Gaiters for skiing

[lilcliffy]

I must say that- although the OR goretex gaiters are tough and waterproof- the metal OR buckles are crap- I am done.
I have spent a small fortune (embarrassed) on OR gaiters over the last 20 years-
I have a bin of perfectly good OR goretex gaiters with broken buckles-
I cut them up and use them for repair patches.
Although I have received excellent warranty from OR-
I am done.
No more.

The best gaiters I have ever bought are super cheap MEC nylon gaiters with a damn shoe string foot strap that needs to be tied.

Disclaimer-
I am a forestry professional, owner-operator woodlot owner, and logger-
I also ski hike and ski through very dense and abrasive northern, humid forest-
my boots, pants, and gaiters take serious abuse.

The OR gaiters would be fine if one is skiing in Vahalla all the time.

[lilcliffy]

@randoskier
Although you have come across as having a hate-on for Fjallraven-

G-1000 fabric is fantastic- it is incredibly durable and truly breathable- it's waterproofness is a function of treatment-

Although, I havent tried them- if I was going to spend some dough on gaiters, I would want to try the Fjallraven G-1000 gaiters.
There appear to be two designs-
the "Singi", with an instep strap and metal buckle;
and the "Sing-X" with some sort of cord and cleat.

The achilles heel of gaiters is the instep strap and buckle/cleat/attachment system.

Regardless, I can say that G-1000 "heavy-duty" is the bomb.
Regardless, G-1000 gaiters will still end up in my "patch bin" if the buckle/cleat/attachment fails.

[Chisana]

Well, I am with jbtele, as I believe or gaiters are the gold standard. Never had a problem with the buckles. Have an old lightweight pair of nylon gaiters also, but gave up on them because the knot on the shoestring through the grommets would freeze up. To each his own. I guess.

[mca80]

I have OR gaiters, buckle broke on mine too.

[randoskier]

I must say that- although the OR goretex gaiters are tough and waterproof- the metal OR buckles are crap- I am done.
I have spent a small fortune (embarrassed) on OR gaiters over the last 20 years-
I have a bin of perfectly good OR goretex gaiters with broken buckles-
I cut them up and use them for repair patches.
Although I have received excellent warranty from OR-
I am done.
No more.

The best gaiters I have ever bought are super cheap MEC nylon gaiters with a damn shoe string foot strap that needs to be tied.

Disclaimer-
I am a forestry professional, owner-operator woodlot owner, and logger-
I also ski hike and ski through very dense and abrasive northern, humid forest-
my boots, pants, and gaiters take serious abuse.

The OR gaiters would be fine if one is skiing in Vahalla all the time.

Hi Cliff,

I am leaning towards them. Thanks for pointing out that there is an alternative to the strap and buckle- I have never had any luck with that system, the buckles break EVERY TIME, and there is thick strap under your boot. Right now I can get the Singi gaiter with straps for 60 bucks at Varuste, but the X-gaite is around 90-100. Maybe it will drop- must be new (they probably tired of warranty returns on the buckles), My super-old Savage Gear gaiters had buckle+strap, when they failed (rapidly) I cut off the strap and put two grommet holes in them and use a cord- still use them for hiking.

BTW I reconsidered Fjallraven, just bought one of their tents and like it a lot- it is the Abisko Shape 2, it accepts double poles which is good for Norwegian wind. The poles are really high quality- DAC Featherlite NSL the larger pole 10.8 mm. Didn't hurt that I got it 45% off.

The Fjallraven gaiters probably have room for my calves- Scandi and German brands are sized better for larger people, generally true of boots too. I don't have dainty little Italian ballerina feet.