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I’m wondering what gaiters everyone using. I have a pair of pretty pricy gaiters but they are heavy and when they get wet, they get heavier ! I always find myself an excuse not to wearing it.
do you guys take gaiters off when you are stepping in the water ?
Tasgear. Heavy as in solid material that protects my shins from rocks (the old wet wade two step) and blackberries, shrubs, sticks.
I guess they would work for snakes as well, but its mostly the shin protection while stumbling around trying not to fall in. Nope don’t take them off until I’m back at the vehicle.
I’ve got a pair of the Sea to Summit Grasshopper gaiters, made from 600D ripstop poly that I occasionally wear, never had a snake bite them but they hold up well against blackberries. They dont absorb water so I leave them on.
I wear gaiters everywhere except in the boats. They will extend the life of goretex waders by some considerable margin, particularly if you are kicking through Scoparia and kerosene bush in the higher elevations or bracken ferns and prickly moses in the lowlands.
Once the wet wading kicks in about November its blue jeans and gaiters pretty much right through till the end of the season. I prefer the sea to summit heavy gauge units with the velcro down the front. The under boot strap is stainless wire these days and pure magic.
Happy wading… only 2 weeks to go! Cheers… Jimmy
I’ve seen Sea to Summit Grasshopper, it sounds very light and comfortable but I’m not sure if its effective against snake bite or not.
STS goretex gaiters.
Though to be fair if a 6foot Tiger grabbed hold of one I’m not convinced they’ll offer much protection sadly.
PLB and bandages are usually in my backcountry kit.
I checked out both grasshopper and S2S Quagmire at Annaconda, they both seems to be solid and hard to be penetrated. I emailed Sea to summit, they told me they are not snake proof ! not sure why !
Does Quagmire stay light when it gets wet or it absorb water ?
someone told me snakes in Victoria have short fangs and even a pair of jeans can stop them ! but when I googled, also Hal saying , that doesn’t sounds true with large tiger snakes !
Moroka30 hunting store in south east Melbourne sells Snake Proof Gaters. They are not cheap, just under two hunderd dollars but they were genuinely tested with real snakes I presume.
Hove you considered Neoprane Gaiters instead? I used Snowbee Neoprane gaiters for last few years and actually prefer to my QR gortex gaiters except in really hot weather.
MH59
“someone told me snakes in Victoria have short fangs and even a pair of jeans can stop them”
Most definitely not true in relation to either short fangs or jeans.
Does Quagmire stay light when it gets wet or it absorb water ?
Yep… they don’t absorb water so stay relatively light.
I understand that S2S probably wouldn’t guarantee them being bite proof, but I think the chances of a snake biting through them would be pretty slim.
I wear a pair of Sea2Summit gaiters on the lowland rivers mostly to avoid grass seeds.I spend a fair amount of time in the water.They don’t absorb water but they do fill up a bit balloon like then drain after exiting.I would’nt bother wearing them on a trout stream that ballooning would be annoying in a current.
Just for clarity as I’m thinking we might be conflating two different ideas here.
I wear gaiters to protect my lower legs from scratches, scrapes and bangs that occur when stumbling to, from and along the river.
Snake protection comes from taking care where place my feet and hands. Step on the tail of a big old tiger (not recommended) and the limitations of gaiters would soon become apparent.
Wearing gaiters for “snake protection” might give a false sense of security leading to getting bitten.
Moving carefully and mindfully along the water has the added benefit of increasing fishing opportunities.
p.s. I always carry a pressure bandage just in case.
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