Ruff Wear Approach Pack II and Web Master II Harness

Yes, they are both in one review.  Why?  Because I started with this:

The Ruff Wear Approach Pack II is no longer being made and has been updated with the newer Approach pack. It is still available online if you look in the right places.
The Approach II came in red and blue and is built on the older version of the Web Master Harness.


Now onto the actual review.

I found two of these packs at the Grange where I buy food for Juneau and Sasha.  At $50 a pop, that wasn't a bad price since the newer version of the packs retails at around $75.  However, these particular packs were on sale for $25!  If I'd thought about it sooner I would have bought them both but by the time I went in to pick them up only one was left.  Both were size XS and when I tried it on Conker it fit perfectly.
For only $25 I got myself one of the best brands of dog packs out there.

The Ruff Wear Approach Pack II is VERY solid.  I've been using it for about 2 1/2 months, not too long, but so far it's held up amazingly well against rocks, dirt, sand, trees, more rocks, other dogs and countless car rides.  It's been smashed, folded in half, stepped on and shut in a door (no dog was wearing it when that stuff happened) and it's still in the same shape as when I bought it.
The plastic snaps for the straps are good. The belly straps are a bit thin but they have fleece coverings for added comfort and they help protect the straps against rubbing on things.
The bags are made of rugged nylon and the zippers are very beefy with nice big pulls. 
There's a thin stripe of reflective material between the red upper and black lower parts of the bags.  It's not incredibly noticeable but when lights flash across it it does reflect enough to count.

The storage capacity of the bags is really good.  I loaded two cans of sardines, a Zuke's chew, about 20 treats, two rolls of poop bags, and a portable water bowl into the pack and still had plenty of room left.  In total this weighed about 2 pounds including the pack which weighs 11 ounces.  Conker did fine with the extra weight and for some reason it didn't slow him down one bit even though he shouldn't really be carrying that much in the first place.

My official verdict on this pack is:  If you can find it, BUY IT!  It's entirely worth the money, especially if you can get it on sale like I did.  It's an incredibly well made product and unlike the larger Palisades with it's removable bags and the Singletrak with it's close fit, the Approach and Approach II is available in XS and XXS for people with smaller dogs like mine.


Now onto the second part of the review.

Somehow my Approach II pack ended up like this:

Where are the bags?  Did they get ripped off?  Simple answer:  No.  Complicated one?  I took them off so I could make my own version of a Palisades pack.  Modification instructions for pack:  Version 1 and Version 2.

I find it to work incredibly well despite being an older model.  Even if I hadn't gotten it as a pack, it's worth the $25 for the harness alone.  Web Masters retail at $50 so again I got a killer deal on this thing, especially since I'm modding it.

Anyways, after some trials with it as a harness only I'm convinced I never want to buy another harness but those made by Ruff Wear.  This thing is really handy, especially when Conker is being a punk and I need to remove him from a situation before he starts a war.  It's also great for helping him get over strange obstacles and quickly getting him out of the way of a raging mountain biker.

The harness, so far, hasn't caused any fur loss or rubs Conker bad in any way.  He's still got his full range of motion and he still acts like a normal Shiba.  He can shake, run, roll, jump and swim in it without it interfering with his activity.  When adjusted properly, it fits very snug but not too snug and even when it was still a pack Conker could do most activities without being restrained. 

Like I said about the Approach II, if you can find this harness and find it at a cheap price, buy it!  It's well worth the money.  But if it comes down to the old version versus the newer one for the same price, I'd probably go with the newer one.


Edit: After having this pack and harness for quite some time now I felt like an update was in order.
The harness has held up extremely well to the abuse Conker puts it though.  He wears it almost daily and it has survived many nips from other dogs, fights with bushes and wars against trees.  It has gone through countless rolls in various substances (some not so good) and once dry, is cleaned by simply brushing it off or giving a good vigorous shake.
I don't need to adjust it very often, only when Conker gets stuck bad on something or he eats right before I put it on. Even after picking Conker up by the handle (which is ingenious on it's own) the straps do not come loose.
The harness has not rubbed any fur off Conker in any place, given him any hot spots or other discomforts.  His older hanress rubbed a bit so I am glad that the Web Master does not.

I still highly recommend you buy it if you can find it, but try to get it for less than the newer one.