While fall is a fantastic time of year for hiking in most areas, here in Minnesota it is also a time of year when daylight hours are getting shorter and hunting season starts. But whether you are trying to stay safe hiking during hunting season, trying to remain visible to cars in your neighborhood at night, or just completing your dog’s Halloween costume as a safety cone, Ruffwear has you covered.
The Lumenglow High-Vis Dog Jacket was created with maximum visibility in mind. With large reflective strips on both sides of the jacket and on the back of the neck, this jacket does a great job of keeping your dog visible to approaching cars or others hikers with headlights.
This jacket comes in three different colors: Granite Gray, Red Sumac, and Blaze Orange. While all three colors have great reflective material to keep your dog visible to lights at night, the blaze orange is going to be the most visible during the day. I choose the blaze orange color for Glia mainly so that she had a piece of blaze orange apparel to wear during hunting season.
And let me tell you, the blaze orange color is really bright! This color of the jacket definitely works as advertised! Check out the video at the end of this review to see the high-vis features in action.
Sizing and Fit
The Lumenglow High-Vis dog jacket comes in Ruffwear’s standard sizes: xxsmall, xsmall, small, medium, large, and xlarge. Glia wears a size small in all of her Ruffwear harnesses, as she has a girth of about 26 inches, so I ordered the size small Lumenglow jacket for her.
This size does fit her, but there is a lot less adjustability in this jacket compared to her harnesses. The jacket fits okay when used alone, but is a little tight if I want to layer it. And honestly, I am going to want to layer it a lot. I prefer to have her wear a harness while hiking and by the time December arrives, she will need to wear a sweater on our nightly walks. If I were to re-order this jacket, I would purchase a size medium for Glia.
The style and fit of the jacket are similar to the Overcoat Fuse harness. The jacket slides over a dog’s head and then buckles on each side. The jacket has wide openings for the front legs, allowing for a good range of motion of the shoulders.
The size small doesn’t quite fully cover Glia’s back, but I am assuming the medium would. Since this is not a rain jacket or a jacket made for winter, I don’t mind that Glia has a little more of her back showing.
Fun Features
The Lumenglow High-Vis jacket has a few nice features that help it stand out from other reflective jackets.
Leash Portal
One of the reasons I purchased this reflective jacket is the leash portal. I have noticed that Ruffwear has been adding a leash portal to more of their recent apparel and I am so grateful for this addition. As I stated above, Glia normally hikes in a harness and I love being able to layer this jacket over her harness, rather than trying to adjust her harness to fit over the jacket. It works really well with her Flagline harness.
Beacon Light Attachment
Like many of Ruffwear’s products, the Lumenglow jacket has an area to attach Ruffwear’s Beacon light. I haven’t used The Beacon yet, but I did purchase it at the same time I purchased the Lumenglow jacket. This is another way to increase visibility at night and I am excited to try adding it to Glia’s Lumenglow jacket for walking in the dark throughout the winter months.
Weather- and Abrasion-resistant Shell
The shell of the Lumenglow jacket is really durable and weather resistant. Glia and I have already had it out in light rain and Glia stayed nice and dry. The jacket does not claim to be waterproof, so it may soak through in heavy rain.
The fabric also sheds dirt pretty easily. It did stain a little at the leash portal opening, but so far looks great everywhere else.
Is the Lumenglow High-Vis dog jacket right for you and your dog?
If you have been considering purchasing this jacket for visibility reasons, go ahead and purchase it. This is the most visible piece of apparel Glia has. It works great for neighborhood walks and checks the box for hunting season safety also.
This jacket can be purchased at Ruffwear.com, REI.com, or Amazon.com. (I am an affiliate for these companies and may earn from qualifying purchases.)
If you are just looking for a jacket for your dog, this one is just okay. Not super cozy or warm compared to other dog coats on the market. If you really want your dog to stay warm, consider a Hurtta Dog Coat or Ruffwear’s new Furness Coat (review coming soon).
Have questions about this dog coat? Feel free to comment below.
