SABOOS is a brand dedicated to exploration and adventure and offers outdoor products. They focus on (human) backpacks and the SABOOS Tactical Harness is their only dog product at the moment.
SABOOS Tactical Harness
Thick padding & lots of patch space
Four buckles, four adjustment points, four colors, and four sizes!
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About the SABOOS Tactical Harness
The SABOOS Dog Harness features durable nylon construction with reinforced stitching and breathable mesh padding. It includes a Molle system for carrying gear, adjustable straps with quick-release plastic buckles, and two metal leash attachment points (one on the back and one no-pull attachment on the front). It also has a large reinforced nylon handle on the back, close to the neck.
It has two metal COBRA-style (not COBRA) buckles on the neck-straps that were proof-load tested at 1,000 lbs. The additional buckles make it easy to put the harness on gear for shy dogs since it doesn’t need to go over the head or place it over a GPS collar.
It currently comes in four colors (“military colors”) and four sizes. Both the top and the bottom panels have reflective stitching all around the edges for visibility in the dark.
SABOOS Tactical Dog Harness Review
While the individual details of this harness (metal neck buckles, two solid leash attachments, velcro space, etc.) are pretty good in its price range, unfortunately, the same is not true for its design, angles, and ratios.
When checking the sizing guide and the photos, I already noted to SABOOS that this harness would not fit Zulu well and recommended not reviewing it since I cannot tell much about a product if we cannot use it.
They wanted to send us the Small size to see how it fits and unfortunately, when it arrived, we had the problem I already suspected: this harness is very short compared to the neck/chest circumference so it cuts into the armpits very heavily.
In the photo below, Zulu’s hair is somewhat covering the bottom section of the strap in her armpit but it is not only chafing the back of the legs/armpits when the dog steps, but already cutting in when she is standing. As you also see below, the neck section also covers her shoulders limiting the leg movement. This could be somewhat cleared if I tighten the neck section further but that would bring the harness forward even more, pushing the chest strap in the armpits more.
If you are wondering why this fit is problematic and potentially harmful for dogs, check out our detailed article about harness fitting.
After sending over some photos and videos of the fit to SABOOS, they agreed that this was not working for Zulu and sent a Medium even though I mentioned that I didn’t think that would work either but they wanted to see the fit.
As you can see in the photos below, the medium one is huge on Zulu all around even with all the straps fully tightened. I can fit more than my palm between any straps or under the back/chest plate anywhere and she could easily slide out of this one.
It also sits too low on her shoulders and is too wide between her front legs, just chafing and sliding around.
I am always the first to acknowledge that Zulu is a hard-to-fit dog with her small neck, narrow frame, and deep chest. After confirming that these sizes didn’t fit her, I again recommended to SABOOS not to move forward with the review but they were interested in hearing more about my feedback and were open to changing the design in the future to better fit the dogs and asked me to move forward with the review so here we are.
The problem with this harness is that I have yet to see a dog that this harness fits. On their product page, you can see it on a Pug, a Malinois, a Golden Retriever, etc. - so dogs of different sizes with widely different body shapes -, and it is unfortunately not fitting any of them, so it’s not just about Zulu’s ratios.
A harness will never fit all dogs simply because they are so different but after reviewing 60+ harnesses, I suspect this harness is less likely to fit most dogs than an average harness based on its angles and ratios.
Using an ill-fitting harness will rub and chafe dogs and can cause serious damage to their joints and spine in the long run. I applaud SABOOS for being open to feedback and I am looking forward to seeing how they will change this design in the future.
We usually review the durability and functionality of each harness in detail but we were unable to use these harnesses for any length of time so I don’t have enough experience to talk about these factors.
The breathable mesh padding inside the harness seems to be the same as the Truelove harnesses’ so I expect that this would also soak in the mud and water making the harness heavy and take a while to dry out. The outer material seems durable enough but again, we haven’t used it enough to have experience with that.
Review Summary
While this harness has good details, they fail to come together to create a good harness due to the proportionally short back and chest panel creating an ill-fitting design.
As SABOOS is firstly a backpack company and this seems to be their first dog harness, I hope they will improve on the design and sizing in the future.
SABOOS Tactical Harness
Thick padding & lots of patch space
Four buckles, four adjustment points, four colors, and four sizes!
Disclaimer: this review contains affiliate links, which support Dog Gear Review if you purchase the product after clicking on it without costing you anything extra. Using affiliate links will never compromise us in writing unbiased, honest reviews!
Zulu’s measurements
- Shoulder height: 19 inches (50 cm)
- Weight: 29 pounds (13 kg)
- Widest chest circumference: 24 inches (60 cm)
- Neck circumference for collars: 13 inches (33 cm)
- Back lengths: 17 inches (44 cm)
