# Suggestions for a Dog Vest?



## CWalters (Jul 19, 2016)

Anybody have recommendations on a high quality dog vest for duck hunting? She's not the tallest, or longest, lab and it will likely have to be trimmed in some spots... so, a vest that holds up well after it has been trimmed is necessary. We'll primarily be hunting flooded rice fields. However, there will be the occasional dry field hunt as well as flooded timber and marsh hunts, too. 

Thanks in advance.


----------



## Daren Galloway (Jun 28, 2012)

Cabela's is the best one I've found, velcro is more than sufficient to keep it closed and allows for different body shapes and can be tight in the waist as well as the chest and neck, unlike any vest with a zipper that cannot be adjusted.


----------



## Windjammer (May 29, 2014)

I have been a huge fan of the Avery Boaters Parka. Mine has held up extremely well for five years. My favorite feature is the way the handles are designed. They are not raised, and in the perfect position to grab the dog when you need to. Also, I like the D-ring feature, and I attach a glow stick using sandwich bag ties to the them when we get in the boat. If I were to buy a new one, I would buy the same thing.


----------



## CWalters (Jul 19, 2016)

Thanks for the input... Cabela's and Avery were the two vests my buddy told me to check out. I ordered a hard-core vest... needless to say, it's of pretty poor quality and the dimensions compared to their sizing chart are kind of jacked up. Looks like the pup and I will be taking a trip to cabela's this week to try several of them on.


----------



## FieldLab (Aug 5, 2011)

Avery all the way


----------



## Rick Hall (Jan 21, 2003)

I much prefer the Cabela's to Avery's (only two I've owned) and panicked and bought a lifetime supply from a store still carrying them when the website said they were discontinued, but I see they've brought them back. This is the model I favor: http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/prod...tAds&rid=20&gclsrc=aw.ds&WT.z_mc_id1=04404586

Get the correct chest size and tailor the rest to fit snugly.


----------



## BAYDOG (May 30, 2009)

I used Avery Boaters parka till they removed the added flotation. Now I have switched to Hard Core. They have the same features as Avery and the added flotation.


----------



## Windjammer (May 29, 2014)

Definitely try them on. I remember thinking, "my lab is pretty average (build wise), he'll be a medium"...He turned out to be an XXL in the Avery.


----------



## Rob Hall (Jan 13, 2005)

http://www.riverswest.com/retriever-vest.html 

I found this one last year and they are great for hunting rice and marshes, which is all I hunt. Doesn't rub them like the neoprene ones do. It doesn't get that cold here in Northern California so it works great for my dogs.


----------



## Rick Hall (Jan 21, 2003)

Rob Hall said:


> http://www.riverswest.com/retriever-vest.html ...Doesn't rub them like the neoprene ones do.


I know nothing of the Riverswest dog vest, but I do know that if you trim the arm holes of a neoprene one, as the directions to those I've bought suggest, they don't rub. 

(Also know neoprene is easily tailored for proper, snug fit, something the Cabela's wide velcro fastener also helps facilitate, without stitching if you use neoprene cement to weld the seams and have think tailoring the Riverswest material more complicated.)


----------



## Daren Galloway (Jun 28, 2012)

if you have a dog thats in shape, an Avery vest is abosulety wortheless in front of, and behind their chest. The neck acts like a scoop for water, and if your dog has a waist and who's belly tucks up like it should, you will have no real protection past the ribs, an area that looses a lot of heat. The velcro on the cabela's allows those areas to be just as tight on the dog as on their chest, keeping them warm where ever the vest is. I had a dog get very very cold wearing an Avery vest because of this, and it was so tight in the chest I could barely put it on, it was so loose in the waist area I could've put it on a pregnant bitch.


----------



## Daren Galloway (Jun 28, 2012)

Avery vests are made for fat dogs. Not in shape athletes.


----------



## Jim Danis (Aug 15, 2008)

I'm a big fan of the Cabelas vests. I've used both the Avery and the Cabelas Armorflex vests and it's Cabelas hands down


----------



## CWalters (Jul 19, 2016)

ended up getting the Cabela's vest ( Cabela's Vest ). Thanks for everyone's input. This one happened to fit her the best... need to do a little trimming. But, overall, it seemed to be the best fit for her.


----------



## shurshot (May 31, 2016)

Dilemma I'm finding with Cabela's vest is proper size to get. Says to order the largest of 3 measurements, which would mean a 2XL for my 67 lb. lab. No way! A large fits right on the numbers for both neck and stomach but would be way too tight for his big chest (30.5"). The XL chest is 29.5", about an inch smaller than his chest while the 2XL is over two inches too big. I guess I'm wondering if there is enough "outward chest adjustment" in the XL Velcro to allow for that 1" difference? Anyone have an opinion?


