Another post in the Pet Transport Behind The Scenes series, as this time we detail the clothing and accessories that keep the transports warm, dry, comfortable and prepared.
To say an army marches on their stomach may have been a more appropriate comment on the Pet Transport Behind The Scenes: Food! post, but the army reference is more than applicable when it comes to the clothing and accessories ‘involved’ in our pet transports.
Again, we have settled on the items and approach below over the years, and have been more than happy with this approach over the last 3 to 4 years.
I referenced the army as at times it does feel like we are preparing to go to war, or should I say reverting to my childhood and playing at being a soldier!!
Much of what I wear comes from an excellent site called www.511tactical.com/, and by ‘much’ I mean:
Boots: Summer and Winter
Trousers: Summer and Winter
I will get the next bit out the way early ….. I wear compression socks! Sexy I know (not) but very necessary for a old man with my history of leg operations, and since I started wearing them 6 years ago my legs have been so much better during and after a transport.
We have polo shirts, shirts, sweaters, hoodies, high visibiity jackets, light weight jackets, and water proof jackets with the ALStrays Logo on, along with caps, beanies and gloves (ok the gloves have no logo but they do come from 5.11).
I have a 5.11 Tactical Bag dedicated to the transports ….. a Go Bag if you like, which has spare clothes, toileteries, battery chargers, knifes, pens, pain killers, hydration tablets, phone chargers and cables, gloves etc. It is checked before every transport and replensihed after every transport. Anal? Absolutely …. preparation is key as far as pet transports are concerned, hence the strict adherence to the same food, the same clothes, the same routes, the same communications etc.
If it works, stick with it!
The clothes are not cheap, but they do the job needed of them. They are robust and comfortable, they keep us cool in the summer and warm in the winter, and they cope with the extreme climate changes: the winter sun of Spain, folowed by the inevitable rain in France and the snow and ice in Germany in the winter.