skiing socks, running socks, and every sock in between. You might be wondering why Merino Wool is so perfect as a sock material, so we’re covering what is it and how it’s different from regular wool.
Merino Wool: A Buyer’s Guide
Still not sure about Merino Wool? Check out our one stop guide about why we use it in our socks, learn about the benefits that come along using with it, and the history of Merino Wool.
How to Choose the Right Hiking Socks

What makes Darn Tough hiking socks so good? And, with dozens of styles and designs to choose from, how do you pick the right pair for you? In this post, I’ll guide you through how to choose the best socks for your next hike, whether that’s a quick jaunt to your favorite local spot, or a several-thousand-mile-long trek.

Which Came First, the Boot or the Sock? A History of Socks
We only make one thing — socks. And since ours are designed to last a lifetime, we’re jumping straight into the quirky history of what people have worn between foot and footwear over the last 5,000 years or so.
How to Choose the Right Lifestyle Socks
The best sock is one you want to wear every day, and we can help you find it. The secret, they say, is letting the sock choose you. But for someone with a lifestyle as adventurous and spontaneous as yours, we feel you might need a little help.
A Sock's Purpose: 5 Reasons Why You Should Wear Socks

Why do socks exist? Sounds like a question a fuzzy-eyebrowed professor might scrawl on a blackboard during a college philosophy course. Since we’re talking socks, let’s bring that navel-gazing proposition closer to the ground with the top five reasons why socks matter (We know you saw this spoiler coming: Socks do have a purpose. Multiple actually).

Smooth, Soft, and Soothing: More Merino Wool Myths, Busted
The skin is our biggest organ. No wonder there’s lots of differing opinions and perceptions about what we wear on it. And in some times, and places, wool has carried a reputation for being scratchy, itchy, and even the cause of allergies. What if we told you that the case against wool wasn’t quite so black and white?
We Don't Make Compression Socks, but We Do Make Supportive Socks
We compare compression with Darn Tough's performance fit, and look at how supportive, end-use-specific socks may be exactly what you’re looking for. And, if you still really need a good compression sock in your quiver… we’ll point you toward some brands who we think are doing compression right.
Nature’s Most Amazing Fiber: Why It’s Only Natural We Love Merino Wool
Merino Wool does a lot of amazing things naturally. I’m one of Darn Tough’s fiber nerds, and today I’m walk you through the top reasons why we love Merino Wool and all that it does to our feet, focusing on what’s behind its amazing natural abilities.
Big Feet Mean Big Socks
If you have long, big feet (like me), don’t worry – Darn Tough makes socks for you, with sock sizes all the way up to XXL, which fits Men’s shoe sizes 15-17. My name is Mark Hassett, and I am thru hiker and avid adventurer who is always seeking a trail to be explored.
Comparing Sock Materials: Merino Wool vs. Wool vs. Synthetics vs. Cotton
At Darn Tough, we consider Merino Wool to be one of the master strains of all sock materials. When it’s spun together with Nylon and Lycra Spandex, it creates a longer lasting sock that strengthens wear zones and holds its fit for days. We're taking a look at how Merino Wool stacks up against other sock materials.
Merino Wool's Less-Discussed Benefit: It Makes Fire Resistant Socks

When you consider the benefits of Merino Wool, the fact that it makes great fire resistant socks probably isn’t one that you’ve put much thought into. But if you’re a wildland firefighter or flying with the Air Force, this less-discussed benefit of Merino Wool might rank high on your list.

Single & Ready to Mingle: What to Do with Single Socks

Laundry day. We’ve all been there. Everything is going great until you reach the end of the pile and see one lone sock sitting there. What to do with the lone survivor... what do you do with single socks?