Update: The video linked on the second page is also at the end of my review.


Hey guys! I've been meaning to do this for a few days but am just now getting around to it. I decided to put quite a few pictures in here. While doing my own research I found very few pictures available for these particular harnesses.

This is my review of the Alpine Outfitters Urban Trail Harness.


Meet the Guinea Pigs:
Tia's on the right and Loki's on the left. They look excited to be helping out in the review, don't they?



A little background:
Thus far my two go-to harnesses have been the Ruffwear Webmaster and EZYDog Chest Plate.

• The Webmaster harness I typically reserve for hiking and day-trips since it came with the two Palisades packs I have purchased. It seems to distribute the weight very well, and I can throw the packs on them so they carry their own stuff (food/water/poop bags). The handle is nice if I need to give them a boost up steep trails.
• The Chest Plate harness I use for everything else (walking, jogging, biking, etc...). It's a great all-around harness that seems to work better than the Webmaster for pulling.

My biggest complaint with the Webmaster is that it doesn't have a very large contact area on the chest. While it works just fine, it's not really designed for pulling activities. My biggest complaint with the Chest Plate is that the fabric bunches up under the armpits and starts to chafe on longer runs. Both harnesses also pull to the side pretty severely when using the WalkyDog.

I've been looking for a better harness for a while, and when I stumbled across Alpine Outfitters I knew I wanted to try the Urban Trail harnesses. The fact that they are offered with side D-rings for things like the Springer or WalkyDog was very enticing.



Customer Service:
Before placing an order I contacted Alpine Outfitters to get an estimate on lead time. This was back in early February, and they told me that it would be approximately 4 weeks to ship from the date the order is placed. I put in my order and started counting down the days!

Throughout the entire process I was in constant contact with Claire & Joyce @ Alpine. They were both extremely pleasant to work with, and they were far too patient with my constant nagging. Responses were always prompt and polite, which eased my mind about the order. I've read some older posts on this site about Alpine's lack of communication, but I can say through personal experience that they are wonderful to work with. I only ordered two harnesses from them, but they made me feel like a top customer.

I was also updated with my order status (automatic notifications) throughout the process. Sure enough, almost 4 weeks on the dot and I received notice that my order had shipped. I received it two days later from across the country. I will definitely do business with Alpine Outfitters again solely based on their customer service.



Build Quality:
Each of these harnesses is custom-made to your dog's measurements. You have 10 options for color, an option for reflective tape, and the option for side D-rings. Heck you can also have your dog's name or your phone number stitched onto the harness.

After receiving them, I feel that they will last years and years. These harnesses will probably outlast my dogs. Everything on this harness seems to be very high quality. The material is durable, the stitching is superb, and the names are just cool.







I opted for both the reflective tape as well as the side D-rings. The reflective tape is brighter than the stuff I have on my bike. These next two were taken with my cell phone (without flash and with flash):





A close-up of the reflective material integrated into the stitching:






Dog Comfort:
Earlier I mentioned that the EZYDog tends to bunch up under the armpit and chafe after a long run. This is something that will not be a problem with the Urban Trail harness, simply due to the design of the harness. Even though it's custom-made to your dog's measurements, there is still plenty of adjustability in the rear portion:





One thing I've noticed is that the rear portion tends to bunch up slightly when not under tension. This doesn't seem to be an issue, though, and the dogs don't seem to mind it. As soon as there is a little bit of tension the harness straightens out. It was designed for pulling activities, after all. You can see what I mean in the next few pictures.


Relaxed:



Under Load:





All in all they I think the dogs are comfortable in these harnesses:





In Action:
Another thing I mentioned earlier is that the other harnesses pull to the side when using the WalkyDog. This is one of my biggest complaints, but it's the nature of the beast. When the dog runs to your side the D-ring will be pulled towards you.

The Urban Trail harnesses only pull to the side a hair, if that. The only problems I have is when Tia starts to slow down. When she stops pulling the harness bunches up a little bit, but it doesn't look uncomfortable. Even bunched up it looks like it's 5x more comfortable to run in than the Chest Plate harness. When pulling, though, the harnesses work great! The dogs appear to be able to pull harder when their armpits aren't being cut up.

