Where have you been all my scratched up, pebbled-shoe, hobbled-foot life oh Moxie Gators?
Rarely do you come across a product that you just love. As in, not just think ‘hey they’re cool but so are the twenty-two other products just like them on the market’. But love as in ‘I haven’t come across anything at all as good as these’. And how’s the timing of my discovery?
Moxie Gators
In edition #3 of Trail Run Mag (in which this review first appeared) you’ll note an article by Andy Hewat on running with snakes nipping at your hells/ankles/shins in the summer heat. Well, whack these puppies on and you’ll feel a whole lot more confident cruising through the bush.
The Moxie Gators provide enough coverage to ward off ‘envenomation’ – that’s a fancy word for when the fang gets in deep enough to inject the nasty stuff. This is not scientifically proven by Moxie, of course – it’s a subjective, judgment on my behalf. I did not put my leg in front of an angry snake. But I did feel a lot safer running in the Moxies these past months as the sun warmed and the likelihood of a serpent on trail increased.
Clad in these, I didn’t hold back, and my nerves and eyes weren’t darting for a sign of a coiled strike. No, I flew along the trail feeling like a fleet footed version of Ned Kelly. With just shin guards. Of course, the Moxies aren’t usually about snake protection. That was just relevant at the time of writing. They are brilliant for guarding against Australia’s sharp, low slung bracken and bush, while being so comfy you forget they are on you – nothing at all like standard bushwalking gators.
I’m not the only one to fall in love. The guys at iAdventure love them too, after testing them over ten gruelling days at 2011’s Adventure Racing World Champs in the thicket of the Tassie wilderness:
“All I can say is ‘Wow!’” writes team captain Matt Koerber “You’re onto a winner with this piece of kit. In terms of performance the gaiters didn’t feel like a burden to wear, and in fact you pretty much forget that you’re wearing them after a while, save for the fact that your legs aren’t getting ripped to shreds. The ankle gaiters were a revelation too, really good fit and kept absolutely everything out of the shoes.”
Yeah, what he said…
Performance Gators: $40
Ankle Gators: $30
Combined set: $70