Hi Skierbob.
There are gaiters and then there are snake gaiters. They are not the same.
Snake gaiters have been pr oven to protect from snake bites, regular gaiters have not.
The better snake gaiters are usually made from a ballistic material with layers of a very tight weave polyester material.
Most will have an extra tongue that lays over the top of the shoe/boot and extends almost out to the toes, while some have inserts that are sewn inside the gaiter.
They will usually run from $50.00 to well over a $l00.00.
I wear mine summer and winter, as I have seen rattlesnakes out in the winter months on warm days. They are also great for wading through the cactus.
And you don't always get hit on the front of the leg. I know of one of the guys that has been hit three times, once on the back of the leg.
The ones that I have, come all the way to the top of my knee. I have been lucky so far and have never been hit but have came close a couple of times.
When you are three or four miles from the truck in the rugged terrain, its not a good time to be bit, nor is any other time.
Don't know if you have ever saw anyone who has been bit by a rattlesnake? But your arm or leg will swell up at least two to three times its normal size and get so tight that the circulation is shut off. Then the doctor will split you open from the thigh or knee down to the foot, just to relieve the pressure. This thing will spread open to at least an inch or two with the raw meat sticking out and thats the way you will be for several days. Then it depends on how bad it is and how bad of a shape your in, but sometimes they will shoot you up with 20 or more vials of anti-venom. Bad and ugly.
Bob T.
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