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Yea or Nay? Tomo's Easy-Connect Dog Gear

A startup attempts an improvement on the snap hook and D-ring

By Rain Noe - June 24, 2021

in Object Culture

A startup called Tomo has designed a line of Easy Connect Dog Gear, which they claim is an improvement on the typical fastening methods for dog gear. Rather than using a snap hook on the end of the leash and a D-ring on the collar, their system uses a male protrusion on the collar and a female connector on the end of the leash. The collar itself fastens the same way, rather than using the more common plastic side-release buckles.

Here's a look at the whole system...

...and how it's meant to work together:

Enter a caption (optional)

Because the designers envisioned leash, collar, nametag and dog bag holder working together as a system, they designed the latter two to fit snugly along the flat surface of the former two. I think this is a welcome improvement for the dog bag holder, which I used to connect to the leash handle with a carabiner, which was effective but janky.

However, I actually don't want the dog's nametag to not jangle, which is one of the improvements cited by the Tomo team. On this farm we have six dogs, two roaming, and I find the jangling nametag a welcome announcement of our dogs' locations, as that information is occasionally very relevant.

Overall I am not sure Tomo's system is an improvement over the incumbent system, and in fact I think it might be a little trickier to attach the leash and collar, because you must first cover the stud with the receiver, visually obscuring it, before clicking it into place.

Beyond that, replacing such an entrenched incumbent system is difficult for reasons of interchangeability. This may not apply to owners of single dogs, but because we have a half-dozen, we can use any leash we have with any collar; I'd never dream of switching one of their collars to a proprietary system, and switching all six would be too expensive. Furthermore, I carry a spare dog leash in the car, in case we encounter an abandoned stray on the road. (That's the origin story of one of our dogs.)

However, I'm guessing you single-dog owners are more common. Does Tomo's system appeal to you? Do you think whatever UX improvements it might confer would be worth the switch?

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Obakeng Letswalo

3 years ago

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Tomo's easy-connect dog gear is an improvement to the conventional snap hook dog leash collar. The design of their system uses a female snap connector on the end of the leash which attaches to a male protrusion on the collar, CITATION ByR21 \l 1033 (Noe, 2021). − It is said to be a faster and easy way to hook on and of the leash, CITATION ByR21 \l 1033 (Noe, 2021). − It comes with a dispenser which easily attaches to the leash CITATION ByR21 \l 1033 (Noe, 2021) . − Also, as a slick name tag design which does not dangle of the dog collar CITATION ByR21 \l 1033 (Noe, 2021). In my perspective, this is a well-thought-out design as it is easy and more convenient to use than the conventional system. Its slick design seems to fit well with the whole concept of attaching the collar with quick snap fit method whereby, you do not have to find the D-ring to hook onto. As I am not familiar with the whole dog leash concept, I can comfortably add on that this easy connects dog gear is a huge improvement and enables a variety of possibilities in terms of dog leash concepts. As easy as it is to attach and detach the leash from the collar, it troubles me to how well it would hold up against the force of a strong dog which always asserts pulling and twisting force on the latch, which uses compact interlocking mechanisms to hold on to the collar. Elderly people with arthritis might face a problem with the small latch system used, as it's too small for people under those conditions, and I say this because many dog walkers are elderly people who use walking dogs as an exercise.

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David Heisner

3 years ago

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Seems like a solution looking for a problem.
Only way this would be worth it is if it cost less. I suspect it would cost more.

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Sean Thackston

3 years ago

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I'd worry that this connection would be less secure than the standard hook and ring. It all looks plastic, and I feel like the pulling action of a dog on a leash might create tension on the clasp in a way it wasn't meant to combat. It looks cool though.

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- Dee An
  
  Sean Thackston
  
  3 years ago
  
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  The connector looks to be made of powder-coated steel. From the video it looks to be fit for purpose.
  Mud might jam the mechanism, possibly, but unlikely.
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