Question about the sleeves I keep seeing on peoples boots

Prospecting Australia

Help Support Prospecting Australia:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
G'day

There are quite a few different types of these available, from the simple elasticated cotton ones that only stop dirt from getting into your boots, you can often see brickies and lawn mower guys wearing them when they are in shorts, then there are hiking gators mainly made from a sort of light waterproof material or as mentioned oil skin, then there are the more serious snake gators, some are just canvas, some leather and the top of the range is the Snakeprotex gators specifically made for arborists and people who work in grassed areas, they are supposed to be the best protection that you can get from snake bite.

I have worn gators for many years, back in my army days we always wore our greens with elastic bands in the bottom of the leg so it could be rolled up and over the top of the gp boots giving protection against bugs and sand and such getting into the boots, didn't offer much protection against snake bite though as a lot of bites were higher up closer to the knee area, proper snake gators cover that are as well.

The gators I wear the most are the hiking type because they are light weight, they are a made from a black canvas sort of material, think they are sea to summit brand, they offer protection against many things, if you are wearing long trousers and the gator goes over the top of the trouser leg and over the top of the boot it will keep out lots of bities, grass and spinifex seeds and spines, anything that wants to crawl up your leg and bite you on the nuts, believe me it has happened, before I wore them all the time even pulled a very large black and orange wasp out of one trouser leg while sitting around the fire in the evening, lucky for me I grabbed it when I felt it moving and squashed it and was very surprised to see when it dropped to the ground, that one would have been trip over had it stung me.

We also gets sand flies or some call them midge's over here in WA and they are the worst thing as they are small and get up your trouser legs biting anything and everything they encounter including your junk if you are free balling in the warmer weather, the bites don't hurt and you don't feel them until later but they itch like crazy and can take several days to a week or more to come good, they can also get infected and some people can get very sick from them ending up in hospital.

I also have the Snakeprotex gators but they are a bit on the heavy side to wear but will offer the best snake bite protection you can get, covering from the top of your foot to the base of the knee, have only used these in really scrubby spots and also in the spinifex country in the Pilbara, have seen plenty of snakes up that way from adders to gwarders?, all sizes and shapes up that way and at least wearing them can give you some peace of mind when detecting.

cheers

stayyer AU
 

Latest posts

Top