Winter has delivered tremendous challenges for most of us this year/season: the cold, the snow, sleet/freezing rain, icy/slippery conditions, darkness, (frozen) fog, limited visibility, snowdrifts…and the huge increase in precipitation impacts us and our gear/clothing/shoes. One problem we have had with our dog leash for running/walking has been that it is very often damp/wet from the snow we encounter (see last photo below for the current leash). If the leash gets too damp and doesn’t dry out entirely, the safety strips can become loose over time (months usually). This explains why we have 3 dog leashes now. One is a night leash with a blinker (unfortunately the blinker no longer works on the whole leash). But we also have a new leash with zero or very little reflectivity.
What can we do about this?
Our answer with our current running leash is to add Brilliant Reflective safety strips. So let’s show how we can light up a new leash so we always have one that is dry and both will reflect light well in all weather conditions and all times of day.
First we checked the leash with a flash in the dark for reflectivity. I just see pink fabric and it doesn’t seem to be reflecting light very well to be safe on on a run. It’s a Top Paw brand leash, 6′ long and 1″ wide (good width for having a solid grip for runners/walkers).
Alternating colors on both sides of the leash, let’s attach 6 strips on both sides of varying widths (some 1″ wide, some slightly less than that. And we will space these out so it goes up at least half of the leash roughly.
Using blue and red (it looks like pink I know;) safety strips, here is what the leash looks like finished. And we’ll check the leash under a flash and compare it to a walking test tonight of the current leash with Brilliant Safety strips. As you can see, the current leash still reflects but we can see some spots in a few of the strips where it seems to be wearing out a bit. I will have to replace all of these probably to keep it safe as possible.
For convenience, we will attach the pictures at the end. I always show it to Misty (our dog) before we walk run with it and let her sniff it a little bit so she is more comfortable with it. The weather has been so cold and inclement here mostly that we haven’t run outside together in quite a while. But tomorrow we will. With the new safer leash.
Do you have questions about Brilliant Reflective? Please feel free to ask me if you do, I’m happy to answer them as a BR ambassador and supportive fan. Want to check out their website? Here it is: BrilliantReflective.com
Please take extra precautions to prepare for the end of winter. (Another one I would recommend is buying two pairs of Yaktrax if you run outside. That way if the coils break or snap, you have your solid backup pair and don’t have to risk your safety.) It sound like it could be at least a week or two more of wild weather. Don’t worry, spring is coming. Have a safe healthy end of winter!
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