Disclaimer: Don't try to take pictures with a DSLR while riding the bike with one hand....it's very difficult.

Love the side D-rings!




The dogs don't seem to notice the harnesses at all:




Conclusion:
After using these for about a week, I think my Chest Plate harnesses will be collecting dust for a while now. The same goes for the Webmaster harnesses, at least until we do some serious multi-day hiking. These Urban Trail harnesses have just become my go-to harnesses for literally everything.

I'm extremely happy with this purchase. The customer service, the price, the build quality, and the performance have all surpassed my expectations. For the price I don't know if this harness can be beat. A fully customized harness is only $42. Considering how often it will be used, as well as how critical this piece of equipment is, I would happily recommend the Urban Trail harness to any dog owner. The lead time may seem like a long time to wait, but believe me it goes by fast.

So far I can't think of any negatives on this harness. Alpine specializes in working dog gear, and this harness appears to have been designed with that in mind. I give it a 10/10.

If the weather is nice this weekend we'll be going hiking, and I will give an update when we get back. Until then I hope you guys find my review useful. If any of you are on the fence please don't hesitate to ask me anything. I'd be more than happy to give more information or take more pictures.


Thanks,
Matt











Here is the video from the second page:

Great review! I will definitely be ordering the Urban Trail harness in a few months. I would have already ordered it, but I have this feeling Pippa isn't quite done growing yet. She's a little awkwardly proportioned still.

The only hesitation I have about ordering one of these instead of an x-back harness is that I can't use it with a pack. I guess that's more of a qualm with the backpack than the harness, but it would be nice to be able to use both.

Thanks for the review and the fantastic pictures!

Oh and I'm a little in love with your dogs. Loki's coloring is absolutely gorgeous.
(Saw that Clemson tag...so disappointed...)

Papabear wrote:

Disclaimer: Don't try to take pictures with a DSLR while riding the bike with one hand....it's very difficult.

It's hard enought to try and take a video! I take the tiny camera when I'm doing stuff with the girls.

MayaAndSophie wrote:

Papabear wrote:

Disclaimer: Don't try to take pictures with a DSLR while riding the bike with one hand....it's very difficult.

It's hard enought to try and take a video! I take the tiny camera when I'm doing stuff with the girls.

Tell me about it. I've been eyeballing a GoPro or something similar just for the dogs (hiking and whatnot). It would be much better to carry something that fits in the pocket.

Great review! I also have the walky dog so I plan on ordering one for Cloud fairly soon. It'll be about year before I can get one for Yuki though, le sigh.

Nice review- thanks for sharing! I'm going to wait a while until Kiba's grown to buy her a pulling/hiking harness but the photos and review are super helpful for future reference.

Great review. I agree they are great to work with and great quality. Thanks for this thread though, now I can actually see what they look like on dogs in action.

Me and my wife ordered these harnesses for our two boys about 2 weeks ago. We had bought their custom x-backs and all the sledding hook-ups from Alpine and they are such great quality. Since then our young boy has been diagnosed with Hip Dysplasia so no more sledding. Alpine was nice enough to let us return our custom fit x-backs and sledding hookups, and we ordered the custom fit urban trails instead.

Like stated, they are GREAT to work with.

I didn't read the entire review, but I like how you broke down everything and included pictures!

If you haven't already, you might want to put the second to the last picture in this month's HOTM!...and I LOVE the last picture! Perfect caption!!

No problem, everyone. I just hope that someone harness-searching will find this handy in the future.

katiesham wrote:

(Saw that Clemson tag...so disappointed...)

I was disappointed that I didn't get them sooner, too. They're readily available at my local Petco, if you're interested.

cmanding wrote:

If you haven't already, you might want to put the second to the last picture in this month's HOTM!...and I LOVE the last picture! Perfect caption!!

I'll do that! edit: nevermind...not quite to 100 posts yet...



Kyle, that's great that AO was willing to take back the custom X-backs. Great customer service.

AWESOME review, thank you so much! I was planning on buying this for Kodah once he is old enough but I wasn't sure about how good they were. Now I am!

