Pit Viper was founded on a simple principle - sunglasses that can take a beating. In the spring of 2012 founder, Chuck Mumford, was traveling to the Teton Mountains for a ski touring adventure. Sunglasses being a very important part of touring trips, Chuck had his current "high-end sport" sunglasses in tow which quickly broke and left him looking for more. He started developing Pit Vipers in the Spring of 2012 as a rugged product that could be shot, sat on, shoved in pockets, run over, and mostly maintain their sun and wind bucking ability. Through the spring the tests were successful and it was time to give them some attitude. Being an accomplished artist, Chuck began painting the PV's to match his extreme lifestyle, and they looked damn good.