HikeArizona.COM

I'm planning on hiking the second part of the AZT (LF Ranch to southern end) this fall (October). Wondering if anyone recommends leg gaiters for/against snakes.
I hiked the northern part last fall and only saw one snake - in the GC. I usually hike in long light pants.

I use the (no longer made) Simblissity LevaGaiters, which attach with a hook on your shoelaces and are tight and stretchy and just fit up against the back of your shoes. The most similar thing now are Dirty Girl Gaiters, though that design requires velcro attachments to the back of the shoe instead. So, no cord.

I met a girl down by the lower Salt River who was traipsing all about the bush looking for wild horses. I asked her about gaitors and she informed me that there were no gators in Arizona..true story

@Grasshopper
I often wear the gaiters shown in the photos GH posted and heavy duty hiking boots for off trail hiking through brush and tall grass primarily for protection from thorns, sharp ends of broken manzanita branches, prickly pear hidden in the grass, etc. These have even prevented stab wounds from agavi. However, protection from snake bite is still high up on the list of reasons I wear them although I've never had a snake encounter where the gaiters were needed. The risk of snake bite may not be that high but the consequences if bit, especially when off trail hiking solo in remote areas, makes me want a little extra insurance.

On the down side, the extra weight of the heavy duty boots and the gaiters definitely reduce my hiking range, especially in warmer weather. I never wear them when trail hiking or off trail in open terrain where it's easy to navigate around the prickly stuff and see/hear sneaky snakes.

Grasshopper wrote:When the gaiter type with straps wear through and break it's a bigger problem to replace in the field.. just not easy to replace/fix. So, if one is planning on buying & wearing gaiters on a longer or an AZT through hike, I would recommend buying the cord type gaiters and one will also need extra cut to length line cord.

My snake gaiters are the cord type. I use a 2.2 mm diam dyneema cord (Samson "Lash-It!" Braided Dyneema) which is super strong (650 lb tensile strength), has high abrasion resistance, and low stretch. I can't recall ever having to replace it. This cord is also very useful for such things as a bear bag line, clothes line, guy lines (due to low visibility not so great) etc. It's light weight to strength makes it great for backpacking.

If you have gaiters but got out of the habit of carrying they them, now would be a good time to start lugging a few extra ounces.

Foxtails are on verge of declaring war in the western superstitions. Kansas wheat fields will soon come to their knees and bow to the mighty AZ rains of Jan/Feb 2017

joebartels wrote:Foxtails are on verge of declaring war in the western superstitions

And just about everywhere... thankfully I don't wear low-cut boots and my pant legs are long enough to keep out most of the offenders.