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REI Mountain Light Gaiters

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Product Description,
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The REI Mountain Light gaiters keep snow and water out of your boots so you can plunge step your way down a snowy slope and stomp in puddles on the trail.

Gaiters feature eVent™ waterproof, breathable uppers to keep rain and snow out while allowing sweat vapor to escape to the outside of the fabric
Include Cordura® nylon lowers with scuff guards to resist abrasion
Front and top openings with rip-and-stick closures combine with lace hooks and webbing instep straps to fit different leg shapes and footwear types
REI Mountain Light gaiters come with a mesh stuff sack for packing and storing

Gaiter sizes fit U.S. boot sizes as follows:

Small/Medium fits men's sizes 5 - 9 and women's sizes 6.5 - 10
Large/X Large fits men's sizes 9 - 14 and women's sizes 10 and up

Imported.

Item 812395

with coupon code ANNV13
May 17-27 Details

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REI Mountain Light Gaiters Customer Reviews

REVIEW SNAPSHOT®

by PowerReviews

REI Mountain Light Gaiters

3.8

(based on 5 reviews)

80%

of respondents would recommend this to a friend.

Pros

Breathable (5)
Lightweight (5)
Waterproof (5)
Good size/fit (4)

Cons

Best Uses

Freezing conditions (3)

- Sizing:
- Feels too small
  
  Feels true to size
  
  100%
  (4 reviews)
  Feels too large

- Reviewer Profile:
- Avid adventurer (4)
- Was this a gift?:
- No (5)

Reviewed by 5 customers

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Displaying reviews 1-5

May

2012

(10 of 10 customers found this review helpful)

4.0

Great gaiter; OK buckle

By Yak Attack

from Redwood City, CA

About Me Avid Adventurer

See all my reviews

Pros

Breathable
Good Fit
Lightweight
Versatile
Waterproof
Windproof

Cons

Buckle is a mixed bag

Best Uses

Freezing Conditions
Off-piste hiking

Comments about REI Mountain Light Gaiters:

I've used these gaiters several times in snow, through streams, and in off-trail brush. They work well, and their light weight make them easy to justify in the pack. I've never noticed a breathability problem, which is probably testament to the highly breathable eVent fabric other reviewers have mentioned.

OK, so now to the buckles. At first I was so frustrated with them that I nearly returned the gaiters. When the straps got wet, they would start slipping and the gaiters would get loose. But there's a happy ending to this story: I re-threaded them so that the loose ends pass UNDER rather than over the taut part of the strap, and the problem was solved! Threading it this way is a little tricky, but it totally solves the slippage problem. (See photo of threading technique below.)

Could the buckle have been designed better? Maybe... probably. But if you just re-thread it this way, the gaiters will work fine and won't slip.

Comment on this review

Mar

2012

(1 of 1 customers found this review helpful)

3.0

awesome gaiters, not so awesome strap

By gfrankie

from San Diego, CA

About Me Avid Adventurer

See all my reviews

Pros

Breathable
Good Fit
Lightweight
Waterproof

Cons

Buckle

Best Uses

Comments about REI Mountain Light Gaiters:

Storm just came throw and dumped a lot of snow. A friend and I planned on hitting up San Jacinto shortly after the weather cleared up. i picked these up because I love the eVent fabric, nothing compares to it. REI usually has some bomb gear and it's always priced really well. These things were light.

I put the gaiters on, double backed the straps and hit the trail. There was a ton of snow. We started early and everything was pretty much frozen. These gaiters were performing flawlessly in the hard stuff and power. We hit our destination and started to turn back. The sun was out and snow started to soften and melt a bit. I noticed the bit problem when we got into slushy snow and the straps got wet. Once the straps got wet they kept slipping out of the buckles and the gaiter would become useless.

I know another review said to sew the strap to the inside of the boot, but what about the other buckle?

This is a huge deal for me. eVent might be the most amazing fabric around, but it is useless if the buckles don't hold and snow gets up under the gaiter...

I would love these if they changed the strap.

