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Testing Location
Overview: The hiking environment of the southwest of Western Australia
allows for hiking and backpacking from coastal plains to forest.
Elevation ranges from 0 to 585 metres (0 to 1,920 feet). Within this region, I hike in varying
conditions from forestry roads, to sandy tracks to single-purpose walking
trails, to rock hopping, to beach walking to completely off-track walking
through open and dense country.
My bushwalking during the field testing
phase has been predominately on track, albeit overgrown track at times.
That said, on my last weekend bushwalk before writing this report I was
able to expose the gaiters to some serious off-track walking in coastal scrub in the Long Point region of
the southern coast of Western
Australia.
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Weather Conditions: During the summer period, daytime
temperatures average 30° C (86° F), whereas from March through to December the daytime average temperatures range from 15° C to 26° C (59° F to 79° F). During the
autumn, winter, and spring periods the normal weather pattern is fairly
wet with frequent heavy rainstorms evident. It does not normally snow in
Western Australia.
According to The Times Atlas of the World (Concise Edition - Revised 1997)
our weather is described as being "Mediterranean - rainy climates with mild
winters, coolest month above 0° C (32° F), but below 18° C (64° F); warmest
month above 10° C (50° F)." The atlas depicts the coastal area north of
Los Angeles as having the same climate.
The field testing phase of this test series
has taken place during during the last months of summer and the first
month of autumn here in Western Australia. During this phase no rain
has been experienced. Rather the gaiters have been worn on days where the
temperature has at times exceeded 35º C (95º F), therefore exposing the
gaiters to warmer weather testing conditions.
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Field
experience:
Due to a range of personal circumstances
which have conspired against me, testing of these gaiters over the
field test period has been restricted to three backpacks, a total of six days
duration. Two backpacks, in February and March, where 100% on-track
experiences. The first was a two day walk in to Helena Campsite on
the Bibbulmun Track and the second was a short overnight walk into
Monadnocks campsite, again on the Bibbulmun Track. The third backpack was a
combination on and off-track bushwalk in the Long Point campsite area of
the Bibbulmun Track. This later bushwalk allowed me to put the
gaiters to the test in some very aggressive coastal scrub. I can
happily report that the gaiters did well protecting my lower leg during my
attempts to lead the charge in the undergrowth, which at times was impassable
and was often well over my head. Thankfully we where going downhill! Sadly the gap
between the top of the gaiters and my shorts (I, being a "real"
Aussie male walk in shorts :-) ) bore the brunt of the scrub, leaving me with
the scars of my experience still evident over a week later. While I do
feel that true testing of the gaiters does take place off-track, gaiters
can be useful for on-track walking in that they can reduce or eliminate
the likelihood of sticks and stones getting into one's boots or shoes,
reduce the likelihood of a snake bite penetrating one's skin and in all
conditions reduce the likelihood of rain getting into one's boots.
My comments below reflect my experience with these gaiters in terms of
some off-track walking, and in keeping out sticks and stones. Sadly
no rain testing to date and thankfully no snake testing. Mind you I
did encounter a snake on the February walk into Helena Campsite; however,
it took little interest in testing the resistance of the gaiters to its
bite.
In my Initial
Report I discussed a series of claims made by Outdoor Research in
respect of the gaiters. In this report I return to those claims with
an update based on two months field testing.
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25.4
mm (1") Velcro front closure - The Velcro front closure is
described as providing easy access to socks and boot laces; making the
gaiters easy to put on and combined with the elasticised bottom, allow
the nylon instep lace to be tied once to the correct fitting, therefore
avoiding the need to re-tie with each fitment. I have found the
gaiters relatively easy to fit to my New Balance 805s trail runners. I
have yet to use these gaiters with my Scarpa Manta boots. Some
comments on my experience follows.
On my first bushwalk, I found that I had
not tied the laces on very securely and one knot, on one gaiter came
undone fairly late into my walk necessitating some fine tuning of the
laces once I got into camp. While this was a bit frustrating it did not
seem to impact on the fit of the gaiters, suggesting that it may be
possible to wear these gaiters without the nylon instep lace. That said
it did highlight my poor knot tying skills! I also quickly found that
the laces are at what I would consider their minimum length, allowing
little leeway in tying the knot. That is if I use too much lace in knot
tying, I found fitting the gaiters to my trail runners a bit of an
effort, i.e., getting the lace under the sole. There appears to be
little margin for error so to speak. Other than this one incident, I have
had no further trouble with the laces. They also seem to be wearing ok
so far, having been exposed to walking on gravel and sandy tracks as
well as some off-track walking.
The Velcro closure has worked fine. I
have had it pop open only once. I have found them easy to open and close when putting on and off.
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Uncoated Packcloth leg section - The uncoated leg
section is designed to "increase ventilation" and to keep the
wearer cool and comfortable. While concepts of comfort are very subjective,
I have found these gaiters very comfortable so far and have worn them on very
warm days where the temperature has gone above 35º C (95º F). I have not
experienced any discomfort or significant levels of sweating with them. I
have found them to perform better in this respect than my canvas gaiters. I
have at times forgotton I was wearing the gaiters. I also found them quite comfortable and flexible whenever I have had to
bend down or crouch. I actually have worn them pitching the MSR Missing Link tent,
when normally I would find my canvas gaiters very uncomfortable and
restrictive in such a situation.
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Coated Packcloth foot section - The section of the
gaiter is claimed to be waterproof and to provide maximum protection in
keeping one's boots dry as possible in rain etc. Sadly, Hughie has not cooperated to date
and no wet weather testing has been possible. Hopefully Hughie will be
more cooperative in the next test phase.
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Strap and Cam buckle top closure - "This design is
claimed to be easy to use, even when wearing bulky hand wear; it is claimed
to never slip and the nylon strap does not cut into the leg. ... Initial impressions are that this is a
small and fiddly buckle which is tight to close. Maybe with usage the buckle
will loosen up."
As can be noted from my comments in the
Initial Report above, my initial impression was that the strap and cam
buckle top closure was small and fiddly and tight to close. Well,
with
some usage the ease of closure has improved. That said, I do find the
buckle a bit finicky to use and still difficult to close. My experience
is that the cam is just to small to apply good leverage. On the positive
side, I have only had it come open once and I suspect this was caused by
me not closing it tightly. From my experience I have found that
the top closure, as Outdoor Research claim,
does not cut into the leg.
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Elastic bottom edge - Claims to create a tight seal
against the elements and to confirm to a wide range of boot shapes. As
previously noted I have only had an opportunity to use the gaiters with my
New Balance 805s and in dry weather. Under these conditions the gaiters have
fitted to the runner okay and have kept out sticks and stones effectively.
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Hook and snap at bottom front - The gaiters have a
snap at the bottom to keep the Velcro from peeling at the edge. This is one
feature I have been impressed with so far with these gaiters. The snap
at the bottom has worked well to keep the Velcro from peeling at the edge. I have
also found the hook has connected securely to my runner laces and the
gaiters have not pulled away on any of the walks.
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Full protection - No further claims are made as to
what "full protection" exactly entails. In summary as previously
outlined I have used the gaiters in varying walking conditions including
some very aggressive off-track coastal scrub. I am very pleased with
the performance of the gaiters in these conditions. They have worked
effectively providing my lower legs with protection and have been effective
in keeping foreign objects out of my runners.
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Concluding comments:
My experience to date with the gaiters has
been overall positive. Further testing will be undertaken with my Scarpa
Manta boots and Hughie willing, in wet weather conditions. I
will also monitor the wear and functionality of the nylon
instep lace over the long-term testing stage of this test.
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