Ruffwear Haul Bag

The Ruffwear Haul Bag is a large capacity (37L) duffel style bag, designed for convenient carrying of an assortment of dog gear. This bag is perfect for car camping or road trips, consolidating all your dog’s gear and accessories in one spot. The bag is well-designed, sturdy, and easy to carry. It makes a nice companion item with the Ruffwear Kibble Kiddie dog food bag, facilitating travels with any adventure pup.

Ruffwear describes this Haul Bag as an improved version of previous models: "Fall 2019 brings a complete redesign with sturdy, waterproof material that's easy to clean, a removable shoulder strap, and more room for gear." This is the first Haul Bag I have owned, and I can say I am quite impressed with it, and can recommend it to others who adventure with their dogs.

Are you drowning in a sea of dog gear? Do you spend hours looking for that extra leash? Do you find yourself saying “I know there are more poop bags here somewhere!” 

                                   Okay, so I just want to know where the food is!

Well, I am quite familiar with the above scenarios; though I am an extremely organized person by nature, our extensive dog gear collection somehow seems to end up stored in various crates, packs, drawers, shelves, and boxes. Our dogs participate with us in hiking, snowshoeing, skijoring, kick-sledding, camping and paddling…each of which requires some specialized gear and supplies. Since I am out with the dogs adventuring every day, much of the gear ends up tossed into packs, in milk crates, or randomly in the back of the car.

I have been pleased to be able to test out the newly redesigned Ruffwear Haul Bag since the beginning of this past winter. The Haul Bag has taken up residency in my car, and has also been packed on a pulk for travel into winter camping huts. Once this spring's camping restrictions were lifted, the Haul Bag became essential gear for our car camping and canoe camping trips.

About the Haul Bag: The Ruffwear Haul Bag is a well-designed and sturdy dog gear bag, with a wide zippered top opening. The large capacity of the bag makes it suitable to carry your dog’s leashes, harnesses, bowls, water bottles, toys, jackets, or any other gear you may need for an adventure. The bag has numerous pockets, compartments, and accessory loops which are sized for organizing the variety of dog gear we all carry. The bag (which comes in only one size) can be carried by top handles or a padded shoulder strap.

                                         Loaded up with lots of dog gear!

The bag is suitable for use while car camping, road tripping, canoe camping (as it is waterproof), or as a neat and organized way to store your gear in your vehicle.  It is a companion piece to the Ruffwear Kibble Kaddie, and together they make a nice set. They are constructed of the same durable waterproof material, and work together to make traveling with your pup a bit easier by centralizing all the dog "stuff" we haul around!

Specifications:

• Volume: 37 L
• Height: 12.5 in (32 cm)
• Base Length: 16.5 in (42 cm)
• Base Width: 11.8 in (30 cm)
• Adjustable Atilon foam Padded Strap: from 24 inches (61 cm) up to 35.4 in (90 cm)
• Double padded tubular webbing handle: 7.5 in (19 cm)

                                            Side view of the Haul Bag

                                                        Base of the Haul Bag

 Description and Functionality

The zipper top (YKK reverse coil zipper) opening permits the bag to be opened quite wide, making insertion and removal of gear very easy. There is a large zipper pocket on one side of the interior that is approximately 6 inches (15 cm) by 14 inches (35 cm), and three mesh open pockets on the other side of the interior, each approximately 5 by 5 inches (13 x 13 cm).

The exterior of the bag also has storage pockets, as well as 4 3/4 inch wide accessory loops (daisy chains), two on each side of the top of the bag, parallel to the tubular webbing carry handles. On one side of the bag’s exterior, there is a zippered pocket 6 by 16 inches (15 x 41 cm).

                                          Exterior side zippered pocket

On the other side of the exterior, there are three contiguous open mesh pockets, two that are 5 inches by 6 inches (13 x 15 cm), and one that is 3 inches by 5 inches (7 x 13 cm).

                                               Mesh side open pockets

                                   An overhead view of the interior of the bag

The removable strap attaches to the bag with ITW Nexus Airloc side-release buckles, and can be worn over shoulder, or across the body. When the shoulder strap is removed, the top attachment buckles on the bag can snap into buckles at the base of each end of the bag, making for a snug and compact package for hand carrying. The buckle components attached to the bag are securely affixed with heavy duty stitching, and the buckles are also protected from abrasion and wear by a "pocket" of the heavy exterior material.

