Yeti gaiters hit the world of mountaineering like a rash in the 1980s. Pretty soon they were everywhere, the claim being that wet, cold feet were a thing of the past. The big problem was to get the correct rubber on the bottom of the gaiter – too soft and it would split easily – too hard and you couldn’t get it to fit. Mick Tighe and his mountain guiding partner, Bill Newton, were ‘testers’ for Berghaus around 1985/86 and they would be sent gaiters with different rubber compounds to try out. However, it was so much hassle trying to fit them they gave up in despair. It was common practice to glue the gaiter to the boot, especially plastic boots which were common at the time. This was a very messy affair which invariably led to fingers getting covered in glue and stuck to coffee cups, and wives!! It also meant the gaiters remained glued to the boots year round with feet suffering from heat exhaustion in the summer.

There was no doubt that if you could get them to stay on, Yetis kept your feet dry, but they were/are pretty bulky affairs and not everyone liked them. Sometime in the 1990s they pretty much disappeared, though a few folk still use them and they are still available from Berghaus in 2013 with many of the early teething troubles sorted.

Unfortunately, we don’t know where this pair came from as items often arrive unannounced. They are in very good condition and seem to be of the lightweight variety.