Dirt Girl Gaiter alternatives

[Sean Passanisi]

Hello.  I love using my Dirty Girl Gaiters with the built-in velcro on my Altra Lone Peaks.  But I’m switching to a different shoe that doesn’t have the gaiter attachment, and I haven’t had luck in the past attaching the velcro.  Is the Simblissity LevaGaiter the main alternative? Thanks for the help.

http://www.simblissity.net/

[Mike M]

use Seam Seal instead of the sticky adhesive that comes on the back of velcro- I have had no less than 20 shoes and never had the velcro come off (and that’s with ~ 500 miles/shoe of trail miles) :)

[Ken Thompson]

You mean Seam Grip Mike?

[Bob Moulder]

For that Velcro patch, you can use another piece of Velcro that has no adhesive and attach it to the heel of the shoe using Welder contact cement, lightly sanding (before applying glue) the back of the Velcro and the spot on the shoe where it will be attached. I like using this method because it cures MUCH faster (in minutes) than Seam Grip.

[Mike M]

yup- SeamGrip, not Seam Seal :)  clean the back of the heel w/ a alcohol pad, apply SeamGrip to the back of the velcro, give it a minute or so to get tacky and then apply to the heel.  I then take a strip of packing tape to go around the back of the shoe to hold the velcro in place.  I let it sit over night and then pull off the packing tape and now you have a velcro patch that will last 500+ miles

[Window walker]

I have also used super glue with great success.

[Link .]

I’ve used Gorilla glue on mine with no with no problems, never came off, the shoes wear out first.

[Sean Passanisi]

Thanks for the feedback.  Regardless of the adhesive, it seems like the Simblissity LevaGaiter is a simpler design since it doesn’t require any shoe modifications.  Is there any downside?

[Mike M]

Yeah the back of the gaiter will come up; in my experience it has to be anchored/attached to be effective

[Link .]

.ULTRALIGHT GAITERS: STATE OF THE MARKET REPORT 2013 you can read Will’s report, he reviews 9 different lightweight gaiters and the Levagaiter ranked at the bottom

[Bob Moulder]

My experience has also been that unless the tongue of the shoe has side gussets debris can still get into the shoe if the gaiter doesn’t cover the lace area as well.

Sometime back there was a thread about sewing in a loop near the toe of the shoe to stretch the gaiter out and cover this area better, and I added a little plastic triangle to the front of the gaiter to spread it out for even better coverage. These are OR Sparkplug gaiters, which are DG clones.

[Pedestrian]

I love the gaiters made by Joe.

Edit: Looks like no longer made by Joe – but still the same gaiters. Been a while since I got my last pair about 8 years back – still going strong. NFI.

http://joetrailmangaiters.com/

Very popular with a lot of ultra runners I know and have worked great for me hiking in scree and sand in the Sierra and on trail runs around the Bay Area. Highly breathable.

 

[Mike M]

good idea Bob :)

[Diane “Piper” Soini]

A speedy stitcher will let you stitch on the velcro for shoes where there’s only fabric back there and glue will not work.

[Rex Sanders]

Hot gun glue, Gorilla glue, and super glue didn’t hold my Dirty Girl gaiter velcro for more than one or two hikes.

So far, this has worked through three hikes:

Those are two #10 x 1-1/4 inch brass wood screws, 39¢ each at Ace Hardware, driven through the velcro into the heel padding of a (disposable) Brooks Cascadia 9.

Next time I might go one size down to #8 x 1 inch screws.

— Rex

[Matthew / BPL]

Shoe Goo has kept the velcro securely on my shoes. I’ve not put more than 400 miles on any one pair but that is enough for me. I put a second, smaller patch above the main patch as a backup. This secondary patch never really gets any wear and is protected from dirt by the gaiter itself. In the unlikely event that the main patch catastrophically releases I would just start using this upper patch.

[Link .]

from Walking with Wired’s website( she has hiked thousands of miles) about attaching her Dirty Girl Gaiters

Pros: Love em! I recommend buying two pairs and switching halfway on long hikes.  I once tried to go a week without them and I couldn’t stand all the debris that got in my shoes. Also, without them, my socks were quick to get holes in them. Just a fun company and unique patterns to fit everyone’s personality.
Cons: I had a lot of sandy hiking and wet hiking this year, and for the first time in all my years using them, had issued with the adhesive coming off for the velro on the shoe. I carried extra velcro that comes with the gaiters, but have never had to use it so much. Using shoe goo or gorilla glue helps keep them on there.

.Wired’s 2015 Comprehensive Gear Review .

[Link .]

I also use 3M DUAL LOCK FASTENERS instead of regular velcro on my gaiters and shoes

[Mike M]

Anna- I take it you have to resew the patch on the gaiters then?

I’ve seen that stuff before and it really holds. I should write to Dirty Girl (that doesn’t sound so good does it? :) ) and see if she’s considered using it in lieu of regular Velcro

[Link .]

yes you can cut the 3m down a bit and sew onto gaiter of your choice and attach it to your shoe with seam grip, gorilla glue, shoe goo which ever you prefer , it really holds great I like it much better than regular velcro. That’s a good idea about contacting Dirty Girl( naughty you) and asking them to try the 3m dual lock instead, I first tried it a number of years ago as it is what the Mountain Hardwear Seta and Scree gaiter used and it worked great so I bought some at the store to attach to other gaiters and shoes.Also it is important to clean the area where you are going to attach it to your shoe with alcohol first to and make sure it is clean.

[Rex Sanders]

Shoe Goo works if I hold the Velcro + glue in place for ~24 hours with a produce rubber band, like this:

Just used this trick on my third pair of shoes and remembered to take a picture. No problems with Velcro peeling or falling off on previous two pairs until the shoes wore out. I use a generous amount of Shoe Goo, enough to squish out most of the edges a little bit. Easy to trim after it dries.

— Rex

[M B]

I used strip of velcro vertically.

the velcro has more surface adhesion resist resisting the pull direction when mounted vertically than it does horizontally.

 

also, there’s no need to pull the dadgum thing tight down there and put your velcro under tension keep it sort of loose and high.

 

 

[Rex Sanders]

I’ve always had to mount the Velcro low, because so many shoes have low cutouts below the ankle bone. Otherwise gaps between gaiter and shoe, partly defeating the purpose of the gaiter to keep stuff out.

YMMV.

— Rex

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