       The buckles...protected on the exterior, and well stitched as visible in the interior

 With shoulder strap removed, secured buckle; sewn attachment point is protected from wear

     Strap over shoulder                    Strap across chest                   Hand-held without strap

The bag is constructed of a sturdy exterior material (420 denier nylon with TPU finish) in a slate grey/blue color. The sides of the interior are lined with lighter weight 210 denier nylon taffeta with waterproof finish rated at 4,000 mm. The ends and base of the bag are made of a single layer of the heavier denier blue/grey material.

The bag is reported by Ruffwear to be easily washed by hand, with a mild detergent, and then air dying.

One end of the bag has a small nameplate area, where you can write your contact information.

                            Hmmmm, can both dogs' names fit in that space?

Use and Performance:

Beginning last winter, we have used the Haul Bag for storage in my car and for a winter hut camping trips; this spring, the bag has seen use of car camping trips and a few canoe camping outings.

For our camping trips, nearly all the gear for two dogs fits in the bag; however, only one of the dogs’ sleeping bags does fit (they are youth sleeping bags). We carried the food separately in the Kibble Kaddie while winter camping ,since we carry a bit more gear in the bag (such as booties and jackets). For car and canoe camping, we have enough room in the Haul Bag to put our Kibble Kaddie inside the Haul Bag.

                                             Partially loaded Haul Bag

  The gear we placed in the interior of the bag; we did not use exterior pockets for this trip

The bag appears to be reliably waterproof (we water-tested the Kibble Kaddie, made of the same material); in snowy conditions, it appeared to be solidly waterproof. The bag also has had a good waterproof test while canoe camping. It has gotten wet from rain, and from standing water that sometimes settles inside the canoe.It fits well within my solo canoe, and its carry strap makes it easy to lug on portages and carries to campsites.

                                       Ready to trek to the site

The bag, though waterproof, is not designed for immersion, and does have a zipper on top vs. a dry bag style roll top. However, it has proven a nice addition to our canoe camping kit, and I have not had any issues with its interior contents getting wet on our trips.

                       Loaded on the pulk to head off to a winter hut

                    Heading out for some remote canoe camping

While residing in the cargo area of my vehicle, wintertime means that the bag is exposed to wet from melting snow, and has had poles, skis, and snowshoes piled over it. In paddling season, there are always wet items thrown in the back of the car.The heavy and durable material used in its construction appears to make this bag very suitable for such use within the vehicle. Its size allows it to fit conveniently in the cargo area, accessible from the rear seat or tailgate.

                              Among the snowy gear in the back of my vehicle

There are so many choices for gear storage within the bag that it is sometimes hard to keep track of what has been placed in each interior and/or exterior pocket or compartment! As it gets used for more activities, and more adventures, we will have a better idea of the best use for each storage option within the bag.

I found that the accessory/daisy loops are too large for small snap links, as may be found on poop bag dispensers; a small round accessory ring on the exterior would be a nice addition. We used a small carabiner link to attach the poop bag holder to the bag.

    The snap link of the dispenser would not fit over the 3/4 inch webbing accessory loops

For such a large bag, I think the nameplate could be a bit larger, so it would be easier to read and more visible.

The Kibble Kaddie will fit inside the Haul Bag, but that does reduce the capacity for other gear in the Haul Bag.  The handles and accessory loops on the Haul Bag make for good exterior attachment points for the Kibble Kaddie.

Summary: 

The Ruffwear Haul Bag is a sturdy, large capacity, and well-designed bag for carrying your dog’s assorted gear while traveling or camping. It has served us, and our dogs, well over the past winter outings, and our canoe and car camping trips this summer. It is waterproof, well made, and easy to use. We will continue to use it for various car camping activities,  canoe camping, and next season's winter outings.

                                     Ready to head out on another adventure

Background

Our various trips and adventures using the Haul Bag have left me impressed with its design, solid construction, and proven waterproof capabilities. As an experienced winter camper and canoe camper who has taken our dogs on adventures in all conditions, I value dog gear that helps keep our dogs happy and safe. I anticipate many more trips in which I utilize the convenient and easy to use Haul Bag, which keeps the dogs' gear and equipment easily accessible and conveniently packed in one bag.