I wear gaiters when I'm going to be postholing badly or walking around with crampons on somewhat uneven terrain. It's too easy to get off balance and end up with a crampon point in your leg. I don't wear them ice climbing or when the snow is solid (later on in the season).

Tonka wrote:At times they serve their purpose, which is good, but if you have loose pants on you end up looking like a pirate with a balloon around the knee. I hate that!

Especially if you have one of those puffy shirts.

I always wear gaiters and it seems like most people up here in the PNW still do as well. I even wear them in the summer to keep dirt/scree out of my boots. They do have ankle high gaiters for that, but I am too cheap to buy a second pair.

I haven't worn them in years. I've done plenty of thigh-deep (and worse) postholing in that time, and the only reason my feet get wet is because of sweat. My soft shells have a built-in gaiter, and so do my boots. Between the two of them I see no reason to carry gaiters. One more piece of gear I can leave behind. My gore-tex pants have little grommets to allow you to tie a piece of cord under your boot, which effectively turns then into gaiters, but I've never had to resort to that. I just sold one of my pairs of gaiters. Wanna buy the other pair? Crocs, size L.

From snow to water to scree, I wear them almost all the time.

I despise gaiters, and now when their utility may be needed I opt for pants with built-in gaiters. I don't have a problem with a few errant crampons holes in my pants, and this is quite rare as I consciously adjust my foot spacing to be slightly wider when wearing crampons. If its truly gonna be a post-hole sufferfest I likely have my splitboard with anyway. It boils down to personal preference and how much you love your pants, be they expensive or not.

Mountainjeff wrote:I always wear gaiters and it seems like most people up here in the PNW still do as well.

Yeah, what's up with you guys and the "gaiters with shorts" look? I've seen it on a few PNW people, and never on anyone from anywhere else.

Personally, I despise the sweat factories, and only wear them when I'm snow-slogging in crampons.

I remember on early starts in the PNW that I'd knock about 6 liters of water off the plants as I ascended a trail. Without gaitors my socks would be sopping wet. Also, I was usually cold in the morning so I wore polypro too. Uh-uh...this is the dreaded polypro look: gaitors, shorts and polypro. I won't get into any of the cool mountaineering parties :p.

Dome Peak:

Sucking Lichen in the Pickets:

Highly uncool at Mount Redoubt:


But this is my favorite, from Gunn Peak. Super lame and damn happy about it:

seano wrote:

Mountainjeff wrote:I always wear gaiters and it seems like most people up here in the PNW still do as well.

Yeah, what's up with you guys and the "gaiters with shorts" look? I've seen it on a few PNW people, and never on anyone from anywhere else?

Personally, I despise the sweat factories, and only wear them when I'm snow-slogging in crampons.

I usually wear shorts when I'm wearing gaiters. Most years our local mountains have a lot of snow, and the best routes are short and steep. The snow is best in early spring, and with the exertion and bright sun, I get quite hot in long pants. Some times I start with zip-off long pants, and soon roll the pant legs into the gaiters without taking the time to pull the crampons and gaiters off.

My response to cold is somewhat unusual. I often wear shorts when it is 30F.

I thought the Shorts + Tights combo was a California thing. I am sorely mistaken apparently.

Stylin'!

mvs wrote:I remember on early starts in the PNW that I'd knock about 6 liters of water off the plants as I ascended a trail.

Indeed, that sucks -- get soaked on the approach trail, then get frozen by the wind above treeline. But based on my limited experience getting PWNed in the PNW, I would want something more like rain pants, since the teeming dew-infested undergrowth was rarely only knee-high. How do you people deal with that stuff?

seano wrote:

Mountainjeff wrote:I always wear gaiters and it seems like most people up here in the PNW still do as well.

Yeah, what's up with you guys and the "gaiters with shorts" look? I've seen it on a few PNW people, and never on anyone from anywhere else.

Personally, I despise the sweat factories, and only wear them when I'm snow-slogging in crampons.

Hey, dont hate on the gaiters with short-shorts look

Looks like I'm in the PNW "Gaiters with shorts group" hehe I do that all the frekin time!

seano wrote:Stylin'!

mvs wrote:I remember on early starts in the PNW that I'd knock about 6 liters of water off the plants as I ascended a trail.

Indeed, that sucks -- get soaked on the approach trail, then get frozen by the wind above treeline. But based on my limited experience getting PWNed in the PNW, I would want something more like rain pants, since the teeming dew-infested undergrowth was rarely only knee-high. How do you people deal with that stuff?

How do we deal with it?

We bitch all the way up the trail or cower in our sleeping abode and bitch about not being on the trail as you are a self avowed pansy. Or, curse yourself for being so stupid as to take this trail non maintained trail instead of the trail that sees maintenance every year or every 5th year. Wait it was shorter... Right?

After being dumb and buying expensive rain gear, putting it on, and trekking up the trail only to find holes in your sparkling cool dude brand new gear from those damned Salmonberry bushes, or devils club, or shreds it on some stick, one quickly learns to buy the cheapest leggings/shorts/long sleeved T possible, with gaitors on and GRIN[G] and bear it. Break out of the brush into the alpine sun, exhale, strip off the soaking wet junk, wring it out, put it back on and keep on climbing.

By the way Montana and British Columbia are just as bad though the brush is lower. If you have ever tried off trail through the lush rain forests of British Columbia or Washington/Oregon that hasn't been logged, it makes the stuff in the PNW mountains look like a picnic. Though it makes up for it in some of the most luxurious beautiful moss infested, mushroom in fested, plant infested beauty you will ever witness. You quickly learn that the fastest way to move is to find the thickest bunch of trees no matter how cliff banded and steep and hug them as any ravine bottom, ridge top, or anything that looks like LIGHT, is Hell on earth to pass through.

What we get for this? Beautiful glaciers, lakes, streams, and FLOWERS. TONS of flowers. Parts of Colorado has this as well due to the afternoon thunderstorms watering the flowering meadows.

Pants and hiking DO NOT MIX unless you are a martian with pencil legs and pencil arms and you don't sweat. If you are an average human being, then pants and hiking means you are sweating buckets of sweat making your life miserable. So, shorts are the name of the game and getting loads of water, twigs, heather scum, dust, and pebbles in your socks is a PITA. At least when I take the gaitors off, my socks and shoes are clean though soaked in sweat instead of soaked in sweat and filled with crud destroying socks and shoes in the process all in the name of extra ventilation. If lots of trail walking shorty gaitors work great. They should weigh about 40g if you make them yourself.