Ruffwear Fernie Fleece and Aira Rain Jacket Review

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With the changing seasons, we also need to think of our pets and their needs. Ruffwear always has your dog in mind and offers up a new jacket option in the Fernie sweater. The Fernie is a fleece jacket that reminds me of the beloved Better Sweater from Patagonia. The Fernie looks like a sweater, but features is a 100% polyester fleece jacket that keeps Stella, our female Airedale product tester, warm and looking good.

Ruffwear Fernie Features

The Ruffwear Fernie sweater features a sleeved style with full coverage around the shoulders, back, and under-carriage of your dog. The sleeved style jacket, despite sounding difficult to don and doff on your dog, is pretty simple thanks to a zipper that runs the entire length of the jacket. Simply unzip the jacket and place one leg at a time into the jacket and start the zip at the neck and zip towards the tail. Stella knows that if the jacket is coming out, she is headed for an adventure and stands relatively still and cooperative for a terrier.

Ruffwear Fernie Fit

The Fernie is available in size XXS to XL. Ruffwear offers a great Apparel Fit Guide, available here and a video that reviews where to measure to insure the perfect fit. Size medium fits great on Stella, she is skinny girl but with a deep chest. Our other Airedale, Fozzie is unable to wear the same size medium due to an even deeper chest. Yet the non-sleeved Ruffwear jackets in size medium are perfect for him. The take home point is follow the size guide closely as described for each jacket.

The Fernie does stretch out a little after getting completely wet and air drying, but not enough to cause issues or make me wish I ordered smaller. The slim, close fit is great for dashing through the snow and trail without dragging or snagging on other potential rock or tree hazards. It also means that the Fernie can be layered underneath other jackets, such as the Aira Rain Jacket.

Extras and specs

The Ruffwear Fernie also excels in the visibility department. There is reflective trim along the entire length of the jacket on both sides. This is excellent for walking the dogs on cold, dark mornings or on moonlight ski tours so I don’t get too close to her with my ski tips. I would love to see a small reflective accent on the front or neck of the jacket for visibility from the front for oncoming traffic. There is also a light loop on the top of the jacket to attach a light such as Ruffwear’s Beacon.

The Fernie is currently available in a rich forest green, burnt orange, and dark purple/pink. I’d love to see the Fernie in a bright blue or red in the future. The Fernie retails for $59.95, which is worth the money with Ruffwear’s quality construction and amazing customer service.

The Ruffwear Aira Rain Jacket

Aira Rain Jacket Features

The Ruffwear Aira™ Rain Jacket features a vest style, which means quick on and off. There is a buckle that attaches on each side that remains hidden, and protected, in a buckle “garage”. The buckle “garage” is basically an extra flap of fabric that houses the buckle and prevents the buckles from hanging down or rubbing your dogs skin. The collar of the Aira Rain Jacket is large enough to pass over the dog’s head and doesn’t feature any snaps or zippers, a major plus.

The Aira Rain Jacket, as its’ name suggests, is a waterproof and windproof jacket. Ruffwear also states that it is breathable, but I am not sure how to gauge breathability from a dogs’ perspective. The Aira Rain Jacket has mesh lining throughout the jacket to keep the hard outer-shell from sticking to your dog. Despite its’ name, the Aira Rain Jacket can be worn in a variety of conditions, including warm-constant rain to cold-wet snow. The jacket can easily be worn over a lighter sleeved jacket, as mentioned above.

The Aira Rain Jacket has been a great option for our early winter heavy and wet snow. The jacket covers the entire back and sides of our fabulous male dog tester, Fozzie. Fozzie tested out the Aira Rain Jacket in a size medium. Note how the jacket covers the vast majority of Fozzie’s body; keeping him dry, warm, and happy. The Aira Rain Jacket features leg loops to keep the jacket from flipping up when on the run. The leg loops are a lightweight elastic band and the dogs don’t mind them at all.

Size Guide and Fit

The Ruffwear Aira Rain Jacket has a vest style, which means that it is highly adjustable and can be worn by a wider variety of pups. For example, the Aira Jacket on Stella is a little large, but with an insulating layer it is perfect. The same Aira Jacket fits our male Fozzie without an underlayer. The two are only 4 lbs different, yet feature a 2″ difference in the rib cage. For the Aira Jacket, Ruffwear bases the size off of the rib cage measurement. Here are the size range for this jacket:

• XXS: 13 – 17 in / 33 – 43 cm
• XS: 17 – 22 in / 43 – 56 cm
• S: 22 – 27 in / 56 – 69 cm
• M: 27 – 32 in / 69 – 81 cm
• L: 32 – 36 in / 81 – 91 cm
• XL: 36 – 42 in / 91 – 107 cm

If your dog is in between sizes, I’d suggest double checking the length of the jacket as well. If you don’t plan to layer, I would order the smaller size. If in doubt, please visit the following link here.

Safety and Visibility

Like the Fernie Jacket, Ruffwear has included reflective accents for 360 degree visibility. Reflective trim lines the collar for visibility from the front and side. There is also a reflective Ruffwear logo on the right hip and a U-shaped reflective trim along the body of the jacket, as seen in the photo above. Ruffwear includes a light loop to attach The Beacon portable light. Because the jacket is so easy to put on and take off, Fozzie wears it on most dark walks to improve our visibility on the street. There aren’t many street lights where we live and we rely on head lamps and reflective gear for our safety.

The Ruffwear Aira Rain Jacket can be easily worn with a Ruffwear or other brand harness due to a small opening below the light loop on the top of the jacket. Even if you don’t use a harness, the opening is tucked away and features a generous overlap of fabric to prevent moisture from entering through this opening.

As you have noticed in this post, we have a few different Ruffwear jackets. What we love about these jackets is the durability and attention to details. The Cloud Chaser, Climate Changer, and Quinzee Jackets are all over 5 years old and have really been put through the ringer by four different Airedales. The Aira Rain Jacket did not disappoint. The jacket is available in Red and Gray. For more info on these and other Ruffwear products visit www.rei.com/ruffwear or www.amazon.com/ruffwear.