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Outdoor Research Verglas Gaiter - Men's

Outdoor Research Verglas Gaiter - Men's description

Safety in the mountains often equals moving quickly over varied and difficult terrain. Outdoor Research designed the Verglas Gaiters to carry light and travel fast. Whether you'rekicking steps up a fragile snow finger, skinning across a glacier, or negotiating a hairy bushwhack, you can't afford to snag, rip, or be bogged down with snow and debris. The asymmetrically-cut boot section provides a secure fit with leather hiking boots or plastic mountaineering boots, making the Verglas functional as much as a stout backpacking gaiter as it is a serious mountaineering gaiter. The ultra-light, waterproof, breathable 3-layer Ventia leg section and the coated 500d Cordura boot section make this gaiter a more packable alternative to the OR Crocodiles. A nylon-supported rubber instep strap pulls the gaiter down and flush with your boot to seal out snow and debris. Offset the 1.5in-wide hook-and-loop front closure if you need to make room for insulated pants.

I'm usually a stickler for Gore-Tex when I need 'waterproofness', but I gotta admit - these things held up pretty well. I kind of expected the snow to get through these non Gore-Tex gaiters, but I stayed completely dry. As long as you can keep the snow from getting up through the bottom of the gaiter, you should be golden. They're nothing fancy or flashy, but they got the job done. I'd recommend them.

This gaiter is markedly similar to OR's flagship gaiter (the Crocodiles), although with a non Gore-Tex (although still waterproof) upper, non-replaceable instep strap, and slightly less beefy lower section (500 denier for Verglas vs. 1000d lined w/ 8 oz packcloth). However, I found the OR Verglas to be more than adequate for backpacking & light mountaineering, with the uppers letting no water in and the lowers providing sufficient durability to only display 2 small scratches from crampons. Also, as for the replaceable instep strap of the OR Crocodiles, I've had my Verglas for nearly 2 years of weekly hiking or backpacking trips of ~10 miles and my instep strap still looks great.

Very effective way to keep the snow and slush out of the boots. I have hiked through brush in the snow and the gaiters didn't even receive a mark.