[ad_1]
Pike Path Excessive Gaiters are polyester gaiters with a novel becoming system and design that overcomes the sizing limitations of most excessive gaiters, together with and particularly Outside Analysis Crocodiles, that are the preferred excessive gaiters bought at this time. Along with a gaiter hook and entrance velcro closure, they’ve a two units of three snaps on the high and backside and a calf drawcord that forestalls them from falling down round your ankles. Offered on Amazon, they’re one of many few mountaineering merchandise out there there which might be actually modern and never knock-off copies of pre-existing merchandise. And their customer support is actually nice!
Specs at a Look
- Gender: Unisex
- Materials: Polyester
- Sizing: One dimension
- Top: 15″
- Waterproof/Breathable Material: No
- Closure: Snaps, Velcro
- Instep Strap: TPU
- Gaiter Hook: Sure
- Calf Drawstring: Sure
Excessive gaiters might be worn 12 months spherical for mountaineering, backpacking, bushwhacking, fishing. looking, and different out of doors actions. I primarily use them in for winter mountaineering the place they’ve three major features:
- Including heat to your decrease legs
- Stopping snow from wetting your socks and freezing
- Defending in opposition to self-inflicted crampon strikes
Conventional Gaiter Sizing
The issue with most conventional excessive gaiters is that they fall down round your ankles, which will get fairly annoying. Most excessive gaiters, together with OR Crocodiles, are sized based mostly on boot dimension, not the scale of your decrease legs. This works tolerably effectively in case you use big, chunky mountaineering boots for winter mountaineering and full step-in or common crampons for traction. However as of late, most winter hikers have switched to utilizing single-layer 400g or 200g insulated winter boots with microspikes and path crampons for added traction.
In the event you hike in chunky mountaineering boots, I’d persist with OR Crocodiles or gaiters like them as a result of your boots are huge sufficient to “maintain them up.” They’re additionally designed to utterly cowl the entrance laces in order that sharp crampon tooth don’t slice via them or get caught in between them and trigger a fall. However in case you’re utilizing a a lot “skinnier” 400g or 200g insulated winter boot, these Pike Path Gaiters will work lots higher, as I clarify beneath.
Pike Path Gaiter Sizing
Not like plenty of excessive gaiters, the Pike Path Gaiters are solely out there in a single dimension – which makes them lots simpler to buy as a result of you possibly can’t make a sizing mistake. The gaiters shut in rhe entrance utilizing snaps and velcro: the highest and backside ends have three snaps that allow you to dimension the circumference of the gaiter to match your legs, even when the highest is bigger than the underside. The velcro’s major perform is to seal the entrance of the gaiter to forestall snow from coming into, however it additionally present a method to get a customized match though it’s be troublesome to attain that with the velcro alone.
The entrance of those gaiters doesn’t cowl your laces all the best way to the toe field which is why I’d solely advocate sporting them with a light-weight traction assist like microspikes or path crampons the place the chance of slicing via your laces or tripping on them may be very low (in contrast to the lengthy spikes of a full mountaineering crampon). By exposing extra of your laces, you get a significantly better match across the decrease legs than if the laces had been utterly lined as they’re in additional conventional mountaineering gaiters.
There’s nonetheless a hook on the backside of the gaiters to forestall them from driving up your leg, however it is best to connect it to your laces and never the entrance gaiter ring that comes with many insulated winter boots as a result of it might probably’t attain to the entrance of your boots.
The gaiter can also be held “down” by a TPU strap the runs below the only and up the aspect, passing via chrome steel buckles (not plastic) for higher sturdiness. It essential to place the buckle on the surface of your boots, not the within the place it’d get ripped off by your different boot in case you misstep or your traction assist will get caught in it. Lots of people make this error, even with a standard gaiter.
Calf Drawstring
The Pike Path gaiters include an adjustable drawstring with a twine lock that’s positioned above your calf. Most peoples’ calves are thicker than their decrease legs so tightening this twine above the highest of the calf retains the gaiters from falling down and it doesn’t slip over time. It’s finest in case you tuck the additional slack within the twine into your gaiter to forestall it from getting caught on something whereas mountaineering.
Breathability
A number of extra conventional mountaineering gaiters are made with Gore-tex or another waterproof/breathable cloth, though I’ve used plenty of them and by no means discovered one that’s all that breathable. The Pike Path Gaiters aren’t made with waterproof cloth, however plain outdated polyester with skinny cloth on high (purple) and heavier extra sturdy cloth (black) on the base the place probably the most abrasion happens. The higher’s polyester is definitely fairly breathable and I haven’t skilled any sweating from these gaiters and I’ve hiked rather a lot in them.
Advice
The Pike Path Excessive Gaiter is suitable with any pair of mountaineering boots, though I primarily use them for winter mountaineering with 400g and 200g insulated winter boots. They’re solely out there in a single common dimension and have a closure system that makes them suitable with a variety of decrease leg circumferences. I used them most of final winter and proceed to this winter with Oboz Bridger 10″ 400g boots and The North Face Vectiv 200g mids. They’re fairly cheap in comparison with conventional mountaineering gaiters designed to be used with mountaineering boots and significantly better performing by way of match, breathability, and sturdiness.
SectionHiker is reader-supported. We solely earn cash if you are going to buy a product via our affiliate hyperlinks. Assist us proceed to check and write unsponsored and unbiased gear critiques, newbie FAQs, and free mountaineering guides.
Disclosure: The writer owns this product.
[ad_2]
