Reviews > Rain Gear > Gaiters > OR Rocky Mountain High Packcloth Gaiters > Roger Caffin > Long Term Report

Long Term Report - OR Rocky Mountain High Gaiters
Roger Caffin

Product Information

Preamble to Report

I reported in the Field Report that we took these gaiters on a mix of day walks and longer walks, many in rough rocky country and off-track. In addition, I did lend them to my wife sometimes so I could compare them with our normal canvas gaiters, and her experiences paralleled mine.

Our favoured local walking area (Wollemi NP) is a huge dissected sandstone plateau region hundreds of kilometres long (well over a hundred miles) and somewhat less than that in width, with lots of ironstone in places, and some basalt poking through here and there (volcanic intrusions). Because of the harsh sandstone terrain the vegetation is also harsh: one reason for wearing gaiters at all times. (Mind you, the basalt soil gullies can be even worse, with spiky 'lawyer' vines and other jungle.) Both the harsh rock and the harsh scrub give gaiters a harsh time, and I have evolved some heavy ones made of '12 oz' canvas and 1000 denier Cordura for that environment. They feature a double layer (canvas and Cordura) at the front up my shins as armour. They are very stiff in the lower section and do not need any laces underneath the shoes to keep the edges down. However, under conditions such as walking on a known track they can be too heavy and too hot, and these OR gaiters are superior.

As I explain below, we did a lot of track walking in the Pyrenees in Europe, and this Report covers that sort of terrain.

Summary

The Product Claims were discussed in the Initial Report, but to summarise Outdoor Research say they are light-weight synthetic full-length gaiters designed for use below the snowline. The results of the initial two months of Field testing are summarised in the Field Report. Key specific claims made by Outdoor Research have been assessed as follows:

• 'Intended for those who require full protection, but prefer a lighter weight'
  They do not offer quite as much 'shin protection' as my heavy double-layer canvas/Cordura gaiters, but otherwise they have functioned just as well.
• 'Ideal for those who mostly enjoy dry-weather outings, whether hot or really cold'
  This may be so, but we have used them under all conditions quite happily.
• 'Light enough to be carried 'just in case', yet fully featured for top performance'
  We don't carry gaiters 'just in case': we wear them all the time. They did give very good performance.

At the start I had a couple of concerns with these OR gaiters. They are much lighter in construction than my designs. The elasticised lower edge means the flat nylon lace which goes under the shoe is critical to keeping the gaiters around the shoe. The light joggers we wear do not have a significant arch underneath to provide a lot of clearance for the lace under the shoe, so the laces could suffer considerable contact with the harsh terrain, leading to rapid abrasion. These concerns are discussed below.

Long Term Testing

After the Field Report period I was so impressed with these 'light' gaiters that I decided to save them for a two month walking trip along the Pyrenees in Europe, going from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean Sea on the Spanish GR11 and then back some of the way on the French GR10. Conditions on the tracks were expected to be mainly dry: they were both dry, very hot and humid in Spain, and fairly dry but cooler in France. We covered a wide range of terrain: lowlands, alps, granite, mudstone, shale, limestone and even grasslands. There was not a lot of mud (fortunately), but a fair bit of scree. Both my wife and I used them on this trip.

To summarise: the gaiters went well, but not without a few problems. However, given the limited scope of the Product Claims it might well be argued that the gaiters were subjected to far harsher testing than the makers intended. What's more, they came home after the two months of solid walking still in very good condition.

Anyhow, the good points can be listed as follows.

• The light nylon packcloth fabric (the upper section) lasted very well despite some moderately harsh conditions. I have not noticed any damage, nor has any of the stitching come undone. My earlier concerns here have gone.
• The elasticised bottom edges got dirty but washed fairly clean fairly easily and survived quite well. So far the elastic itself has survived with little damage (which surprised and impressed me).
• The hook at the front of the gaiter hooks onto the laces on the shoe. My wife used this hook, but I usually didn't bother. It worked quite well, although it did unhook sometimes in thick scrub. So far it has not worn out or fallen off.
• The press-stud (snap) at the front just above the hook worked quite well - it has not given any trouble so far. It might be noted that doing a lot of walking in rivers can put sand or dirt inside this design of press-stud, making them impossible to open. We avoided doing this.
• The eyelets at the bottom edge and the laces going under the shoes have survived short trips in Australia, somewhat to my surprise. The eyelets are still fine, but we did wear out many sets of laces in the Pyrenees.
• I was concerned about the stitching down the front which holds the Velcro tape in place. We did not encounter a lot of scrub on the track in the Pyrenees, and the stitching has given no problems in itself.
• The flat 20 mm (3/4") tape in a fabric tube at the top of the gaiters holds the gaiters up. It is fastened with a little cam-style clip. This clip looks light, but so far it has given no trouble, but see below about the tape.
• The gaiters I designed (canvas and proofed Cordura) do not breath very well in our hot weather: I often have slightly damp trousers inside the gaiters. (This was in fact one significant reason I volunteered for this test.) The section up the front of my shins covered by an extra layer of proofed Cordura fabric is very often quite damp, even wet, and especially in winter. These Rocky Mountain gaiters have a proofed lower (blue) section, but the upper (black) section is not proofed. This upper section breathes: there were no significant problems with condensation inside the black section. Not much condensation was seen inside the lower section either, but it was hard to monitor this region.
• The proofed lower sections took a little more abuse from scrub and rocks of course, but apart from getting dirty they have not seemed to suffer much.
• Both the upper and lower sections washed fairly clean after the Pyrenees - not sparkling new, but really, who cares?

