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Pet Portables: Travel with pets just got hip
By Ericka Basile
June 1, 2010
Without a doubt, traveling with a pet is comparable to traveling with an infant. 
The planning involves lists. Packing includes more gear than five adults.
Pets require collar, ID tag, carrier, crate, first aid kits, vet records, poop bags, leash, water, water bowl, and treats. Mapping rest stops along the way for walks and bathroom breaks is also essential.
What’s a hip chick to do? Pet Portables to the rescue. They have designed a travel bag that is stylish and useful.
The Pet Travel Bag is $49-59, depending on where you buy it. Before I list the items included, lemme first tell you the bag is delish-cious! I would carry it around by itself, forget about the pet stuff included. (photo at right does not do it justice, so I took a video with the help of my cat Vanilla):
It is a masculine gray with piping in orange (reflective) with a light gray strap to carry as a shoulder bag. The logo on the front and also on the hanging ID tag are urban mod. The logo alone looks like something you would expect from MOMA. Do I sound like a MC at a fashion show? The bag and logo are that cool.
The outer pockets has a Velcro closure. Inside this outer pocket, coated in the same orange color, is an extra clear pocket which includes a water resistant pet ID card (for contacts, medicines, and a pet photo ID section.) The inside of the bag has 2-inch black elastic strapping gathered into four hoops to create organized holder spaces. I used these spots for a water bottle, poops bags (included), treat bags, and a collapsible water bowl (included).
Okay, back to utilitarian lists of the contents, with my notes:
- Four elasticized compartments (this explains the ‘compartments’ better than I did above)
- Collapsible bowl (Wow, people in marketing at Pet Portables, this is an awesome water bag. Tell it like it is: matching gray outside, edged with the words “Pet Portables” in orange. Lined inside with waterproof black vinyl. The bowl collapses into a 6-inch square that you can roll up into a tight 6-inch by 1-inch roll.)
- ID card (as described above — really well thought out)
- Roll of 15 scoop bags (elegant… not poop… scoop)
- Basic first aid kit. This kit is sold separately for about $20 retail.
- Collar/leash combo (simple slip leash… in coordinating light gray.)
—-
You can buy the Pet Travel Kit at Orvis (on sale for $44) or directly through Pet Portables by calling 212-889-0156.
I am going to keep one in my car trunk, as well as buy one for our hurricane kit in the garage. (Today is the first day of Hurricane Season!)
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LOVE the video!
Comment by Gina Spadafori — June 1, 2010 @ 6:07 pm
Okay, I love the little video and the bag is sort of cute.
But $50 for what is basically a messenger bag and luggage tag, a $0.50 slip lead, a $1 collapsable bowl, and some paper?
What am I missing, here?
Comment by Cait — June 2, 2010 @ 4:37 am
Cait, hi- the first aid kit is pet specific with loads of items. It’s worth about $15-20 itself, I really think. The bag is uber cool. I’d say it would retail for $40 by itself at a pet boutique or such. It is too nice for Bug box stores like Petsmart, etc. I would search for the deals such a the Orvis $44. (I love deals and coupons.) The travel kit is something I recommend for keeping in your car or bringing with you to a dog friendly bed and breakfast.
Economically, the components can be found less expensive and out together by themselves. But they would not be aa high quality.
It is a personal choice. Kinda like everything, what is important for me to spend on might be a nice travel system and portable travel size dog wipes. Others may choose to spend the same allocated money for something else such as a car seat cover for dogs to rest on.
Hope this helps?thanks for your comment, keep em coming. I will try to share pet product finds in my posts from the frou-frou, to unique finds, to deals on essentials, and then of course the newest baaics we all want to know about.
Comment by Ericka — June 2, 2010 @ 6:26 am
I haven’t seen this bag, but I gotta say: “cheap” vs “value” is an important distinction to me.
I tend to buy few items, but those I do are well-made, well-designed and made to last. Most recent example: A Tom Bihn messenger bag for my laptop. David raves about his Tom Bihn bag, and so I looked at their site after his recommendation. I needed something durable, lightweight and flexible for a variety of travel assignments.
Now, I could have made-do with a much cheaper bag. And in fact, I have a couple such in the hall closet. They’re not a good fit — uncomfortable, falling apart, hard to organize, etc. — so I bought something else.
The TB bag (in gorgeous plum/wasabi) is my dream laptop bag. It wasn’t “cheap” but it was “value.” I’ve already put a few thousand air miles on it and carried it across acres of convention floors. No shoulder pain, and no fumbling to get what I needed out of it.
Oh yeah, and aesthetics do count. It’s gorgeous, and many people have commented on it and went online to look at the product line.
So yeah, the price tag isn’t the bottom line. It’s one factor in considering whether something is worth buying.
I’ve sure been shifting a lot in this way: I mostly find I can do without a lot of things, and happily so. (Also: Wow, am I the queen of craiglist, freecycle and creative re-use!) But when I do buy, I want good quality, and, yes, a company that’s responsive to its customers, good to its workers and otherwise a good corporate citizen.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — June 2, 2010 @ 6:49 am
OK, folks … we’re getting a lot of “I love this product” comments that are, uh, a little too cheerleaderish. Nice product, Ericka said as much, but hardly the best thing ever. Comments like make us highly suspicious as to their source.
If you work for the company, with the company or are related to anyone who does, your “unsolicited, unqualified endorsement” will not make it out of the moderation filter.
Really. We are not stupid here. We will let your comment out of moderation if you are honest about your connection to the company. Otherwise, scoot.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — June 2, 2010 @ 3:06 pm
Gina said: I tend to buy few items, but those I do are well-made, well-designed and made to last. Most recent example: A Tom Bihn messenger bag for my laptop.
I am not in the market for a laptop bag, but had to go look at the model in the yummy plum/wasabi combination.
As I browsed the site I began to recall something hilarious I saw years ago about the product care tag in some company’s merchandise saying “our president is an idiot…” Could not find any reference to it on the Tom Bihn web site, but googled for it, and sure enough - this is the place!
http://www.snopes.com/business/hidden/tombihn.asp
Thanks for prompting my recollection of a giggle moment.
Comment by elaine BHC — June 2, 2010 @ 6:29 pm
That was Tom Bihn’s tag, Elaine! I have it on two of my TB bags. It’s a laundry care tag, and on the back, in French, it said “We are sorry our president is an idiot. We did not vote for him.”
Comment by David S. Greene — June 2, 2010 @ 6:33 pm
I am also one of those that have cut down on buying—but I want good quality when I do buy.
I am trying hard to become a “minimalist”, and it is not easy when bombarded with tempting advertisement all around this country.
I will not compromise when it comes to the cat food. My two black beauties have to stay healthy. Otherwise, I will just spend it at the vet clinic!
I have a whole yard cage so I also save on vet bills when other cats come calling—no more cat fights. Just great, I have to tell ya. Don’t need a cat carrier as often, now, for a trip to get stitched up or worse.
Comment by Evelyn — June 3, 2010 @ 8:34 am
Bag looks smart and durable…..LOVE the logo! It’s good to keep all the essentials together. So much nicer than the grungy plastic bag for “dog stuff” that I keep in my car!
Comment by Laura Regan Cella — June 10, 2010 @ 9:24 am