----------



## CWalters (Jul 19, 2016)

The velcro strap on the Cabelas vest is about 1 1/2" wide. I would think that would be wide enough to accommodate your dog's chest and still stay strapped.


----------



## Rick Hall (Jan 21, 2003)

I'd get the chest right and tailor the rest. That means 2XL on my 66 and 70 pound Chessies.


----------



## shurshot (May 31, 2016)

Lot of tailoring on that 2XL, like 5" alone in the stomach area. Don't mind doing it but can that much be extracted and properly re-fused? Hate to booger it up to where it's useless .....and I'm quite capable of doing just that.


----------



## Rick Hall (Jan 21, 2003)

The computer I've saved it on is in the shop, but if you do a vest tailoring search here, you should find a write-up I did on how I do it. The real "trick" to it is using neoprene cement (like Block Surf or Seal Cement) to melt and weld the cut edges together, rather than Aqua Seal or one of the goops. Can get it at dive shops or online.

If you can find an off the shelf vest that fits your dog properly without tailoring, your dog is way the hey too fat.


----------



## NickR (Oct 2, 2015)

I am in the market for a new vest as well and have tried the avery vest and found the same poor fit for a slim in shape dog along with the fact that after one year hunting back water sloughs and a trip to canada the vest is ripped all over. I was wondering if any one has tried the rig'em right vest. Looks cool but expensive and when it comes down to it I rather have something that holds up to a hard charging BLM chasing cripples though thick buck brush and cat tails. 

http://www.mackspw.com/Item--i-ADT0...kKm2ohp0a2iZZhVLxCTS2D8KDYKbApPdK2BoCkgzw_wcB


----------



## Rick Hall (Jan 21, 2003)

I know nothing of the Rig'em Right vest you're looking at, except that it wouldn't suit me just for fit, alone. But I do know that I've run the same Cabela's vest with Armor-Flex(?) on its bottom half on two dogs over 10 commercial (every day) seasons, and while the top, regular nylon skinned half has tears and gouges aplenty from buck brush, barbed wire and such, the protected bottom half that takes the brunt of the beating remains unblemished.


----------



## shurshot (May 31, 2016)

Thanks Rick for that info. I happen to live on the coast so I'll stop by a dive shop for that cement. I did see your article some time ago on how to tailor a vest so I'll revisit that again before I begin.


----------



## Rick Hall (Jan 21, 2003)

Be advised that the thin Armor Flex mesh doesn't look like much. But it has sure surprised me.


----------



## dungdn93 (Jul 20, 2016)

Thank Rich. I have read your article some time ago about how to adjust the vest so I will review it again before I started.


----------



## BC RETRIEVER (Nov 4, 2016)

Mud River makes a great vest. 9mm neoprene( the thickest i have found) velcro, large zipper, loops for leash, the medium fit my 49 lb border collie perfect. It can also be trimmed and i got it on sale for 36 bucks.


----------



## MNGunner (Nov 13, 2012)

I have two Cabelas and three Avery's (both boaters and standard). I really like the Avery boaters in terms of construction, but it did require a lot of tailoring. My dog is athletic with a deep chest. I had to order their largest size to fit his chest, but then the neck and arm holes were huge. I tailored using O'Neil neoprene cement and thread (thread holds it tight while cement dries).


----------



## Rick Hall (Jan 21, 2003)

MNGunner said:


> I tailored using O'Neil neoprene cement and thread (thread holds it tight while cement dries).


Know nothing of O'Neil, but neoprene cements like Block Surf and Seal Cement dry quickly and are readily hand held without stitching while doing so - at least if you follow their directions to coat both edges, let work a bit and then press those edges together.


----------



## MNGunner (Nov 13, 2012)

O'Neil works the same way (it's made by the O'Neil wetsuit company)--I just found it far easier to get everything aligned and held together while cement cured if I stitched it rather than just holding it. Sort of like woodworking when you fire in a few pins from a nail gun just to keep everything aligned while glue dries...


----------



## Rick Hall (Jan 21, 2003)

Sounds like a mess to me, but if it works for you, it works for you.


----------



## MNGunner (Nov 13, 2012)

Not any messier than the one I did without stitching, but I also had someone holding the vest while I stitched.


----------



## Rick Hall (Jan 21, 2003)

Even with two extra hands, I couldn't begin to stitch as fast as properly applied neoprene cement works its wonders. Perhaps especially with two extra hands in the way. But I'm certainly more klutz than tailor.


----------

