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CharlesTheHammer 
Group: Members
Posts: 241
Joined: Jan. 2011
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Posted on: Oct. 03 2012, 10:13 pm |
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I have never used these, and I guess I've gotten lucky to have never been caught in a situation where lots of moisture got into my boots(at least not for a long time). I dont know if its been due to wearing longer hiking pants that have covered my boots well enough during wet times, or whatever, but I worry about being a long way away from any civilization and being stuck with soaking wet boots and wet socks and no backup footwear.
So I am now considering buying them, and wanted to ask if people here think they have saved them from having wet feet and whether they are worth the slight extra weight?
What other benefits are there to boot covers?
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| Post Number: 2
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big_load
Group: Members
Posts: 21834
Joined: Jun. 2004
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Posted on: Oct. 03 2012, 10:17 pm |
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For me, the main benefit in decent weather is keeping gravel and twigs out of my boots. I hate stopping to empty them out. I don't wear them all the time, but I usually have some with me.
I always wear them on snow. Snow in my boots is bad.
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| Post Number: 3
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Tigger
Woods Pouncer
Group: Members
Posts: 10509
Joined: Apr. 2005
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Posted on: Oct. 03 2012, 10:24 pm |
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I'm an off-trail hiker and pretty much hike with them all the time, rain or shine. They do work to keep the rain out...but only to a certain extent and only if they're cinched relatively tight. That said, I wouldn't think of hiking without them.
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If I'm going to be lost, in the woods is where I want to be...
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| Post Number: 4
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toejam
the high road is hard to find
Group: Members
Posts: 1462
Joined: Mar. 2002
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Posted on: Oct. 03 2012, 11:43 pm |
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I don't wear them to keep moisture out - they are for solid stuff. Snow, scree & brush.
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| Post Number: 5
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rayestrella
Group: Members
Posts: 6411
Joined: Nov. 2004
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Posted on: Oct. 04 2012, 8:59 am |
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The waterproof type you talk about I only wear in winter. I carry extra socks so don't worry about having wet socks for 3-season hiking. I do always wear a gaiter to keep debris out of my shoes as I hike in trail runners though. I just got another pair of these:
http://www.backpackgeartest.org/reviews....strella
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I measure happiness with an altimeter
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| Post Number: 6
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eggs
That's sofa King assume
Group: Members
Posts: 4236
Joined: Nov. 2007
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Posted on: Oct. 04 2012, 9:15 am |
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I found them to be rather warm in winter and would often sweat under them. I've tried a few types and now settled on just buying softshell pants that have a built in gaiter for winter. Mountain hardware Navigation pants work well
Never in the summer. Stopping once in a great while to remove some object from a boot is not that big of a deal for me.
On a big mountain trip where I know there will be scree then yes.
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Eggs
Home of the egg
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| Post Number: 7
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hikerjer
Group: Members
Posts: 9144
Joined: Apr. 2002
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Posted on: Oct. 04 2012, 12:25 pm |
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I only use them in snow and slush. Never have felt the need for them in the other seasons.
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"Too often I have met men who boast only of how many miles they've traveled and not of what they've seen." - Louis L'Amour
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| Post Number: 8
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QCHIKER
Group: Members
Posts: 1728
Joined: Oct. 2009
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Posted on: Oct. 04 2012, 2:32 pm |
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Same here I only use my gaiters in the winter to keep out snow and slush. I've never really needed them during the other 3 seasons.
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| Post Number: 9
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Tigger
Woods Pouncer
Group: Members
Posts: 10509
Joined: Apr. 2005
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Posted on: Oct. 04 2012, 2:42 pm |
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I use OR Rocky Mountain Lows in summer
and OR Croccodiles in winter
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If I'm going to be lost, in the woods is where I want to be...
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| Post Number: 10
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SmokeyBear
I know shoe-fu
Group: Members
Posts: 3669
Joined: Mar. 2009
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Posted on: Oct. 04 2012, 9:47 pm |
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+1 on the rocky mtn lows in the summer. I always wear gators too, mostly to keep debris out but also the odd splash through streams and keeping mud out too.
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| Post Number: 11
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wildlifenate
Group: Members
Posts: 5834
Joined: Jul. 2004
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Posted on: Oct. 05 2012, 2:03 am |
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yeah, count me as someone who uses them regardless of trip length.
