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Outdoor
Research
Rocky Mountain High Gaiters™
, Packcloth
Long Term Report by Rick Allnutt
PERSONAL BIOGRAPHICAL
INFORMATION
Rick Allnutt
51 Year old male
6' 0'' (183 cm) in height
198 lb (90 kg) in weight
Shoe Size: 11 US
Email address: rick (at) BackpackGearTest (dot) org
I live in Dayton, Ohio
BACKPACKING BACKGROUND
Over the last several years, I have become an ultralight camper with a
three-season base pack weight of about 11 lb (5 kg) and skin out weight of 20 lb
(9 kg). I have completed many section hikes on the Appalachian Trail (AT) in all
four seasons, with a total mileage of nearly 450 miles (725 km). I am a gearhead,
a hammock camper, and make much of my own equipment.
PRODUCT INFORMATION
Manufacturer: Outdoor Research
Year Manufactured:2003
Manufacturer's Link:
http://www.orgear.com
MSRP: $30 US
Size: XL
Color: Black
Listed Weight: 7 oz (199 gm) for pair
Measured Weight: 7.34 oz (208 gm)
Review Date: 15 July 2004
FIELD CONDITIONS
The gaiters have been used for hiking in field conditions from -10 F (-23 C) to
90 F (32 C). They have been used in snow that covered the top of a trail
running shoe, in dry and wet piles of leaves, on sandy paths, and on limestone
rock. I have used them in rain, dry conditions, and in blowing snow.
Their greatest challenge was walking through long wet grass. I
have hiked trails in Ohio, Germany, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee with these gaiters during the
testing period.
REVIEW
A detailed description of the measurements, cloth type, and construction can be
found in my
Initial
Report. My
Field Report contains a number of observations from cold and cool weather.
After a full six months of use I am convinced this gaiter is very sturdy. Seams are
impeccably finished and they have not suffered any apparent wear. No threads
have broken. The Velcro continues to work as designed. The snaps are secure
and work well. The metal front hook has not been bent or damaged. The strings
across the bottom of my shoe soles have not suffered damage in the test period.
I have used the gaiter exclusively with a pair of GORE-TEX® lined trail runners.
Once adjusted, there has been no need to change the length of the string under
the sole of the shoe. The string is not very exposed to abrasion on my shoe and
has not suffered any abnormal wear. I tie the cord doubled under the shoe, by
tying a hitch on the inside grommet and then tying a square knot inside the
grommet on the outside grommet.
I wore these gaiters full time on a 13 day, 298 km (185 mi) hike with the
exception of one day. They kept leaves, sticks, leaves, and sand from getting in the top of my low-topped trail
running shoes. In my Field Report I said "I find that the inside surface
of the lower (waterproof) gaiter section usually gets wet with condensation
after an hour of wearing, regardless of the outside temperature. I believe
this is because the air escaping from the shoe on each step is warm and moist.
It condenses on the first cold surface, which in this case is the gaiter."
I am now happy to report that I have found a way to keep this condensation from
becoming a problem, even in hot and humid conditions.
I began my AT section hike wearing the gaiters in the normal and expected way,
with the Velcro fully fastened along the front edge of the gaiters. In the heat
of Georgia's May weather, my socks quickly became soaked with my own sweat
inside my GORE-TEX trail shoes. Even with hourly breaks, I was walking in
puddles of sweat. I spent a day hiking with the gaiters off and with my socks
pulled down over the top of my hiking shoes to try to decrease the number of
times I needed to stop to empty pebbles and twig parts from my shoes, while
allowing my shoes the ventilation necessary to keep my socks dry.
However, the trails of Georgia in May are lined with poison ivy. After spending
a day looking down at each upcoming step, trying to avoid touching my naked
ankles to the poison ivy, I knew some better way must be found to walk the
trail. The third day of the hike, I tried wearing the gaiters with the
front Velcro pulled open from a lower point 2 cm (0.8 in) to an upper point 10
cm (4 in) above the front snap. This allowed fresh, dry air to enter the gaiter
each step, while protecting the back of my foot from all the debris that are
picked up by my shoes and are tossed against the back of my lower leg. I
still stopped each hour to cool and dry my feet, but the sweat pools were gone
and essentially nothing got in my shoes from that point forward over the next ten
days. I love these gaiters!
Of course, when rain comes along, I fasten the front of the gaiter too.
This keeps rain water from entering the shoe top. The same is true of
walking through wet grass after an overnight rain. I continue to avoid stepping
in more than an inch of water whenever possible, but keeping socks dry while
carefully walking in this much water is certainly possible. I find that
when heavy downpours are in progress, waiting a few minutes for the thunderstorm
cell to pass keeps me from walking through deep puddles and does a great job of
keeping my feet dry.
The material is stout enough to resist puncture by brambles when walking off
trail. I often have been bothered by various thorn bearing vines and plants
when gathering firewood or going to and returning from a stealth campsite.
These gaiters make it easier to walk off trail without ripping my skin or rain
pants on the brambles. I found this very important when wearing a kilt on my
hike. The gaiters did a great job of shielding my lower legs from
poison ivy vines. I am allergic to poison ivy, but did not have any
problem with poison ivy rash on my legs during the hike.
I did have several chances to walk for several hours in
the rain with the gaiters. My feet became wet on two occasions - and this
was not the fault of the gaiter, but of leaking in the top of the foot box of my
shoes. I considered whether it would be better to have the pants leg
of my rain pants outside the gaiter, or inside. I wanted the pant leg
outside so the rain would not run down the pant leg into the gaiter. I
wanted it inside so the pant leg stayed clean while I walked the muddy path, and
was not exposed to damage from bramble. My solution was to tuck the end of
the rain pant leg in the top of the gaiter, letting the material of the rain
pant create a drip line outside the gaiter. This approach works, but I
also found myself hiking in the rain without rain pants. It was too
hot to hike with long pants and I therefore allowed my kilt to get wet and cool
me. The gaiters did their job of keeping my feet dry so blisters would not
form.
SUMMARY
I appreciate the opportunity to test the gaiters. I have been won over
from some skepticism about full length gaiters to full belief in their
usefulness. I am curious about the use of materials such as GORE-TEX for
gaiters, but believe these packcloth gaiters are more than worth their weight
even from an ultralight perspective.
Read more reviews of Outdoor Research gear
Read more gear reviews by Rick Allnutt
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