Product Review: Fraggle Rock Biothane Harness

Ru's new biothane harness was custom made for him by Fraggle Rock Designs, and it is beautiful. This material is nonporous, and will not absorb water, sand, or beach funk.

Photo by Erin Koski

Our Lupine beach gear is still going strong despite being a bit rusty, but I am getting tired of the piles of sand that fall off it after every trip. With hard floors throughout the house, the sand gets everywhere, and the only way to prevent it is to rinse the entire pile of leashes, collars, and harnesses. Of course, then I have to leave it all out to dry, and run it through the washing machine if it smells funny.

I wanted to replace our beach stuff with something that required less effort on my part. It needed to be totally non-absorbent, as well as sand-proof, tar-proof, and dead-sea-lion-proof.

Photo by Erin Koski

Does such a thing even exist? Yes, yes it does. Biothane is a totally kickass material that has been used for synthetic horse tack for years. It's a pretty awesome everything-proof substitute for leather, plus it comes in fun colors! 

Once I found the perfect material, all I had to do was order gear for my dogs, right? Wrong. Biothane has been used in horse tack for ages, but it's also popular for hunting dog collars. Guess who doesn't have purse dogs?

Photo by Erin Koski

I had no trouble at all finding biothane collars for dog-sized dogs, and multiple retailers carry biothane leashes as well. Biothane harnesses are a lot harder to find. Leather harnesses, and therefore synthetic alternatives, are popular for protection dog training. Nobody does Schutzhund with a toy breed. I managed to find one biothane harness in Brisbane-size but nothing even close to what I wanted for Ru.

I could have possibly found a biothane slip leash for Ru, but what I really wanted was an easy-off, easy-on Norway-style harness. There was nothing even close available on the market, but Fraggle Rock came to the rescue with a custom-made one-of-a-kind tiny biothane harness in purple, made just for Ru.

Pros: Easy to take off when everyone is ready to go charging down the beach. Easy to put back on when I'm rounding up sandy beasts. Rinses clean, and won't pick up sand or suspicious beach smells. Fits perfectly because it was made that way, I even added a little extra to the girth measurement so it fits over his beach outfits.

Cons: It's not pink. Seriously, that's all I can come up with.

Bottom Line: I need to order some more beach stuff from Fraggle Rock. A slip lead for Briz, a collar for his tags, a tag collar for Ru, a matching leash for Ru, maybe a long line...