Car Travel Gear
Active Pets Hammock Review: Four Years of Road Trips With an Aussie Mix
Four years, one hammock, and a back seat that still looks like a back seat. What held up, what frayed, and the one thing this cover will never do.
A four-hour drive to Birmingham, a nervous Australian Shepherd mix, and the back seat cover that has stayed in the Outback for a little over four years.
Four years, one hammock, and a back seat that still looks like a back seat. What held up, what frayed, and the one thing this cover will never do.
Two ways to keep dog hair off the back seat, compared by someone who has run one of them for a little over four years and borrowed the other for a week to see what she was missing.
Pepper has ridden in the back of a 2019 Outback since the summer of 2022. The hammock is the one piece of gear that never came back out of the car.
A four-hour drive to Birmingham, a nervous Australian Shepherd mix, and the back seat cover that has stayed in the Outback for a little over four years.
A little over four years of four hour drives to Birmingham, one dog, and a back seat that still looks like a back seat. Here is the exact order I rig the hammock in.
Four years, one hammock, and the parts of the listing that are only half true.
Four years, one bungee tether, and a lot fewer close calls on I-59. What the IOKHEIRA seatbelt does well, where it falls short, and why I still clip Pepper in with it every month.
A four-year test in a 2019 Subaru Outback with a 42-pound Australian Shepherd mix who would rather ride up front.
The tether I clipped into the Outback in October 2022, and the ten things it actually fixed.
Four hours to Birmingham, a 42-pound dog who thought the front seat was hers, and the plain little tether that settled the argument.
Pepper solved the console in one afternoon. It took me three tries and one tether to make the back seat stick.
Four years, one tether, and three complaints I would want to hear before buying.
Two folding bowls, two carabiners, and about 40 drives between Hattiesburg and Birmingham. Here is what held up, what did not, and who should skip them.
Three and a half years of gas station stops with one anxious Australian Shepherd mix. What the SLSON bowls do better than a squeeze bottle, and the two things the bottle genuinely does better.
Two bowls, two carabiners, and about three and a half years of monthly drives to Birmingham.
Three and a half years, one anxious shepherd mix, and a whole lot of rest area pavement.
A plain routine for water stops, built around two folding bowls, a jug, and a dog who pants for the first hour of every drive.
Three and a half years, one anxious Australian Shepherd mix, and a lot of gas station parking lots. Here is the version of this review I would give a friend in the driveway.
Two and a half years, roughly thirty drives to Birmingham, and the zippers still run clean. A retired teacher's honest read on the bag that replaced her plastic grocery tote.
Four hours each way, once a month, a 42 pound dog and a hotel room at the end of it. Here is what a purpose-built travel bag does that a plastic tote cannot, and the four things the tote still does better.
Ten small, unglamorous reasons the bag earns its spot in the hall closet, from a woman who has unpacked in a lot of hotel parking lots.
A four-hour drive, a laundry basket full of dog food, and the bag that finally ended the mess in the back of the Outback.
Twenty minutes the night before beats twenty minutes on the shoulder of the highway with a bag upside down on the tailgate.
Two and a half years of monthly four-hour drives, one soft tote, and the parts of it I would change if I could.
Thirty hotel nights, a dozen weekends at my daughter's house, and one very nervous Australian Shepherd mix. Here is what held up and what did not.
Two and a half years of monthly four hour drives, one anxious shepherd mix, and the old quilt that kept ending up in the seat belt buckle.
A hotel room is strange to a dog. A familiar bed is one small thing you can control.
Two and a half years, thirty-odd trips to Birmingham, and one rolled-up bed that lives in the cargo area of a 2019 Subaru Outback.
Pepper has paced her share of hotel room carpets. Here is the five step routine, and the bed that lives in the back of the car, that finally ended it.
Two and a half years of monthly hotel stays with a nervous dog, and the parts of the Chuckit! Travel Pillow Dog Bed that the listing does not tell you.
Four years, one hammock, and a back seat that still looks like a back seat. What held up, what frayed, and the one thing this cover will never do.
Four years, one hammock, and the parts of the listing that are only half true.
Four years, one bungee tether, and a lot fewer close calls on I-59. What the IOKHEIRA seatbelt does well, where it falls short, and why I still clip Pepper in with it every month.
Four years, one tether, and three complaints I would want to hear before buying.
Two folding bowls, two carabiners, and about 40 drives between Hattiesburg and Birmingham. Here is what held up, what did not, and who should skip them.
Three and a half years, one anxious Australian Shepherd mix, and a lot of gas station parking lots. Here is the version of this review I would give a friend in the driveway.
Two and a half years, roughly thirty drives to Birmingham, and the zippers still run clean. A retired teacher's honest read on the bag that replaced her plastic grocery tote.
Two and a half years of monthly four-hour drives, one soft tote, and the parts of it I would change if I could.
Thirty hotel nights, a dozen weekends at my daughter's house, and one very nervous Australian Shepherd mix. Here is what held up and what did not.
Two and a half years of monthly hotel stays with a nervous dog, and the parts of the Chuckit! Travel Pillow Dog Bed that the listing does not tell you.