Brake disc mud guards, necessary?

After green laning over the winter, there have been a few occasions where debris, in the form of sticks and small stones have become lodged behind the brake disc mud guards. Has anyone had this problem? Does anyone know if removing the mud guards completely would be an issue. Far from guarding the discs from mud and debris they appear to serve only to trap debris rather than guard against it.

threw mine away,there a pain in the ass

^^^ what he said ^^^

There is an agrument that inner pads can wear quicker without the guard as they are more exposed to road dirt and so on...........but if your usage if primarily off-road then I'd take them off.

I don't have any either... so thin they rust up and get in the way anyway.

andyb66 is spot on ! chuck em but moniter pad wear [i scrapped a new disc by leaving it too long]