We thought it was worth starting off our blog with a post about why we like our BioThane ® collar design, and feel Jinks collars have something different about them. Links to our collar products are at the bottom of the page.
We've thought about design with three main aspects:
1. Strength/security
2. Practicality
3. Design
Using BioThane itself gives us those three things. BioThane is strong (from a polypropylene inner webbing), and the TPU/PVC outer makes it water-proof, stink-proof, durable, and easy to clean in your sink! Plus it looks great and is a great cruelty free alternative to products that would contain leather.
Coming from a background in outdoor sports, we brought some basic principles into making our collars. We need 2 points of protection after each load bearing point (1. security) , it needs to be appropriate to use (2. practicality) , no rough edges, and you need to want to use it (3. design!).
What makes our designs different?
Image 1 below, that we've shared on our Instagram demonstrates what we mean pretty well. After something like a buckle, or a D-ring, there is a minimum of 2 rivets. This method of attachment is strong, but the fact there are two of them gives us the security we want for our collars.
We can also offer colour matched hardware (buckles, D-rings, collar loops, rivets and eyelets) in 4 finishes. Black, rose-gold, gold/brass and silver. We can also offer Neo-chrome hardware for a slight price increase (only the extra price it costs us to get!), but as standard will offer collars with black rivets.**
We make sure to round off our BioThane cuts, and finish the edges so they look nice, and the internal webbing (which gives BioThane its strength) is sealed to keep it looking it's best.
We also make sure that the buckle holes are both large enough to be easy to use, and will stop the BioThane bunching when the buckle prong pokes through. You also get colour matched eyelets for a clean finish.
Our collar designs - 2 buckle and adjustable
We offer three types of collars. A traditional adjustable collar, a 2 buckle collar (traditional buckle and a quick release buckle) and a custom length buckle (fixed length with a quick release buckle).
The below images show the 2 buckle collar (left) and traditional collar (right).
We've made sure to cover all our bases. Anywhere there's a flap of BioThane, there's a collar loop to keep it in. Many other collars on the market rely on the D-ring to keep the flap in but we feel it does't work quite as well - the collar loop keeps the flap closer to the collar. The D-ring is just for I.D. tags or clipping your lead to. Meaning both our traditional collars and 2 buckle collars have both a collar loop AND a D-ring.
The traditional buckles on these collars mean its easy to make small adjustments day to day (tight when in use and loose in the house to avoid knotty fur for example!). The quick-release buckle on the 2 buckle collars means you have the small adjustments plus a quick and easy way on and off. We also really like how the hardware looks on the 2 buckle collars!
We've chosen to stamp our logo on the inside of our collars - that way the outside stays looking clean and simple. The design looks great and we don't want to detract from that.
Our collar designs - custom collar length
We also make custom length collars with a quick-release buckle. Link wears one of these under all his fluff with his ID tag on. We can also offer this collar with 'Grooved BioThane' that looks more like a traditional leather collar!
They come with a side-release buckle, a D-ring, and plenty of space for an second D-ring if you'd like a bespoke addition.
Below you can see Jasper in his fixed length collar, in 25 mm black grooved BioThane with Rose gold hardware. Plus a quick snapshot of Link's collar.. including the fluff. Link has a 20 mm purple BioThane fixed length collar with neo-chrome and black hardware.
That's probably enough from us for now. Hopefully you can see the thought behind our designs. We think they look great, but are also designed to be hard-wearing and easy to use. Plus by the nature of BioThane - waterproof, stink-proof and easy to clean!
We'll do another post on here about our lead designs and the thought behind those in the near future!
As always, any questions, please get in touch
- Caitlin & Amy xxx
Link to our collars: Adjustable collars in 20 mm and in 25 mm widths 2 buckle collars in 20 mm and in 25 mm widths,
Fixed length collars, Custom collar orders, and custom collars in Neochrome!
**We can offer neo-chrome rivets for custom orders, but they again cost a little more. Unfortunately we can't get our hand on neo-chrome eyelets at the moment!