RUFFWEAR Jet Stream Cooling Vest
Tester
Information
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Name:
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David
Wilkes |
E-Mail:
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amatbrewer@yahoo.com
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Age:
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52 |
Location:
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Yakima
Washington USA |
Gender:
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M |
Height:
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5'11"
(1.80 m) |
Weight:
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210 lb (90.7 kg) |
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Biography:
I started
backpacking
in 1995 when I moved to Washington State. Since then, I have
backpacked in all seasons and conditions the Northwest has to
offer. I prefer trips on
rugged trails with plenty of elevation gain. While I continuously
strive to lighten my load, comfort and safety are most important to me.
I have finally managed to get my basic cold weather pack weight, not
including consumables, to under 30 lb (14 kg).
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Product
Information
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Manufacturer:
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RUFFWEAR |
Year
of Manufacture:
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2018 |
Manufacturer’s
Website:
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www.ruffwear.com |
MSRP:
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$39.95 USD
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Size:
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Available in 6 sizes ranging from XXSMALL to XLARGE. (detailed sizing guide on website)
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Weight:
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Listed: Not Listed Measured: 4.7 oz / 131 g
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Color:
| Available in 2 colors: "BLUE LAGOON" and "SALAMANDER ORANGE" |
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Product
Description:The
Ruffwear Jet Stream cooling vest is designed to help cool dogs by way
of evaporative cooling and shading. The vest consists of an absorptive
belly section that cools by evaporating the absorbed water, and a
spandex shading section that covers the dog's back and sides which
along
with shielding the dog from some of the sunlight, also wicks and
evaporates water from the absorptive section. The vest is designed to
fit snug and utilizes a side zipper opening for getting it on/off.
Cooling is activated by soaking the vest (or at least the absorptive
section) in water.
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Initial
Report
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June 14 2018
Meg's Bio: Before
joining our family Meg was apparently abused and abandoned. Best we can
tell she is a chocolate lab and bull (pit?) mix and the vet estimates
she was born around April 2016 making her a little over 2 years old.
Her chest is about 33" (84cm), belly 25" (64cm) and from base of neck
to tail 21" (53cm). Weight about 70lbs (32kg). She has short dark brown
fur with some white spots. She is almost all muscle and bone (the vet
has described her as "freakishly strong"), overheats in the heat/sun
very easily, and has very bad hip dysplasia. Despite her size and
sometimes intimidating looks, she is one of the most cuddly and lovable
dogs I have ever met, and really seems to love children (and for some
reason our cat, who seems to hate and torment her at every opportunity).
For
full disclosure Meg owns a Ruffwear "WEB MASTER" harness which we
purchased a few days after she joined our family and has worn very
often since. She also had the pleasure of testing the Ruffwear
"APPROACH" pack (see review on this site), so we are rather familiar
with the Ruffwear company and products. We also have harnesses and
packs from other manufacturers that we use.
Prior to starting
this test I contacted Ruffwear via their web site to ask about sizing
information. Based on Meg's size and breed they suggested the Swamp
Cooler vest might afford her a better fit but since this test is for
the Jet Stream I requested the size (Large) that best matched her
dimensions based on the sizing information on the Ruffwear website.
Upon receiving the product I inspected it for any viable flaws or
defects but found none.
The underside of the vest is an
absorptive material with a mesh cover on the exterior to encourage
evaporation. I wonder if this is likely to pick up debris and dirt and
will be keeping an eye on that. The rest of the vest is a somewhat
bright orange spandex with plenty of stretch in all directions. On
Meg's left side is a zipper that opens the entire side of the vest for
putting it on and taking it off. The zipper has a short loop of cord in
place of the more standard metal pull tab as well as a small flap on
the inside to help avoid snagging the dog's fur in the zipper. I kind of
wish the flap was a bit wider. It is narrow enough that I worry about
snagging her fur and will be paying attention to that. All of the edges
are wrapped in material tape to provide clean finished edges and avoid
rubbing.
The
vest fits snug but not too tight and the ample leg openings seem to
allow a snug fit without hindering her movements. Getting the vest on
involves opening the side zipper and slipping Meg's front legs through
the large leg openings. It is important that she stays still for
this because the openings are so large that her legs easily come out of
the holes until I get the zipper at least partially closed. Once her
legs are in the leg openings, I wrap the vest around her back and join
the zipper (at the head end of the vest), and begin closing the zipper
while being careful to not snag her fur. I think it might be beneficial
if the garment
had some sort of quick attachment like snap or hook-n-loop to hold the
vest in place while positioning and closing the zipper (I have leg
gators with this feature and find it rather helpful). Putting the vest
on the first time took a few tries but now that I know how and Meg is
starting to understand the process it has become easier. Getting the
vest off is simply a matter of opening the zipper, allowing it to fall
away, and her to step out of the leg openings. After getting it on the
first time it only took a few moments for Meg to become comfortable
with it on. I left it on her for about 1 hour the first time and she
seemed to completely ignore it, walking, playing and even napping with
it on.
