TL;DR - Everyone should hike in a pair of these gaiters.
Keep debris out of your shoes.
I do a lot of walking, but somehow, I do it wrong. It doesn't matter where I'm walking - be it on a sidewalk or in the middle of the wilderness - I always get tons of crap in my shoes. Somehow the motion of my feet must pick up debris and shuffle it into my shoe at the ankle; it even goes into the top of my socks if I'm wearing ankle-height socks. Weirdo.
To combat my walking handicap, I purchased a set of Go-Long Gaiters a couple of years ago, in the hopes that I could wear them on hikes, relieving myself from constantly stopping to empty out my shoes.
In looking for gaiters, I wanted something that was lightweight and cool - I'd be using these mostly in the desert, and never in the snow - and that didn't have any strap that wrapped under my shoe, since I knew that I'd quickly wear out the strap on sharp rocks and harsh terrain.
Lightweight gaiters (left) have no lower strap, but are not meant for wet conditions. Middleweight gaiters (center) have a lower strap and work well in snow that's not too deep. Normal gaiters keep deep snow out of your boots. (right)
Go-Long Gaiters seemed to fit the bill, though they were a little pricier than I'd expected to pay for a conical piece of fabric.
They weren't perfect when they arrived, but with a little sewing, I was able to move the front hook - that secures the gaiter to the shoelaces - back slightly, allowing the gaiters to fit more snuggly and fully cover my laces (keeping debris that might try to weasel its way in, out).
The hook that attaches to my laces was originally at the tip of the black triangle of fabric; I moved it to the seam between the camo and black, which is right at the toe-end of my laces.
This is about as stylish as I get.
Then, I gave them a go. New, they were great. Friction was enough to keep them secured around the back - heel-and-ankle - side of my shoe, and for six months or so, there was nothing getting in my shoes.
After about six months, the fabric stretched; friction was no longer enough to keep the gaiters secured around the tops of my shoes. In fact, every 15-30 minutes, I'd have to stop and pull the gaiters back down, otherwise I'd risk getting junk in my shoes.
This was apparently a known issue - and frankly, without a strap under the shoe, an issue that can't be helped - because Go-Long included a bit of Velcro to secure the gaiters to the back heel of the shoe. I'd not installed this Velcro because I wanted the ability to move from shoe-to-shoe (I wear out shoes quickly) - but with no other choice, I quickly super glued the Velcro onto my shoes (the adhesive on the Velcro isn't enough in a dusty environment) and was once again, off and running, my shoes clean even in the harshest conditions.
These gaiters are great!
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