Comment on this review

Feb

2012

4.0

REI Mountain Light Gaiters a winner

By hikejr

from Renton, WA

About Me Avid Adventurer

See all my reviews

Pros

Breathable
Good Fit
Lightweight
Versatile
Waterproof

Cons

Best Uses

Snow
Wet Weather

Comments about REI Mountain Light Gaiters:

I have used this product on hikes, snowshoe trips as well as on WTA trail work parties. I like everything about these gaiters except the design of the extra length strap piece that is supposed to slide under a loop on the outside of the gaiter. Yes it slides under there but doesn't stay there. It is always coming out as you walk and kind of flaps around. To get around this I stuck a piece of velcro under the loop/on the strap which works well to hold it there until the installed velcro patch works itself off (I've replaced it a few times). With some kind of better design here I would have given these 5 stars. I love how easy they are to fit around the boot and secure with the velcro attachments. I have not had any issue with the strap that goes under other than the extra length problem noted above. I have not used these with crampons as others have noted issues.

Comment on this review

Jan

2012

4.0

Great fit, a few little issues.

By MyMountainsOregon

from Philomath, OR

About Me Casual/ Recreational

See all my reviews

Pros

Breathable
Good Fit
Lightweight
Waterproof

Cons

Heel strap has flaws

Best Uses

Easy Summits
Freezing Conditions
Snow shoeing
Wet Weather
Winter hiking

Comments about REI Mountain Light Gaiters:

Last year I finally started getting into technical mountaineering and winter recreation. I spent years with so-so or way to heavy gear, and after quitting smoking last year, I'm back at it with a vengeance! One of the biggest issues I had was heavy, outdated and incorrect gear, so I started revamping everything. One of the latest changes was ordering a set of Mountain Light gaiters to replace the very old and worn Sierra West's I'd been using (hand me down from a friend in Alaska that are probably 20-30 years old!).

We finally got some snow in the Oregon Cacades in the last week, so decided to head up to Tombstone Pass to do a little snowshoeing. This was the first time I used the new gaiters, and first impressions were favorable. The next day I headed back up the pass to hike/shoe up Iron Mountain. Thats where I first noticed the heel strap issue. One came completely un-threaded from the inside buckle, so after a pause to fix it and put the snowshoes on, seemed ok. On the decent, both straps started to loosen up, both from the inside buckle, even being rethreaded back through like you would a climbing harness buckle. Other than that, they were awesome for keeping the snow out and keeping the pants and boot tops dry.

My quick fix is to simply set the strap position in the inner buckle and throwing a few stitches in the tail end after rethreading it through. That way it is an easy replacement if you wear out a strap. For serious mountaineering with crampons, the previous reviewer fix is a great idea as well. All in all, looking forward to playing in the snow some more, and these will definately be going with me!

Comment on this review

Dec

2011

(12 of 12 customers found this review helpful)

4.0

Good, with a flaw

By SketchAnchor

from Cascades

About Me Avid Adventurer

See all my reviews

Pros

Breathable
Lightweight
Waterproof

Cons

Annoying buckle
Wears Out Quickly

Best Uses

Freezing Conditions
Mountaineering

Comments about REI Mountain Light Gaiters:

Most mountaineers aiming to go fast and light won't wear gaiters, but they're darn handy. Typically they'll put a grommet on their pant legs and use some cord under the arch. These gaiters, in my opinion, are for more experienced climbers, who aren't looking for bomber protection from a misplaced crampon step. Instead they're looking for weather proofing and breathability, both of which this gaiter provides. If you're doing Rainier and it's your first time wearing crampons, get some Crocodiles because they're just more durable and will withstand significant cramponing.

I bought these gaiters because they're very lightweight and I can justify the weight for the additional protection. I cannot justify a 12 ounce gaiter, like the Crocodiles. I also bought these because they're 10x more breathable than Gore-Tex gaiters. Gore-Tex gaiters just don't breathe -- which means you'll get wetter boots over the course of a day as any sweat can't escape. My experience with these gaiters is that they breathe very well. So well that you forget you're wearing them.

The only downside to these is that REI fumbled on the inner foot buckle. I think they intended the footstrap webbing to be replaced if necessary, but that means there's a buckle near your inner foot that is prime to be caught by a crampon. So, ironically in making a lightweight gaiter for more experienced climbers, they've put a potential snag point on the worst spot possible.

I cut off the inner buckle and just sewed the webbing on. Took about 10 minutes and problem solved. Take it into consideration if you're thinking about getting these, but otherwise the're a good pair of gaiters at a decent price.