AR Desert Gaiters

By AdventureLisa on Jan 30, 2011 in Featured, Stuff U Need

AR Desert Gaiters (v3) are ready! We’ve refined our stitching technique and design after intensive testing at Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge in December 2010. The desert gaiters worked brilliantly but we needed another way to stitch the velcro on to the gaiter (adhesive velcro gums up our machine) – and we’ve nailed it.

White, beige and metallic shades are awesome colours for desert gaiters and we can also make them up in any colour you choose – provided we can get the fabric.

Cost: R260 per pair.

Postage: R25, registered (South Africa). Foreign postage is around R60.

To order: email Liz at despev@worldonline.co.za and specify size, colour and number of pairs. She will provide EFT details. PayPal transactions are now available for foreign orders (and local credit card payments).

We provide the hook side of the velcro to you; we recommend that you get it stitched on by a cobbler. Super glue doesn’t work for long because sand lifts the glue.
Available in two sizes. Small (UK5-8.5) and large (UK9-UK13).
An adjustable Velcro tab around the ankle accommodates teeny-tiny ankles.
To put them on, slip the gaiter over your foot. The one with the www.AR.co.za badge goes on your left foot. Then put on your socks and shoes and do up your laces. Start attaching the gaiter from the front, smoothing the Velcro together. Finally slip the back over the gaiter over the back of your shoe. Et voila!
The elastic at the back accommodates different shoe sizes. You do not need Velcro at the back; sand doesn’t come in through the rigid heel cup. Trust me.
These gaiters have a higher ankle than the AR Mini gaiters. Great for going down steep dunes of soft sand. If I’m going down some big ones, I tighten up the ankle tab.
Our AR Desert Gaiters have now been shipped off to the US, Canada, France, Dubai, Germany and UK!

Stitching Velcro (provided) on to your shoes

See images below… I use Velcro on my shoes. Take your shoes to a cobbler to get it stitched on the bottom AND top of the velcro. Velcro sits on the upper, just above the rubber sole. Some shoes have really hard toe protectors and stitching can’t always go through. No need to put the velcro all around the back. It doesn’t need to go on the hard heel box – about 5-7cm either side of the midline of the heel can be free of velcro. Do get a professional to stitch your shoes. It is nearly impossible to do it yourself.

Team Mzansi running down a dune at the abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge in December 2010. They're wearing distinctive green AR Desert Gaiters.

Feedback

“The run was the hardest thing I’ve ever done; the heat (46 – 48 degrees), the humidity, the distance, the sand dunes, the desert… The gaiters were superb. They didn’t let in a drop of sand the entire run even when they were soaking wet.” – Jon, Namib Desert Challenge (finished 12th)
“They work very well! It is all about the correct sewing of the Velcro onto the shoe, as you said. Not easy at all but if done right the rest is perfect.” – Kim, Namib Desert Challenge (finished 17th)
“I can’t thank my hubby and you enough! He managed to get the velcro stitched to my shoes still that afternoon and it worked so well. I didn’t even know I ran with gaiters. And from all the others runners’ gaiters I saw, I think yours are the most comfortable. I did not get any sand in my shoes.” – Marissa, Namib Desert Challenge (her hubby collected AR Desert Gaiters the day before she left for Namibia!)
“An awesome landscape when we hit the real desert near the Sossusvlei – I loved the dunes. The gaiters worked well. Well done me girl; they did the trick just like you promised. They even took a hammering on the first three days of rocky (quartz) and bushy sections and paths. I did try to look after them – I stuck them a little further back from the edge on these days. Of the total of 40, 12 people bombed out over the first three days. Thanks for the great gaiters, which can still be used in another race.” – Robin, Namib Desert Challenge (finished 20th).