Chums
- Headquarters
- Hurricane, UT
- Manufacturing
- Hurricane, UT · Outside the US (unlabelled share of the range; country not disclosed)
- Categories
- eyewear · sports-and-outdoors
Chums began in 1983 with a Colorado River dory guide who was tired of watching clients lose their sunglasses in the rapids. He sewed the first cotton retainers on a $60 machine, and the company has made them ever since in Hurricane, Utah, a small town at one of the entrances to Zion National Park. The Ferries family bought it in 2002. Chums says the Hurricane plant turns out more than 15,000 units a day, and a 2015 trade profile and a 2023 regional profile both place the retainer production there.
This record is at the imported mark on purpose. Chums’s own FAQ says the majority of its products are made in the USA, not all of them, and a 2023 profile puts the Hurricane share at about 70 percent by volume. The retainers carry a “Made in the USA” line on their product pages. The bags, wallets, cases, apparel and several accessories, including the neoprene retainer, carry no origin line at all.
So only the retainers are listed below, each with its own product-page evidence. If you want the Utah product, check that the spec list ends in “Made in the USA” before you buy. Most rope, cotton and cord retainers have it; the bag line does not.
The record
Chums runs its original factory in Hurricane, Utah, and has made retainers there since 1983
“Our original factory sits at one of the 3 entrances to Zion National Park in the small town of Hurricane, Utah.”
chums.comRetrieved
Chums says only a majority of its products are made in the USA
“The majority of our products are made here, in the USA.”
chums.comRetrieved
An independent profile puts about 70 percent of Chums's volume in the Hurricane plant
“About 70% of the products Chums sells (by volume) are still made in the Hurricane, Utah, facility, which manufactures upwards of 15,000 eyewear retainers a day.”
visitsunvalley.comRetrieved
A 2015 manufacturing trade profile confirms the retainers are made in Utah
“The company manufactures the original Chums and other retainers in Utah.”
usmanufacturingreport.comRetrieved
Domain record
chums.com was registered on .It dates the domain, not the business: a maker that moved to a new address reads young here, and an old domain says nothing about who holds it now.
RDAP registry record · checked 19 Sep 2026
Products
Where to buyOriginal Cotton Retainer, Standard End
Made in USAThis item carries a different mark from Chums as a whole, so it has its own record.
The product page says the Original is still manufactured in the USA
“Fast forward to today and this product is still manufactured in the USA!”
chums.comRetrieved
Where to buyUniversal Fit Rope Retainer, 3mm
Made in USAThis item carries a different mark from Chums as a whole, so it has its own record.
The product page says the Universal Fit is made in the USA
“Made in the USA with durable 3mm braided nylon rope and an adjustable slider bead, this retainer has stood the test of time in more ways than one.”
chums.comRetrieved
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