Winter Clothing Hack: MyMayu Wrist Gaiters

Published on March 16th, 2016 Updated on January 10th, 2023 By Linda McGurk

A while ago I shared a winter clothing hack that prevents snow from getting into kids’ sleeves in the winter. The picture, which was widely circulated on Facebook, showed a wool sock that had had its heel and toes cut off to fit over a child’s hand. When this upcycled wool sock is worn over the child’s mittens and pulled up over the sleeves of the jacket, the idea is that snow can’t get in and cut short precious outdoor playtime. As clever as this hack was, I soon learned that there was a better solution for keeping snow, sleet and mud out of children’s wrists – MyMayu wrist gaiters.

MyMayu is a small, Canadian family business that is mostly known for its unique lightweight rain boots. I recently bought a pair for my oldest daughter, and love how sleek and portable they are compared to her regular rain boots. So when MyMayu co-founder Suzanne asked if I wanted to try out the company’s new wrist gaiters, I was of course game.

I always buy mittens with long cuffs for my kids, but they also have quite a few gloves and hand-me-down mittens with short cuffs. The problem with these is that snow and mud tends to get into that pesky gap between the glove and the jacket sleeve. That’s where these wrist gaiters come in handy.

My daughters have both tried the Ascent gaiters from MyMayu, which are made from recycled polyester. The material is waterproof, yet breathable, and the gaiters are very lightweight. The elastic at the wrist prevents snow from getting in from that end, and a safety toggle at the elbow has the same effect on the upper end of the gaiters. The thumb elastic keeps the gaiters in place even on very active children.

The Ascent gaiters retail for $14.95. There is also a style called Summit that costs a little more; $17.95. The Summit gaiters have a slightly more advanced design and extend farther down on the hand than the Ascent gaiters.

After trying the Ascent gaiters out for several weeks in snowy Sweden, both while playing outside and during more physically challenging outdoor activities, like skiing, I feel like we have given this product a good go, and it lives up to the hype. Both kids have stayed dry the entire time they’ve used the gaiters, and it’s nice to have this option to extend the use of the gloves and mittens that have short cuffs.

I will note that although my children are 5 and 8, they both needed some assistance getting the gaiters on, since they are quite tight, even when the safety toggle is at the loosest setting. This is also what keeps the snow and sleet out, though, so I feel like it’s a reasonable trade-off to keep the kids dry and happy!

Do you have any favorite clothing hacks? If so, please share in the comments!

Disclaimer: I received a pair of wrist gaiters from MyMayu in order to facilitate this review. I only promote products that I think are beneficial to my family and my readers, and all opinions expressed are my own. You can read my full disclosure policy here.