Gaiters for 3-season backpacking: Go or no?

It depends on where I am backpacking. Here's a picture from the Arizona Trail in north central AZ. Along a trail in this sort of environment are a lot of little dead plants with sharp, spikey parts that break off when they touch your socks. In dry environments like that, also, the dirt and pebbles tend to be drier, and thus easier to get kicked into the tops of my shoes

On the other hand, a trail like the below, which could have been taken in any eastern hardwood forest, hardly requires gaiters simply because the forest floor's plant life is so different. In the Ozarks, for instance, which is where this picture is from, the plants are quite a bit softer than the ones in AZ. Even in the winter, they're usually not so much of a problem that I have to stop every couple hours to clean sharp things out of my socks.

Anything with snow on the ground and I like to bring gaiters for obvious reasons, but if it's not snowy, then it definitely depends on the locale.

I would try to avoid going shin-deep in mud no matter the trail…

We find many places where having long gaiters is almost essential – at least here in Australia.
Art mentions harsh vegetation: too right! Sometimes we wear quite heavy gaiters to hopefully fend off the stuff.
But also muddy country with WP/B shoes: the gaiters keep almost all the mud out, and trust me that counts!
Here in Oz we do have a few lethal snakes around … the gaiters do help with confidence a bit.
For river walking we often wear short elasticated gaiters to keep the sand and gravel out of our shoes.
Snow – obviously.

Cheers

I find loops on pants MUCH better, lighter, breathable, and add less than an ounce, and help you keep your pants in place. The only drawback is that you get slightly dirtier pants. I use Patagonia Alpine Guide Pants, which have kept me comfy hiking from about 80 to 20 with long johns, and let me keep dirt out of my boots and repel moderate rain. They also have zippered cuffs that allow me to fit telemark boots, something i origionally had not planned at all for.

It depends on terrain, vegetation, water (in all its forms)as well as your activities. I like them when wearing low-cut running shoes. They keep debris (pebbles and twigs) from getting into the shoe tops and keep the socks cleaner.

I've found stretch gaiters made of light-weight swimming suit Spandex to be adequate on the AT, even in several inches of snow. I did not wear them out on my '07 thru-hike. They have no closure and just slip on like socks, then pull down over the shoe. A lace-hook holds the front out and Velcro on the heel keeps the back down. They are light, unobtrusive and hassel-free. DirtyGirl makes something similar.

For heavy trail building/maintenance, I wear similar stretch gaiters made of Spandura, a heavier stretch fabric, over my steel-toe shoes. Again, they keep junk out of my shoes – especially when I'm ankle-deep in loose dirt.

In the Trans-Pecos of Texas such as the Big Bend National Park and the Big Bend Ranch State Park, I use knee-high gaiters made of Carhart canvas with my trail shoes. I think it weighs 10 ounces per yard. After a few washings in hot water – best done before sewing to shrink and tighten the fabric – the canvas provides decent protection from cactus spines,lechuguilla and other assaultive vegetation.

In deep snow where you have to post-hole, gaiters will keep snow from packing into the tops of your boots and will also keep the laces from icing up.