• Manufacturer: MountainAbout 
• Web site: http://www.mountainabout.com/
  
• Year of shipping: 2007
• Place of manufacture: unknown
• MSRP US$7.99

• Weight
• Manufacturer specified:
  
  • Weight: 20 g (0.7 oz)
• As tested:
  
  • Weight: 19 g (0.7 oz) - as a pair.
• Dimensions
• Manufacturer specified:
  • Strap width: 0.5 in (12 mm)
• As tested:
  • Strap length: 120 mm (4.7 in)
  • Strap width: 12mm (0.5 in)
  • Shock cord length when relaxed (each side) 120 mm (4.7 in)

Initial Report: Item Receipt & First Impressions:

1 Oct 2007

I received the MountainAbout GatrGuard in a plastic sleeve with a stapled on cardboard card describing the product and instructions. The instructions describe the product and how to attach it to gaiters. The GatrGuard requires that the Gaiters have eyelets to attach to, although the shock cord could be threaded through clips as well.

In the lead up to this test I lost one of my old gaiters, and used this as an opportunity to upgrade. My old gaiters used a steel cord as their strap to keep them secured. This strap was easy to take off. I often walked with the strap off as rocks and the general surface of much of my walking tended to wear straps down, so that straps would fail after 20 to 30 hours of walking. My new gaiters were not designed to remove the strap so easily, however I was able to remove it from one side and attach the GatrGuard easily. The manufacturers of the new gaiters must have been more confident about their strap given that it is not designed to be easily removable, however I will not have an opportunity to see if this is the case as I will use the GatrGuard exclusively during the test period. I cannot remove the manufacturers strap completely, however I will have it out of use during the test of the GatrGuard.

The material of the GatrGuard seems quite strong, but it is not thick. My initial thought was - is this going to handle the rocks and other hazards of the tracks that made such short work of my old steel straps? MountainAbout has designed this product to perform significantly better than the usual straps supplied with some gaiters, as described on their web site. We shall see, given that I have over 30 days of walking planned during the test period.

I would like to thank BackpackGearTest and MountainAbout for the opportunity to test the GatrGuard.

Field Test Report:

2 Dec 2007

Trips during Field Test period:

Brisbane Ranges: 3 days on track. Elevations ranged from 100 m (330 ft) to 400 m (1330 ft), with temperatures from 10 C (50 F) to 30 C (86 F). There was some overnight rain, but none while walking. The terrain included a significant amount of shale rock.

South West Tasmania: 16 days on and off track. Elevations ranged from sea level to 1100 m (3630 ft), with temperatures from 5 C (41 F) to 25 C (77 F). Most days were dry, but I walked through some rain including a storm. Humidity was medium to high. Terrain included lots of mud, which at times was more than 1 m (3.3 ft) deep. On track conditions included a significant amount of rocks and stones.

My experience with the GatrGuard:

My first two months with the MountainAbout GatrGuard included two trips (detailed above) which were not the easiest walking conditions for gaiter straps. The first trip included almost constant walking on shale rock, which made me wonder just how long the GatrGuards were going to last. Both straps showed very little wear at the conclusion of the trip. At this stage I was very positive about the GatrGuards, as they were outperforming the metal cables that I had used in the past.

My second trip was in South West Tasmania, and this area is well known for being quite muddy. My first few days were on the Port Davey track, which was the most muddy section of the trip. The track is quite overgrown which means that the mud is at times unavoidable, and on quite a number of occasions, I was in thigh deep mud. It was in these conditions that the GatrGuards began to struggle. The straps are held in place by shock cord with a clamp. This binding, which gave me no problems in the Brisbane Ranges failed in Tasmania. One strap came off on the first day, and even though I would check the shock cords on an hourly basis, the second strap failed on the 7th day. I lost one strap. As the straps failed, I began to use the straps that came with my gaiters, which are secured using a buckle, and this mechanism survived the trip, although those straps gained quite a bit of wear.

The conditions that we experienced in Tasmania were hard on our equipment: everyone in our walking party experienced breakages in shoelaces. My boots didn't fall apart, but they were not anywhere near as good as when the trip started. The conditions were harder on equipment than the last time I was in SW Tassie.

Even though the conditions in SW Tassie were harder on equipment than all of my other walking, I do think that the GatrGuard needs a more secure method of attachment. A climbing friend has suggested using static cord, and I intend to do this for the long term review of this test series. I also think that the shock cord attachment would survive most, but not all of my usual walking. As for the straps themselves, they survived conditions that would have seen the end of other straps I have used. The picture above shows a strap after 10 days of use, and even though I need new cords, the strap itself shows very little sign of wear, and I would imagine it would still be good after another 10 days of the same conditions.

Long Term Report:

3 Feb 2008

Trips during Long Term Test period:

Rubicon: 2 days on track. Elevations ranged from 300 m (1000 ft) to 1200 m (3930 ft), with temperatures from 10 C (50 F) to 30 C (86 F). There was no rain. The terrain included a significant amount of road gravel.

Mt Howitt and Howqua River: 3 days on track. Elevations ranged from 400 m (1330 ft) to 1750 m (5750 ft), with temperatures from 10 C (50 F) to 25 C (77 F). Conditions were mostly dry, but we walked through a small thunderstorm. Track conditions varied from gravel roads through rocky track to soil.

Observations

I used 3 mm (0.12 in) static cord on the one Gatrguard that I had remaining after the South Tasmanian trip to secure it to my gaiter. I am using the strap supplied with my gaiters on the other gaiter. The static cord provided a secure attachment for the GatrGuard and was not difficult to take the Gaiter on and off. The Gatrguard as supplied uses shock cord for this function, which is easier to adjust than static cord with a knot, but as seen in the Field Report, I had problems with this in what I admit were trying conditions for equipment.

The GatrGuard has shown only little of wearing, which cannot be said for the straps that came with my gaiters which are the same age as the GatrGuard. I am impressed with the GatrGuard strap. It does appear that these straps will not last indefinitely, but are far more robust than I thought they would be at the start of the test. I am very likely to purchase new ones when my existing GatrGuard (remember I now only have one!) and other straps wear out. Even though I am happy with using a static cord to attach the GatrGuard to my gaiters, I realise that this might not have the marketing appeal vs the shock cord and clamp used by MountainAbout. That system failed in South Tasmania, but did work ok on the walks I did before that, and would have likely worked on the walks I did since then.

I would like to thank MountainAbout and BackpackGearTest for the opportunity to participate in this test.