Snake Gaiters

[condor22]

I bought a pair from Miners Den Adelaide when owned by Coiltek manufacturing. Not sure if they still stock them. Similar to below. I think thay have polycarbonate inserts.

 

[slowflow]

He is M.A.Double D :lol:

YEP
great link.
Think that's the bloke we saw in Cowra. He had a brown that had killed the previous owner (his story), he was showing it little respect 'cause it won't bite if I handle it nicely.
Guess the second is Delusional.
They are beautiful creatures to be admired and respected.

HeadsUp, have you tried the reptile park for advice? re fangs etc.

As a kid we just wore home made canvas to the knee. Thinking about it, snakes could easily reach to the belly button at that age but we thought we were bullet proof.

 

[SApicker]

Hey HeadsUp. We had a guy come to our work to train us to handle, catch and release snakes. I work way out in the bush and they are a regular problem.
He mentioned about gaiters, alot of what everyone is saying here is spot on, the fangs are not long enough. And he mostly used gaiters to stop them from going up his trousers!

 

[ex terra lucem.]

Hello folks,this is my first post on this forum.Ref-gators.Spent some time in the western states [Rattlers].The military clothing shops [there is one in Ballarat] have camo gortex gators for 30 dollars,I have just bought some and intend putting my own lining inside them,either canvas or ripstop.Should offer plenty of protection easy and inexpensive,as the fastening is velcro running top to bottom on the outside of the gator.

 

[WalnLiz]

Welcome to the forum lucem, hope you find the info on here helpful in your prospecting. Sounds like your gator amendments should work a treat. Best of luck out there.

Cheers Wal.

 

[Guest]

Hey guys iv got a nice pair of comfortable Ariat dress boots that I where under jeans. A lot cooler than gaiters they come up fairly high just above shin and don't have steel in them that the detector picks up (unless I put boot on the coil)
Not a nice way to treat hundreds worth of boot but dam comfy!

 

[XIV]

I'm from south oz so all we encounter here are the common browns, tigers, copperheads, and red bellied blacks. I wear loose fitting jeans and boots if I'm going to be tromping through the bush. As an outdoors man I see hundreds of snakes around and only once have I felt threatened and that was in far north Queensland.

Had an encounter with a good size taipan while i was out hiking a trail in lakefield national park. My girlfriend was ahead of me and i caught wind of the taipan laying across a freshly mowed trail at the start of our circuit walk. I grabbed her by the arm and dragged her back as she hadn't even take notice of what she was about the tread on.

As I pulled her back the taipan raised up and arched back as though to strike and held it's position while I was out of striking range. I figured we'll just wait for it to calm down and move off the trail. I managed to snap a photo or two as we waited. Then the next thing that happened made me shit a brick.

Instead of moving on it decided to chase us down! We were chased as far as the car park (30 odd meters before she gave up and then she stopped and waited there in an aggressive stance. Here's a photo I captured of the said snake just before she gave chase. Perhaps this was just an aggro example of the species.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7319/11299392314_a4076a17b1_b.jpg

Ok here is the thing about the Taipan
it is an aggressive snake, and No. one of Australia's most deadly
most snakes will make an S bend and strike 1/3 of its body length
The Taipan does do the S bend but will move forward while striking.
it is also the 2nd most poisons snake on the planet behind the Inland Taipan (the fear snake)

so when you see this snake don't stand still like you would with other snakes
there is normally 2 movements when you see this snake
a physical, and a bowel movement
SH1T and RUN

 

[ex terra lucem.]

Welcome to the forum lucem, hope you find the info on here helpful in your prospecting. Sounds like your gator amendments should work a treat. Best of luck out there.

Cheers Wal.

Thanks Wal,am in Dunolly at the moment,lovin' the place as have only been in ozz for 3 months am enjoying this strange and wonderful country.I am swinging a coiltek 12'' mono and wondering if this is adequate given the ground conditions.

 

[gavfromoz]

Hi Gemngold, you sound like a perfect parent encouraging the young ones to enjoy the great outdoors as well as looking out for their safety at the same time. Unfortunately there are quite a few who don't do this as I've seen today at a well known picnic spot here in Sydney, mothers allowing toddlers to get out of eye shot and enter the river.
You don't seem to let your disability get the better of you and this is a trait that I am always encouraging others to do and it brings a huge smile to me when I see this.
Good luck with your ventures and perhaps we will bump into each other out in the scrub one day

 

[jwk]

I fyou are still interested in a set of gaiters, have a look at the leather sandblasting gaiters which can be bought at places like BOC, Bunnings, Mitre10 ect. They are knee high and fasten with velcro straps.

