Gaiters on the Long Trail in August, yeh or neh?
Gaiters on the Long Trail in August, yeh or neh?
Neh. There maybe places or times you might like to have them, but not enough to make it worth it.
Follow slogoen on Instagram.
https://dirtygirlgaiters.com/ they're light enough to bring "just in case"
As a new Englander I usually always bring some sort of gaiters for the Whites and so forth.
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Also, permethrin treated gaiters are an awesome way to avoid ticks
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There will still be mud on the LT. Gaiters may help keeping it off your feet, but , personally, they make my feet too hot. I can only wear them in snow.
about the only time I wish I had gaiters was when walking thru nettles.
My wife bought the Dirty Girls at the outfitter in Killington and wore them the rest of the way north. She was very happy to have them, though this was July not August. Still, keeping crap out of one's shoes is nice any time of year.
If you wear low cut trail runners, Dirty Girl gaiters are a good idea. I was thinking more of the knee high gaiters, which would be too hot to wear in July.
Follow slogoen on Instagram.
I made that mistake as a new backpacker. Wore snow gaiters for a summer hike in The Bonds.
To my defense it had rained a ton and there was a lot of mud, but the big gaiters were wayyyy over kill and made me really hot.
The small mud gaiters tend not to do that tho and make it so you don't have to carefully avoid mud each step. I only don't bring em if I'm sure it'll be dry. And you can't really do that on month long hike. But they are by no means a deal breaker in July
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Yes, if you are wearing trail runners, then lightweight gaiters are well worth it. The combination of wet shoes and socks for days and days (inevitable) and tiny bits of debris is a recipe for very sad feet.
I carried my gaiters for the e2e hike last August. I wore them once out of principal/spite...nothing gets a free ride lol
+1 for dirty girl gaiters (and yes, they're unisex).
I use them to keep all the bits and bobs of trail out of my shoes. Work wonders.
Light and easy to clean, won't keep any water out though.
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OK, thanks for the input. I'll check out Dirty Girl gaiters and I'll leave my full size gaiters at home.
The Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter ~ Cam "Swami" Honan of OZ
Nice coincidence because I also bought some Lone Peaks (3.0) on sale at REI and wore them last weekend in Pharaoh in the Daks and they worked out very well. I was worried about toes jamming into the front of the toe box on steep downhills but it was not a problem... very comfortable. We did about 23 miles. I had only done 7-8 miles before on a local trail with my dog. I hope they are durable.
The Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter ~ Cam "Swami" Honan of OZ
Just tried on a pair of lone peaks but the 12 just seemed to small and they didn't have half sizes the search is still on.
Not a lot of brands make half sizes in size 12 and up.
I got some of the Altra Gaiters and they are excellent. The gaiter trap setup is bomber.
The Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter ~ Cam "Swami" Honan of OZ
It helps to rough up the heel of the shoe with some 80 grit sandpaper and glue the Velcro on with Welder Contact Adhesive. Apply per directions to each surface and let it dry to a slightly tacky state and then stick them on. I have some Cascadias with several hundred miles on them and they are still rock solid.
The best part about the Altra gaiter trap is that it covers the heel part of the gaiter on the outside so there is protection against a rock or a branch pushing the velcro part up and separating it from the heel of the shoe.
Last edited by cmoulder; 06-22-2017 at 07:49.
The Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter ~ Cam "Swami" Honan of OZ