Our dog Jaxon loves to hike with us. I needed a leash that would work while hiking, sometimes with a large pack on my back. Since I use two trekking poles when I am on the trail, my hands needed to free.

Jaxon with his pack on a backpacking trip.

I looked at a lot of options. I was hoping to find something that would work well whether we were at home or on a backpacking trip. No options seemed quite right. I decided to create a system that would meet the needs of a basic leash and allow me to control him as needed in the woods.

Materials

When I went looking for webbing to make the leash with, I found a black one with two stripes of reflective material. This would be perfect to increase visibility at dusk and after dark. I also chose to add some material to pad the hand piece and belt I was going to make. I used neoprene for that purpose, and used bias tape to finish the edges of the neoprene. The last items needed were several side release buckles to connect the various parts together.

Neoprene, bias tape, and the webbing with reflective material.

The system

I made an adjustable, padded belt with a short loop with a buckle that could be clipped to the end of the leash. I also added a couple of short webbing loops so I could hook a water bottle and Jaxon’s treat bag to the belt if I wanted. The belt is slim enough to wear under my backpack.

There is a short piece with a snap hook that can be attached to his harness or backpack. I made two sections of leash – one about 3 feet long and the other 5 feet. The five foot leash has a loop about half-way up, in case I need to have more control at any time. You can see that each piece has buckles so they can be configured in various ways.

The belt, hand piece, snap hook, 3 foot leash, and 5 foot leash.

The hand section is somewhat different from a standard loop that you see on a typical leash. I had found a leash with this style of loop at a pet store. I like it because it lessens the need to grip the leash, which is more comfortable for me.

The hand section can be slipped over your hand, like a standard leash, or can be worn over your thumb, like in the second picture.

This was an interesting project to complete. It took some time to decide how long to make the leash sections. I had also not worked with neoprene before, so it took some research to see how best to handle it.

Resources

There are a number of good places to get materials for outdoor projects. Some of my favorites are Seattle Fabrics, DIY Gear Supply, Rockywoods, and Quest Outfitters.