Huge differences in quality and design. I am a gaiter fan, wear them for most outdoor off trail activity year round: hunting in wet or snow, (I live in rain forest), picking berries, the works.
Gaiters come from ankle high to knee high. How tall do you want? Short ones can keep pebbles and scree debris out of the tops of low top boots.
Nylon gaiters are noisy for walking through brush. I prefer soft finish ones for hunting and am on my second or third pair of Kenetrek. I prefer to wear mine inside of pant legs in rain and wet and often in snow. Rain wets the cloth of pants and drains down inside the gaiter, soaking boots and socks if the pant leg is inside the gaiter. Plus wearing gaiters inside of soft finish hunting pants keeps them quieter in brush. They add some warmth in cold temps, especially when sitting on a critter calling stand.
Any design but velcro closure up the front are hard for me to get on. Gaiters with a zipper in the back are awful. Outdoor Research from REI are very good.
I’ve been known to pull off gaiters and sit on them on a wet log, lay them out and stand on them while changing clothes or boots in snow or wet, lay one over a cold spot in a sleeping bag on a cold night, etc.
Last edited by Okanagan; 02/23/24.