 

[nuggetino]

A mate of mine just got bitten several times by a tiger snake while trying to access a creek for fly fishing. Didn't even realize immediately he was being bitten as he was focused on clearing a path through vegetation. Felt a tap tap tap repeatedly on one of his gum boots and noticed he'd trod on a tiger snake. No harm done but he sure got a fright. I'll keep wearing my gum boots lol

 

[kleinman98]

A mate of mine just got bitten several times by a tiger snake while trying to access a creek for fly fishing. Didn't even realize immediately he was being bitten as he was focused on clearing a path through vegetation. Felt a tap tap tap repeatedly on one of his gum boots and noticed he'd trod on a tiger snake. No harm done but he sure got a fright. I'll keep wearing my gum boots lol

He should buy a lottery ticket.

 

[woolshed]

I wear gaiters, hiking boots and jeans, when out on the goldfields detecting. Safety first, comfort second. My life is worth more than hand full of pull tabs and rusty nails.

Cheers, Woolshed.

 

[Uncle Buck]

A bit of worthwhile advice my Dad drummed into me as a kid in the bush. Always step onto a log then off it, never step straight over it because there could be a carney sunning itself on the other side. Twice now this advice has saved me from potential "shit ditch" situations, both times with Eastern Browns. I have drummed this into my kids and mates head too. No, I don't subscribe to killing them. If he won't move, I certainly will, when it is safe to do so. A number of years ago will hunting sapphires at Grabben Gullen with my son, I spotted a Red Belly Black waltzing down the hill towards the creek. I pointed it out to my son and told him to stand dead (poor choice of words I know, but...) still. He and I did and old mate just passed right by us (say 6 foot away) and merrily went on his way. If confronted by a snake in a shitty mood, giving it a couple of whacks to the head with a lump of wood or shovel is not going to improve his mood. Would it put you in a good mood?

 

[Newprospector]

Hey all I'm down here in tassie we only got 3 breeds of snakes tiger copper head and the white lip whip snake and the tiger has got it in for me for sure as I been bitten 8 different times while been fishing except 2 of the 8 times one of them I seen it bite be fair in the groin and the last time was on my hand I'm I'm a keen fisherman n hunter and now getting into prospecting as I love the outdoors I have had many ppl ask me y do u still do it r u scared of snakes now and the answer is I'm not giving up on what I love doing n I'm not scared of snakes I need to get a pair of gaiters soon

 

[HeadsUp]

Hey all I'm down here in tassie we only got 3 breeds of snakes tiger copper head and the white lip whip snake and the tiger has got it in for me for sure as I been bitten 8 different times while been fishing except 2 of the 8 times one of them I seen it bite be fair in the groin and the last time was on my hand I'm I'm a keen fisherman n hunter and now getting into prospecting as I love the outdoors I have had many ppl ask me y do u still do it r u scared of snakes now and the answer is I'm not giving up on what I love doing n I'm not scared of snakes I need to get a pair of gaiters soon

were you bitten while you were in the water fishing or while walking through bush to get to your fishing spots ?

 

[Newprospector]

Walking through the bush

 

[stevo]

Snakes dont bother me one bit.. but spiders!! now that's a different story

 

[Westaus]

I noticed Reeds have these, little pricey but look extra heavy duty - http://www.reedsprospecting.com.au/shop/detail/gaiters-snake-guardz---extra-large/

 

[BrisJoe]

Just keep in mind with snake bites, they don't have to penetrate the skin or even touch you with their fangs, if they just take a quick swipe at your trousers and run off, the venom is on your trouser and can still be absorbed into the body through skin contact.
Many people have ended up in hospital noticed knowing they were attacked and as there was no puncture wounds from any bite they still got messed up from it being absorbed through the skin. So check yourself out every so often and maybe carry a plastic bag so if you are hit in the pants without gaitors prob best to wrap the bag around your skin of your leg to avoid the venom coming in contact with the skin. Maybe a healthy dose of barrier cream might offer a level of protection from this type of biteless transfer