On Walkabout Gear Review: Outdoor Research Endurance Gaiters

Basic Information

• Item: Outdoor Research Men’s Endurance Gaiters
• Price: $69.00
• Weight: 5.1 ounces
• Material: 50% nylon/43% polyester/7% spandex
• Where Made: China
• More Information: REI website

Review

As I started to climb up bigger mountains in the colder months I decided I needed to buy some gaiters, especially after the experience I had climbing up the 14,034 foot Redcloud Peak that saw my feet get very cold due to all the snow I had to deal with.  So I went to the local REI store to check out the gaiters they had for sale.  Of course there was a lot of gaiters, but by default I always look to see if there were any that were American made.  I am a stickler for buying American products even if they cost a little bit more.  Unfortunately every single gaiter was made in China.  So that left me with no choice, but to buy a Chinese made product unfortunately.  I tried on various gaiters and settled on the Outdoor Research Men’s Endurance Gaiters because of how lightweight they were and also because they could be easily used for trail running.  Most gaiters come up to below the knee, but the Endurance Gaiters are designed primarily for trail running and only come up to the shin:

I had the chance to put these gaiters to the test when I decided to do a climb in the snow up the 14,003 foot Huron Peak in the Sawatch Mountains of Colorado.  You can read more about my climb at the below link:

• On Walkabout On: Huron Peak, Colorado

I dealt with sections of very deep snow that occasionally came up to my thighs.  Since I wear Nike Pro-Combat long underwear when hiking in cold weather, this keeps my legs very warm even if my outer pants become wet.  This is why I was not concerned about buying larger and thus heavier gaiters.  I just wanted to keep snow out of my shoes which these gaiters did during my hike up Huron Peak.  I have since used these gaiters during other hikes in the snow in the mountains around Colorado Springs to include a trail run that I did in North Cheyenne Canyon.  During both hiking and running the Endurance Gaiters continued to keep snow out of my shoes:

Really the only thing I do not like about the gaiters is putting them on.  At times I have difficulty putting the strap under my boot and then trying to get it to clip on to the buckle:

This is especially hard when dealing with cold hands.  When I hike I will stop after a while to change my socks due to the sweat that builds up within my shoes.  A dry pair socks warms up my feet once again fairly quickly.  However, it is a bit annoying to be fumbling around trying to get the strap to go through the small buckle with cold hands when I have to do this.

Conclusion

Overall though I am happy with the purchase and after 3 months of use the gaiters have performed well at keeping snow from getting into my boots.  However, due to the shin length of the gaiters some hikers may not like the Endurance and prefer gaiters that provide protection from the snow up to their knees.  For those who are just looking for a simple gaiter to give their boots or running shoes protection from the snow then the Outdoor Research Endurance Gaiters are worth checking out.