A Comparison of the Old vs the New: Ruff Wear Web Master Harness

With the purchase of the Palisades for Juneau (and the mutilation of Sasha's Approach) I have finally acquired another Web Master that I can compare to the old one.  While they are two different sizes, and the newer one doesn't fit Conker, I don't think that is relevant to the comparison.



To start, the Old:

Ruff Wear Webmaster II

The old harness has held up well for the amount of wear it's gotten in the past seven months.  It has been  rubbed against rocks and trees, bitten, ground into the dirt, used as a restraint in my Jeep and many other things and it has yet to begin to come apart.

Fuji strikes again with terrible picture quality.

Many people have asked about it and wonder where they can get one of their own.

Conker leaves bits of himself everywhere he goes, including the harness.

I have even had some people pick Conker up by the handle when they notice it.  He is not pleased by that, and neither am I, but that further spurs their interest in this great product.  (I use the handle all the time but it's totally different when a complete stranger grabs Conker by it and picks him up.  He's my dog, ask before you go freaking him out, okay?)

And now the New:

Straps are not as tight so they look quite loose.

The new harness... Well, I must say I may be in love.  It is very durable, constructed incredibly well, stays in place perfectly, doesn't need to be adjusted very often and is quite attractive.

It blends in on a black dog, but is still stylish.

This harness gets more questions than the old one, if I have both dogs with me that is. (The regular Web Master does not have extra buckles on the padding and comes in either red or black.)

It has yet to be permanently decorated by fur.

I didn't think that picking up Juneau with the handle would be easy, with one arm, but I was wrong.  The harness makes lifting a large dog so easy it should be the standard for many applications.

The two harnesses are somewhat hard to compare, since the newer one is drastically different than the old.  However, I will detail some of the differences between the two and try not to glorify one over the other too much.

For starters:

Both harnesses have a tow loop located at the back.  The loop on the Old is small and runs under a sewn-down nylon strap.

The tow loop on the New harness is much larger and is stitched on with bright yellow thread. 

A plus for the Old harness is the Light Loop, a piece of nylon strap with space underneath that you can attach some sort of light; a flasher, LED, or reflector, to the harness so your dog is visible at night.  I have used the light loop and really like how it's present on the Old harness.
(Conker was wearing a light one night and somehow got free.  I would not have found him if he had not had the light on.)

The New harness does not have a light loop.  This makes attaching a safety light somewhat hard, since slipping it onto the top of the harness has resulted in it coming loose due to it not being able to latch on properly.
The New harness does have a very sweet looking and sturdy leash attachment though.

A big difference I have noticed is the front where the three straps meet.

The New is equipped with a padded chest plate that helps distribute force more evenly than just a plastic triangle.  The Old does not have this, and It is a very good addition.

Another improvement is the elastic on the two rear straps.  It protects against sudden yanks on the harness by slowing the impact, and probably gives a bit of comfort to the dog being picked up.

One of the more noticeable additions to the New harness is the reflective striping. The Old harness has none.  This greatly improves night-time visibility and makes the harness ever more slightly attractive. It does not replace the light loop completely, but it is a very good feature to have.

A tad too big to the Emperor.

Another difference is that the rear strap on the Old harness goes straight down and on the New it's angled back. This can be slightly problematic for male dogs if the harness is a bit too big for him, so try it on first before you buy one.

Overall, both of these harnesses are very durable, constructed from good material, quite useful, and get your dogs noticed.  As much as I like the Old harness, though, I have got to pick the New as my favorite.  It's built slightly better, has more features, is easier to use and adjust, fits better on the dog and is a lot better looking than the Old.

If you are interested in buying a Web Master harness, you can get it directly from Ruff Wear's site or a local store that sells it.  Better yet, don't go out and buy the first one you see.  Shop around a bit, compare prices, and scour the internet for a deal.  I know a couple people who got some of the Newer harnesses for about $30, maybe even less, which is a deal since they normally retail around $50.
I bought my Web Master II (it was originally an Approach II) for $25, and you may be able to find an older one for a better price, but I still recommend you get the newer harness.