Also, your pictures are AMAZING! What kind of camera are you using?

Been looking forward to reading this review since you had spoken of it previously. It's a great review and very informative! Thanks for all the info.

It definitely helps to know these things when determining which Harness to get. I know I've been looking at several for my two. The pictures were definitely a great idea! And you definitely had two good looking models

katiesham wrote:

(Saw that Clemson tag...so disappointed...)

Bahaha I thought the exact same thing when I saw them

Sorry Matt, not a huge fan of those TIgers, but I do have to say I thoroughly enjoyed going to the Florida State vs. Clemson game this past year. It was a blast.

Glad this is helpful for a few of you.

Chelsii wrote:

AWESOME review, thank you so much! I was planning on buying this for Kodah once he is old enough but I wasn't sure about how good they were. Now I am!

Also, your pictures are AMAZING! What kind of camera are you using?

Thank you! I'm using a Nikon D300s, which I love. It gets heavy, though, especially if I try to take it on hikes. I've been considering a GoPro for some time now...just haven't pulled the trigger.


Liz, I graduated from Clemson just over two years ago. How do they say it up here? My blood runs orange.

Here, in case you are interested.

Papabear wrote:

katiesham wrote:

(Saw that Clemson tag...so disappointed...)

I was disappointed that I didn't get them sooner, too. They're readily available at my local Petco, if you're interested.

So good at twisting everyone's words around!

I'm holding out for a tag for a different group of Tigers. Having a hard time finding one though. Can't imagine why that might be.

Are you looking for this kinda Tiger?

http://www.petco.com/product/115236/Quick-Tag-LSU-Tigers-NCAA-Bone-Personalized-Engraved-Pet-ID-Tag.aspx?Ntt=LSU&OneResultRedirect=1

I bleed purple and gold

Haha I'm looking for the tigers located in Alabama...

I could order one, but shipping...ugh.

katiesham wrote:

Haha I'm looking for the tigers located in Alabama...

I could order one, but shipping...ugh.

I think there are one or two Petcos in Atlanta. If they only stock GA tags I'm sure they'd be willing to get one shipped to the store for you for free.

I should ask! I've only ever seen UGA and Tech tags. I'll definitely have to ask next time I'm in. Sorry to hijack your thread!

when did you order your harness? i ordered on on 2.8.13 and it still hasn't shipped yet. so just wondering when you ordered yours

Thanks for the review! Excited to get one for Baron when he's done growing. Maybe the universal fit in the mean time

soul embrace wrote:

when did you order your harness? i ordered on on 2.8.13 and it still hasn't shipped yet. so just wondering when you ordered yours

I ordered on Feb 11th. I had initiated contact before ordering so I think they were keeping an eye on my order to make sure everything went smooth. It would be worth an email to check on the progress.

Papabear wrote:

soul embrace wrote:

when did you order your harness? i ordered on on 2.8.13 and it still hasn't shipped yet. so just wondering when you ordered yours

I ordered on Feb 11th. I had initiated contact before ordering so I think they were keeping an eye on my order to make sure everything went smooth. It would be worth an email to check on the progress.

thank you. i emailed them yesterday and every time i called i just get an answering machine. maybe mine will ship out soon

Small update. Finally picked up a GoPro this weekend! I received my REI dividend (~$100) and the yearly 20% OFF coupon. Double-checked and GoPros can be purchased with the coupon. I just couldn't pass up $150+ off of the retail price of the Silver version.

It was raining like crazy today, and the video really doesn't do it justice. I was soaked within a few seconds. This shows how well the harnesses work, though. You can see Tia (left) pulling to the side more than forward, so her harness tends to pull sideways a little bit. It rolls sideways much less than her other harnesses, though. Loki does a great job of showing what it's like when the dog is pulling.

I'm sure I looked like a nutjob riding my bike in the rain...but hey, I own huskies.

Oh wow, Loki really looks like he's enjoying himself! I'm sure Tia is too, but Loki loves getting up right there by the camera trolololo. Great video, also love the music

Love it! I don't know how to put music on vids.

nice video!

i got an email yesterday saying my AO urban trail harness has shipped. can't wait to try it out on my bike also.