Ruffwear Hoopie Collar, Roamer Leash, and Beacon Light Review
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Ruffwear Hoopie Collar
The Ruffwear Hoopie Collar and Roamer Leash have been a great addition to our running pups arsenal. For starters, the Hoopie Collar is constructed of Ruffwears very own Tubelok™ webbing which is strong, light weight, and dries quickly. The Hoopie Collar features a side plastic buckle for easy on and off, making this a great collar for those that like to remove the collars during hard playtime or around the house.
Stella modeling the vibrant Ruffwear Hoopie collar in Red Butte.
The Ruffwear Hoopie Collar features a separate ring for attachment of your dogs IDs. This feature is wonderful as it helps keep your tags from getting tangled when trying to hook your leash to the collar and adds longevity to the tags themselves. Add in the silicone tag silencer between tags and your dog is suddenly quieter.
Please note the center tag attachment beneath the Ruffwear logo with the rugged aluminum V-ring just to the right.
The Ruffwear Hoopie collar is available in an assortment of 9 colors and patterns. The colors are vibrant and maintain their color after several months of use. Stella tested out the Hoopie Collar in Red Butte, yet I am thinking that our other Airedale Fozzie would also look sharp in Blue Mountains. The collar is easy to adjust and available in three sizes; small 11-14″, medium 14-20″, and large 20-26″. The Hoopie Collar retails for $19.95 and are available at Ruffwear.com.
Ruffwear Roamer Leash
Stella modeling the Ruffwear Hoopie Collar and Roamer Leash
The Ruffwear Roamer Leash is by far my favorite leash to run with. I have tested a variety of leashes over the years and the Roamer truly excels in many ways. The leash is easy to adjust from hand held to waist worn in a few seconds. There is padding along the handle and ultimately your waist. The photo below shows the breathable padding inverted and close up and is comfortable and adds a bit more shock absorbing.
The Ruffwear Roamer Leash features a Talon Clip, aka a beefy clip that is easy to attach to your dogs collar with one hand, even with mittens or gloves on or while trying to juggle leashing two dogs at the trailhead.
Where the Ruffwear Roamer gets its’ name and truly shines is with the adjustable stretch-webbing that extends and retracts based on the pressure from your pup. Ruffwear calls this Wavelength stretch webbing and it helps absorb shock and allow for greater range or forgiveness. The Ruffwear Roamer leash is available in 2 different lengths, 5.5 ft and 7.3 ft. I’ve tested out the 5.5ft leash and it allows extension with stretch webbing up to 7 feet without causing jolts or jerking. Stella is a fabulous leash runner and this allows me to respond to changes on the trail without jolting her around. Fozzie, our male dog tester, is less of a runner and likes to stretch the leash when he sees wild life. For those that have a dog with a high prey drive, additional training may be warranted.
Close up of the Ruffwear Roamer Leash wavelength webbing in Purple Dusk
Additional features
Small accessory loop near the buckle is ideal for tying poo bags or clipping small items, such as a roll or poo bags. While running, I don’t like to have a full roll of bags bouncing around but have seen it done by others.
When not in use, the Roamer Leash can be wrapped around the waist to run truly “hands free” running experience.
Ruffwear has also incorporated a loop near the attachment point of the leash with the Talon clip. They call this a “traffic loop”, which is a spot on name and is a great place to get control of your pup, if needed, in front of the stretch webbing. I often use this loop when facing aggressive dogs on the trail or when crossing busy streets.
Fozzie rocking a recent fall run thanks to the Ruffwear Roamer Leash
The Ruffwear Roamer Leash is available in 4 colors and retails for $39.95. Pair it with the Hoopie color and you have a sweet fashionable and functional set up for your trail dog.
Ruffwear Beacon Safety Light
The seasons are changing and the days are growing shorter. More dog walks and runs will now be in the dark and possibly snowy conditions. We live in a mountain town with very few sidewalks or streetlights, which can make walks even more exciting and perhaps dangerous with distracted drivers. As a result, I always wear a bright headlamp to help me see and be seen. The dogs, however, are difficult to see unless they have one of their Ruffwear jackets with reflectors on. Ruffwears’ updated Beacon light quickly solves this problem and clips easily onto your dogs collar or any of the light loops on Ruffwear jackets or harnesses. I tested the Beacon on a variety of collars, including the Hoopie collar (reviewed above), Dublin Dog KOA and Chaco collars. The width of the collar just needs to be under 1.5″. To put on the collar, simply depress opposite of the bottom piece of plastic and pull the metal clasp towards your dog, place over the collar and snap the metal clip into place.
The Beacon light is a pentagon and measures about 2″ x 2″. To turn the light on press and hold the rubber on/off button located on the right. The light can be run in 3 different modes, constant, fast flash and slow flash (in that order). The Beacon also features 3 colors; blue, red, and green. To cycle through the flashes and colors, simply toggle through the various flash options for each color before moving to the next color with the power button. To turn the light off, hold the power button down. The next time you use the light it will start where you left off in the cycle. I typically stick with the blue color as its the brightest color and flash mode, but that’s just my preference for when on a run or walk. Around the campfire, I have used the Beacon in red to help identify how close or far the pups may be exploring/protecting camp.
I’ve been using the Beacon for a week straight and have yet to recharge the light. The light can easily be charged with the included micro USB charging cable. The indicator light on the Beacon will transition from red to green when the light is back to 100% charge.
Red charging indicator on the left during a charging cycle.
The most important feature of this light is that it is waterproof and Ruffwear states it can be submerged in 1m of water for up to 30 minutes. I don’t need to worry about the dogs frolicking in the snow or rain, which are conditions that I see for 6 months of the year. Overall, I have been extremely pleased with the Beacon light and will be picking up a second one so that both dogs are easily seen when on and off leash. The Beacon light retails for $24.95
For more info on these and other Ruffwear products, visit www.rei.com