The instructions say to soak the vest in water and wring
out the excess water prior to putting it on. The vest seems to absorb
water quickly. I wonder about re-wetting it while on the trail. I hope
I can find a way to do this without having to remove it each time.
One
immediate advantage of the Jet Stream vest is its design lends itself
to being used under other products like packs and harnesses.
Likes: Well-constructed, large leg openings, absorbs water quickly, fits well
Room for Improvement: Small zipper flap, can be difficult to get on if the dog is not willing to sit still
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Field
Report
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September 18 2018Usage - 3 day camping trip, Western Washington -intermittent rain
- 3 day camping trip, Bend Oregon, ~3600’ (1100m) -hot and dry
- 3 day camping trip, Prosser Washington (Beer and Whiskey Festival), 720' (220m) warm and dry
- 2 night backpack, Bumping Lake trail, 3500 (1000m)- warm and dry
- 2 night Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) scouting, central Washington ~5500’ (1700m) – warm, intermittent wind/fog, deep snow on trail
- Daily walks (x6) Yakima Washington 1200' (365m)
We
did not use the vest on all of the above outings but we brought it with
us on all of them. We only used it once during our camping trips and
that was a day we spent in a park while in Bend Oregon. On our first
backpacking trip it was not warm enough to need the cooling vest but we
used it anyway. It came in handy to help protect Meg from the brush
(and maybe ticks?) as well as the ants that infested the area. Upon
returning home I found numerous ant bites on Meg but only in areas not
covered by the vest. She has also worn the vest on about 6 daily
afternoon walks in our neighborhood (we kind of alternated using and
not on hot days to compare the difference). During our backpacking
trips Meg wore the cooling vest under her RuffWear Webmaster harness,
and on some of our walks she wore it under a harness from a different
manufacturer. I can say with confidence that this vest is very
effective at cooling Meg. I performed a test where I had her go outside
on a very hot day and I used an infared thermometer to measure the heat
of her body/fur vs the heat of the vest. Her fur was 90F (32C) while
the vest was 75F (24C). And during our daily walks I could easily see a
difference in her energy level. With the cooling vest she had much more
energy and rarely wanted to stop to rest. While without it she was quite
sluggish and would stop at least 2-3 times during our walk (when she
could find shade with cool grass) to lay down. The vest seems to fit
quite well with the elastic material stretching to conform to her body
and allow for free movement. I found no evidence of rubbing or chafing. There
are a couple of things we are not overly fond of. First off is that while
she has always associated a harness with something fun and eager to get
one put on her, after only a couple of uses she became reluctant to put
the cooling vest on. I suspect she is not fond of the feeling of the
damp material, and I can't blame her. Next is that in the dry heat of our
area I have found the vest to be effective for about 45min before it
needs to be rewetted. Short of dunking her in a stream/lake there seems
to be no effective way of rewetting the vest without taking it off. So
the vest is fine for our normal day hikes but this limits its
usefulness for full day outings. Overall I like the cooling
vest. It seems well constructed and is very effective at providing
cooling. The vest works well with all of the harnesses we have. It is
not too difficult to get on and quite easy to remove. However I am
finding it most effective for short day hikes (walks) but not as useful
for full day or multi day hikes. Likes: Good fit, easy on/off, very effective at cooling. Opportunities: Only cools for around 45min, Meg does not really like to put it on
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Long
Term Report |
November 14 2018 | Since the
Field report we have not had the weather or opportunity to use the vest
so I will just wrap up the LTR with a summary of our experience and
opinion of the product.
Overall it is well made and works quite
well for cooling Meg on hot days. Her short dark fur can make it quite
miserable for her to be out on hot days, and any sort of activity is
even worse. The Jet Stream Cooling Vest allowed us to be much more
active on those hot sunny days. Meg did quickly become less than
thrilled to put the damp vest on, and I can't really blame her, but
once on she seemed to ignore it. From a hiking/backpacking perspective its
limited cooling time (as little as 45min) and needing to be removed to
re wet, kind of limited its usefulness for longer outings. However even
when we were not using it for cooling it had the bonus feature of some
protection from elements (e.g. those nasty ants). So while the vest has
been put away for the season, I anticipate pulling it out again for more
use, primarily for our daily walks, when the hot weather returns.
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This
concludes
my report. I would like to thank the folks at Ruffwear and BackpackGearTest.org
for the opportunity to test this product.
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