Trekmates Cairngorm Gore Tex Gaiter

[sloosh]

Crap.

The catch that the strap goes through to loop under your foot, broke. Although I've had them over a calendar year I've barely used them. They cost me £30.

[gagfax]

My brother had these and the same thing happened. The buckle was plastic but i think they changed it to a metal one recently. Dont quote me on this though.

[sloosh]

Very, very disappointing. I must've only used them about 20 times, if that.

[xpfloyd]

I got these from gooutdoors and have used them 3 times with no issue, a bit worrying that they seen to be having issues as I bought myself a pair and my girlfriend

[sloosh]

I got mine Nov 2009, had 3 outings bagging munros at Drumochter, used twice for walks in the woods in deep snow in Jan 2010, twice for a Corbett in Feb 2010. I got injured on the second Corbett outing so the gaiters didn't see the light of day again until Dec 2010, used three times between then and today when the little clip broke.

Total number of outings wearing the gaiters = 10! Broke on the 11th use. Pathetic.

[bar72]

just got a pair brand new on ebay for 99p. If they only last for the Lochnagar circuit at the weekend, i'll be happy.

[xpfloyd]

I've been wearing mine for over 2 years now since my last post and they are still going strong.

[gordy1963]

Hi

I'm relatively new to hillwalking, worn these (metal buckled) 5 times now, no problems so far.

[Cairngormwanderer]

Pretty sure these are what I have. I didn't like the way the inside buckles kept catching on each other so I cut them off, got a pop riveter and riveted the neoprene straps on the inside, retaining the buckles for the outside. Much, much better, but should have been built that way in the first place.

[gmr82]

Have these and been using since Dec, done around 500km in them and no issues, metal buckled though

[UrbanExplorer]

I've just returned from a day on the hills and found the exact same problem on my Sprint Gore Tex Pro-Shells from the same company. This was a metal buckle... and completely gone.

Ive sent them a rather strongly worded email.. looking for a repair or replacement, lets see what happens.

These items have been used about 5 or 6 times, so Id consider it a real poor show for an item called Pro-Shell and costing £30+ to have failed already.

Irate trekmate gaiter buyer

[Fiona Reid]

Also had these and destroyed them. The popper ripped clean through shredding the material making it impossible to repair without a significant amount of patching etc.

I replaced them with Rab Latok Alpine gaiters, not cheap!! but have withstood a lot of abuse so far. I did knock the top of a popper off in snow / boulders which Rab offered to repair for free but have instead opted to get it done at a local shop as I can’t do without gaiters for 4-5 weeks in winter (the turnaround time for the repairs).

[Will N To]

Interesting discussion. I'm looking for information on highlands wear and tear to gaiters.
To sum up: D-rings or clips failed. Webbing just pulled-torn off the fabric. Fasteners catching between legs. All of this just seems incompetent design and build.
One thought on straps: D rings on both sides so the webbing that goes under-boot can easily be replaced. But if the inside D-rings might catch... What if they're as low as possible?
Two aspects of gaiters. 1. You want to cinch down on the strap so you get as good a seal on the boot as possible (smaller gap, less water intrusion) 2. You want them tight not just on the boot, but up around the ankle as well: This also works against intrusion. So you cinch them down and they fail. That shouldn't happen.
I'm making some gaiters for the highlands and its bogs. Neoprene 'spats' snug to my boots, above the ankle fabric to my knees.
Question: What kind of damage or wear happens to gaiters in the highlands, moors, bogs, craggy aretes? I'd like to make them as lightweight as possible. But I have no clue what sort of wear or tears I should expect from conditions.
I've got some ripstop nylon and silnylon on hand. Pretty thin stuff. Don't mind an occasional duct tape patch, stitch in the field, but they're no good if they're shredded before I get north of Ft William. Do your pants tear on the brush? Thanks

[walkingpoles]

Main culprit is wearing crampons and stumble. Happens. To most of us. The other one is scree or any type of sharp rocks, in my experience.
If I could design my own gaiters I'll have a system where I can replace buckles and the strap easily. Ideally with the buckles as a defined breaking point. And I'd fit at least the inside the legs-buckle on the inside of the gaitors. I'd also make sure they are as long as my shins.

[Ben Nachie]

I have gaiters rather similar to the Berghaus GTX.

Good points-

1. The straps are some sort of rubberised stuff. Have never worn through!

2. The straps are held on by velcro and attach to the inside of the gaiter via a small slit. It works.

3. The gaiters fasten using velcro all the way up the front.

4. There is a stretchy panel up the back giving a snug fit all the way up the calf.

Overall, a very well designed gaiter.

The risk of making gaiters out of thin material is that prolonged walking through heather will shred them sooner or later. Or crampons, if you plan to be here in winter.