Review: Smartwool Footless Tights

[jessmarimba]

Here's an article about it, though I heard about the buyout sometime before this when I started chatting with a lady from Steamboat Springs who had brought her kids to Denver for back-to-school shopping last year.

http://www.steamboattoday.com/news/2...f-corporation/

[KnottedYet]

Well, that explains *that*.

Point6 - http://www.point6.com/

Hey, Susan!.....

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I remember reading ages ago that Patty was about to start a big knitwear company, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She changed her focus to only socks to keep it simple while she was undergoing treatment. And thus Smartwool socks were born!

[zoom-zoom]

I may try a pair of Darn Tough socks after looking at them, too. They also have merino blend and a lifetime warranty.

[OakLeaf]

IME Darn Tough socks are rougher and less stretchy, better for hiking than running. Try Teko. So much nicer than SW for running, and mine are holding up fine.

[Crankin]

I bought some Point 6 socks from some on line place about a year ago. They are thin and wool, but feel quite different than Smart Wool or Teko. It may be that the ones I have contain some lycra, but they work. I don't use them for the coldest of riding temperatures, but they are good for low fifties, or high forties with toe covers/booties.

[Blueberry]

Title 9 is a reputable dealer. I wouldn't worry about them (not sure if they are on the list or not - the list wasn't working for me). However, you do bring up a good point about some of the less well known retailers.

I've had issues with smartwool purchased at REI - they definitely are on the list, and the quality was definitely not good.

[OakLeaf]

I'm not sure this latest M&A will affect SW quality anyway. It seems to me if anything would've affected quality, it would've been the 2005 buyout by Timberland - and that was before I really started on my wool kick, so whether their QC was better before then (and/or whether they were 100% USA-made) I really have no idea.

It does seem like my SW running socks are not long for this world - not wearing out, the way you expect socks to do, but the elastic and/or Lycra fibers aren't well integrated, or something. I'm always finding threads pulling out of them. I haven't yet had a sock come apart on me, but I have to think that's next. (Most of them came from TE, though I might've gotten a pair or two from big box stores like Gander Mountain or REI.)

And, my SW T's aren't cut straight, so the seams are always snaking around my body in weird ways. Pretty much an expected error in mass production, but unfortunate.

[zoom-zoom]

I was actually talking about another company brought up in the thread. Sierra Trading Post. Never a good experience with that place!

I agree the list if not very user-friendly.

I wish I could blame the lower quality of the ones I've bought recently on them being knock-offs, but they're all PhD line socks of varying thicknesses and from authorized dealers.

[Veronica]

Title 9 can be found on the map of local dealers. They are a good company to deal with I have found.

Here's their return policy.

What's Title Nine's 360 Guarantee?
When you buy from us, we want you to love what you get. So, if for any reason or no reason, you are not happy with your T9 purchase, send it round-trip within a year for an exchange or full refund. No questions. No hassles. No kidding.

I wish had TE a similar policy. Sometimes you can't tell if something isn't going to work until you've tried it out. I understand that as a small company, such a policy would be a burden. But it makes me reluctant to try new things from them.

Veronica