All the same, there were a few fairly minor problems, as follows:

• Early on I found that most of the different sorts of knots I used to hold the laces to the eyelets worked loose over time. Eventually I used a bowline, and that seemed to persist.
• However, I did notice that as soon as the knot released the fairly strong elastic around the lower edge immediately made the bottom of the gaiter ride up and over the top of the shoe at the rear. I felt it very quickly there on my Archilles tendon, although it did not create much of a real problem. This could also happen if the lace was at all loose, and I found this out when I changed from some larger shoes to some very light-weight slim shoes. I had to tighten the laces slightly for the lighter shoes - in effect, I had to take up the slack. My canvas gaiters are stiffer around the lower section, having two layers there ('12 oz' canvas plus 1000 denier Cordura). They do not need any lace underneath to stay in place. This means the design of the elasticised bottom edge of the Rocky Mountain gaiters is a bit touchy: if the lace is not exactly right there can be problems.
• The laces survived long stretches of dirt track without any problems, but once we went onto scree the sharp rocks could and did swiftly cut through whatever string I used for the laces. I even tried a heavy nylon string with a nylon tape sleeve over the string. This lasted well - until a couple of careless footfalls on sharp scree chopped straight through. This would not matter except that the elastic at the bottom edge made the gaiter ride above the shoe as soon as it happened.
• The tape at the top of the OR gaiters is plain nylon tape: no stretch, no elastic. I found the adjustment of this tape to be very critical. Too loose and the gaiter could slip down a bit and jam on my active calf muscle; too tight and I felt 'pinched' behind the knee by the tape, or the tape was pulled through the clip and the top became loose. I have used this general tape-in-tube design on other gaiters I have made, but I always put a section of elastic into the tape. With the elastic allowing some expansion as my leg moves, I rarely have any problem with adjustment. I feel the OR gaiters could be improved here.

I should add that I have not taken these OR gaiters into our harshest scrub where the vines are at their worst. They are very light, and cannot offer the same protection as my heavy canvas/Cordura ones. They were not meant for that sort of task, and comparison would be unfair (and a little painful I suspect). But otherwise the fabrics and design have impressed me.

Would I buy or recommend these?

While these OR gaiters may be just a little light for our worst Australian scrub conditions, they would suit most other conditions, especially track walking. In fact, I think Outdoor Research really under-rate their value. I would be happy to recommend them to others for track walking: they are light and effective.

The performance of these OR gaiters so impressed me that I subsequently made a version of my own heavy canvas/Cordura gaiters out of lighter material. This is meant as a compliment to the OR designer who thought to go lighter in weight rather than heavier.

Reviewer Details

Reviewer:	Roger Caffin
Age:	58
Gender:	M
Email address:	r dot caffin at acm dot org
City, State, Country:	Sydney, NSW, Australia

Backpacking Background

I started bushwalking (the Australian term) when I was about 14 years old and took up rock climbing and remote exploration walking at University with the girl who became my wife. Later on we took up ski touring and canyoning. These days all our trips involve just the two of us. Over the last few years we have become converted to the concept of ultra-lightweight walking, and we have been cutting our total pack weights down from 18 - 20 kg (40 - 45 lb) to about 12 kg (26 lb) for week-long trips. That's not counting climbing rope or extra water for a dry camp - both happen. Our preferred walking trips in Australia are long ones: about a week in the general Blue Mts (east coast of Australia) and Snowy Mts (alpine region), and up to two months long in Europe and the UK. Ski touring trips would also typically last up to a week. We favour fairly hard trips of some length and prefer to travel fast and light. Many of our trips are exploratory in wild country which sees few other walkers. In between these long trips we do some day walks, often exploring the start of longer trips. On average, we would spend at least two days per week walking or ski touring. In addition, I spend a lot of time designing and making ultralightweight gear for Australian conditions.

I am also the maintainer of the Australian aus.bushwalking FAQ web site www.bushwalking.org.au/FAQ/.

Reviews > Rain Gear > Gaiters > OR Rocky Mountain High Packcloth Gaiters > Roger Caffin > Long Term Report