I wear gaitors, I find them especially useful in the mornings. I always get up around dawn, (can't help it, just made this way) get myself organised and packed, and then stroll off. Most mornings, in my experience, the grass that I may walk through will be wet with dew anyway, let alone rain, so for me at that time in the morning gaitors are a must! Getting damp or wet feet at the start of the hiking day is not for me! At the end maybe, but not at the beginning!
I decided to buy a pair of Lowa Renegades the other day, Decathlon are selling them at a good price so I went to my local shop to buy! Didn't work, none in stock, only order on line. That's no good for me, my feet size are 7 but I always put cushioning inserts in my boots so I need to be sure that the Lowa 7s are the 'same' as my 7 sized feet, or because of the inserts, do I need to buy size 7.5s or 8s? Then there is the other small complication, Lowa make these boots in narrow, medium and wide fits, what width are my feet, if my width for example is what I think is a medium, is my medium the same as the Lowa medium? Also, I need to find out whether Lowa's ladies boots, or their mens boots are the right size for me? I've been caught out by sizing before, and not just in boots either, so I don't want to go through it all again.
I'm going to talk to them today and ask if they will get various boots delivered to the store so that I can choose wisely.