I have some Schoeller softshell shorty gaiters from EMS that I dearly love. I have two pair - I got one for my wife originally but she doesn't really use them. Her loss.
These are pretty water resistant. If my boots or shoes are waterproof, they'll keep me dry on stream crossings where the water overtops my footwear. They work well to keep the lower cuffs of my pants dry and clean. They're stretchy, so they also work well against ticks (as opposed to tucking my pants into my socks). And finally, they keep sticks and rocks out of my shoes.
So yeah, I use them a lot.
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The GPS Geek
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| Post Number: 12
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Serpicorabbit
If I pee on it, it's mine!
Group: Members
Posts: 4112
Joined: Oct. 2008
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Posted on: Oct. 05 2012, 4:02 am |
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Yep. The desert's full of stickies that love socks and boot linings.
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No problem! ~ ALF
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Serpicorabbit's blog
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| Post Number: 13
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JimInMD
Group: Members
Posts: 3112
Joined: Feb. 2011
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Posted on: Oct. 05 2012, 5:35 am |
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I considered getting some leather ones for summer hikes in rattlesnake country. After realizing how warm that would be, I figured I'd just be more careful about where I walked.
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Checking out for a while, find me on FB.
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| Post Number: 14
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TDale
Group: Members
Posts: 13151
Joined: Jun. 2005
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Posted on: Oct. 05 2012, 6:22 am |
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Permethrin soaked gaiters are my first line of cefense.
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"Sure as I know anything, I know this - they will try again...They'll swing back to the belief that they can make people... better. And I do not hold to that. So no more runnin'. I aim to misbehave."
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| Post Number: 15
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AggieHiker92
Hiking with kids in tow adds a new dimension to the Wonders of Nature
Group: Members
Posts: 1283
Joined: Nov. 2006
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Posted on: Oct. 05 2012, 11:48 am |
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I wished I had them on a hike in the Weminuche some years past. It had rained that afternoon (as it tends to rain EVERY afternoon up there), and the trail was leading me through a bunch of what my dad called buck brush. After getting a bunch of wet, cold moisture from the brush down into my boots, I came up with another *uck word to call it. I figure gaiters would have helped me then. At least I would have been able to feel my toes.
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"Though I've belted you and flayed you / By the living Gawd that made you / You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din." - Rudyard Kipling
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| Post Number: 16
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ashepabst
Group: Members
Posts: 1009
Joined: Jul. 2008
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Posted on: Oct. 05 2012, 1:38 pm |
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i use them on hikes with a lot of creek crossings... keeps the water out of the boots without having to change shoes.
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| Post Number: 17
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montymontana
Group: Members
Posts: 28
Joined: Jun. 2008
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Posted on: Oct. 05 2012, 10:56 pm |
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Always! Keeps all the debris out of my trail runners. Some really light ones (~2 oz) can be had from Montbell, Dirtygirlgaiters.com, and Simblissity.net Check 'em out!
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| Post Number: 18
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AlmostThere
I must not be there yet, I keep hiking...
Group: Members
Posts: 4890
Joined: Apr. 2008
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Posted on: Oct. 05 2012, 11:21 pm |
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I have Dirty Girls, short desert gaiters, long packcloth gaiters for summer, and waterproof for winter. Different purposes, different lengths, different environments - nothing to do with water til winter.
Bush and low elevation scrub, I want to keep the junk, thorns, and sticks out of the shoes and keep my pants intact. Higher up it's scree. For trail walking, the Dirty Girls or the shortie gaiters are light enough and breathable enough, and keep the debris out of the socks.
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All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking.
Friedrich Nietzsche
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| Post Number: 19
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big_load
Group: Members
Posts: 21834
Joined: Jun. 2004
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Posted on: Oct. 05 2012, 11:32 pm |
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For people who never wear gaiters in scree, have you ever had some pebbles in your shoes that started irritating your feet, but it didn't hurt too bad yet, so you kept going for while, setting a mental milestone on when to stop and take them out? Then you reached the milestone, and it hurt a little more, but still not too bad, so you went a little further, and before you know it, you've been walking for an hour on the pebbles and when you stop to think about it, it really does hurt quite a bit. Yeah, that's about when you decide that you'll stop and empty your shoes in another 15 minutes. Really, you mean this time.
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