Author Topic: Shorter gaiters  (Read 2703 times)

AFANASIEW

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Shorter gaiters
« on: 10:10:49, 13/05/19 »
I have a pair of Rab gaiters but, if you're going to wear them under waterproof trousers anyway, why not save weight by using mid- or ankle gaiters? Any recommendations?
It's simple - one foot in front of the other.

gunwharfman

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Re: Shorter gaiters
« Reply #1 on: 11:15:02, 13/05/19 »
I bought a pair once, for me useless! I found this out the very first time I walked through wet grass, the area from the top of my short gaiters to my knees was wet through. I now secure them around my knees to make my normal length Rab gaiters that bit longer. I've only used them twice in this way, on the Glyndwr's Way when a field of wet grass was very long and when I had to walk through a large patch of wet sweetcorn plants.

AFANASIEW

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Re: Shorter gaiters
« Reply #2 on: 11:21:58, 13/05/19 »
I bought a pair once... I now secure them around my knees to make my normal length Rab gaiters that bit longer.


Hmmm - my aim is to lighten my load, not to take two pairs! But it's a valid point - I reckon I've used gaiters in long grass on at least half the number of times I've worn them, i.e. not just for rain.
It's simple - one foot in front of the other.

ninthace

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Re: Shorter gaiters
« Reply #3 on: 12:24:42, 13/05/19 »
If you are walking in boots then the end your waterproof trousers should be below the tops of your boots rendering your gaiters largely redundant except in mud.  I wear gaiters far more often than waterproof trousers to: keep my trousers clean in mud, to keep my trousers dry in wet vegetation, to protect my legs from spiky vegetation, to defeat ticks.  Long gaiters are far more effective than short gaiters which are really only good at temporarily converting shoes into boots.
Solvitur Ambulando

AFANASIEW

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Re: Shorter gaiters
« Reply #4 on: 12:41:47, 13/05/19 »
I wear gaiters far more often than waterproof trousers...


Ever wear them with shorts? My preferred attire.
It's simple - one foot in front of the other.

ninthace

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Re: Shorter gaiters
« Reply #5 on: 13:13:54, 13/05/19 »

Ever wear them with shorts? My preferred attire.
I never wear shorts - nettles, gorse, thorns, ticks and, very rarely, sunburn. The arguments advanced for long gaiters still apply though as the hazards listed decrease with height.
Solvitur Ambulando

Innominate Man

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Re: Shorter gaiters
« Reply #6 on: 23:42:55, 13/05/19 »
....................The arguments advanced for long gaiters still apply though as the hazards listed decrease with height.
Ahhh, advantage in being tall eh ?     ;D
Only a hill but all of life to me, up there between the sunset and the sea. 
Geoffrey Winthrop Young

Pitboot

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Re: Shorter gaiters
« Reply #7 on: 07:50:49, 14/05/19 »
I have a pair of Rab gaiters but, if you're going to wear them under waterproof trousers anyway, why not save weight by using mid- or ankle gaiters? Any recommendations?


Puttees.

AFANASIEW

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Re: Shorter gaiters
« Reply #8 on: 08:17:02, 14/05/19 »

Puttees.


Presumably that'd be for steampunk hiking.
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Pitboot

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Re: Shorter gaiters
« Reply #9 on: 10:04:54, 14/05/19 »
Yes, and also trips to the Khyber Pass.


Actually, I wore puttees for the first five years of my army service and found them to be ideal for keeping water and nasties out of the boots. You could vary the ankle support by tightening or loosening too. We got issued more modern footwear for NI and after the Falklands you never saw puttees much.
Tying them properly and neatly was an art that some never mastered, subalterns fresh from Sandhurst being some of the more memorable.

AFANASIEW

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Re: Shorter gaiters
« Reply #10 on: 10:33:45, 14/05/19 »
Yes, and also trips to the Khyber Pass.


They don't like it up 'em!


Still wear them? Tbh, you're not doing a good job of selling the idea so far. I can barely be a*sed to put gaiters on at the best of times.
It's simple - one foot in front of the other.

Innominate Man

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Re: Shorter gaiters
« Reply #11 on: 10:54:20, 14/05/19 »
Actually, I wore puttees for the first five years of my army service and found them to be ideal for keeping water and nasties out of the boots. You could vary the ankle support by tightening or loosening too. We got issued more modern footwear for NI and after the Falklands you never saw puttees much.
Tying them properly and neatly was an art that some never mastered, subalterns fresh from Sandhurst being some of the more memorable.
I always assume puttees to be the longer 'bandage' type of strapping that you see in WWI photos. I thought that by WWII the army had dropped them in favour of the webbing type of gaiter that had small buckle fastenings.
Not that you were in either conflict Pitboot  O0
Only a hill but all of life to me, up there between the sunset and the sea. 
Geoffrey Winthrop Young

ninthace

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Re: Shorter gaiters
« Reply #12 on: 12:24:19, 14/05/19 »
I wore puttees with my DMS boots in RAF Germany until at least 1990.  People kept telling me to change my boots for the new pattern but my old boots were like carpet slippers so I stayed with them until the MOD finally developed a wearable alternative that did not cripple you.  Since most of the time I was in combats I was also in an NBC suit nobody could tell anyway.  My puttees were virtually self tying by the end.
Solvitur Ambulando

Pitboot

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Re: Shorter gaiters
« Reply #13 on: 12:37:34, 14/05/19 »
We had the short version which were strips of tightly woven wool about a yard long by five inches wide, with a cotton strap at the end. You put them on by starting at the flat end winding them at the top of the boot, from the inside of the leg to the outside, that's clockwise/anti clockwise depending on leg. The cotton end strap was wrapped neatly around the centre of the puttee and finished off by tucking it in on itself in a smart and regimental manner.
 The trousers were then bloused over the top of the puttee. I could put mine on in a minute.
The average length gave you about four or five layers of flexible wool.
 There were various colours, ours were khaki, tankies had black, LI and Ghurkas dark green, there was also a sand colour.
You will see early years photos in NI with the troops wearing short puttees, they gave way to specially acquired high leg black boots in around 1977/8, these were for street duty only, but us old sweats wore them if we could get hold of them.


I would not have them back, but they were better than the canvas webbing gaiters I had issued in training in 1973, mine were dated 1944! We had to black them and bull them so they were shiny, a complete waste of time and a b*ll ache, but that was the whole point.
We envied our American colleagues with their high black boots, but when I found out how much work they were forced to put in to make them shiny I was glad we had boots, DMS.


It was the Falklands conflict that finished off DMS boots and puttees, there were too many cases of trenchfoot, and the MOD had to dig deep to find better footwear for the troops. The Altbergs and other stuff that is issued today is a far cry from what we were issued, but at the time we knew no better and had to make do and get on with the job.

dave_p

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Re: Shorter gaiters
« Reply #14 on: 15:25:29, 14/05/19 »
While we're on the subject, I've never understood the point of gaiters with regard to wet.  If it's raining or I'm walking through wet vegetation I put my waterproof trousers on.  The only gaiters I get the point of are the very light, non-waterproof ankle gaiters which fell runners wear to keep stones out of their shoes.  I wear shorts a lot of the time so this makes sense to me.  What am I missing?

 

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