The buckles are plastic — which matters more than it sounds. Metal ones would set the detector off, and there’s no faster way to get your hopes up than swinging the coil over your own leg. The rest is proper armour for the shins, which is exactly where a snake is most likely to have a go.
I’m English by origin, so I didn’t grow up around snakes. I don’t like them, and I like the thought of being bitten even less. Out alone in remote country, where the odds of meeting a deadly one are small but real, that’s the kind of risk worth taking seriously. I can’t do much about the snakes — I can do something about what’s on my legs. Dying alone in the bush isn’t what I’m going out there for.