Nothing is more important at agility events than a focused dog (hehe) and good gear! This year at Regionals I was excited to field test a new piece of gear. Having read all of the 5-star reviews of CGEAR’s Sand-Free Multimat (available on Amazon – affiliate link), I asked them for a sample to try for agility. Their mat is made from dual weave polyethylene mesh. Most camping/outdoor activity mats create a barrier on top of the ground to keep dirt, sand, and dust off of your stuff (in theory), but the same barrier traps tracked dirt and sand on top. At agility events keeping a clean tent is important for many reasons — our dogs need to be comfortable and clean to rest in between runs, and in hot weather, we agility competitors rely heavily on expensive and delicate misting fans to keep our dogs cool. Last year at Regionals, my favorite misting fan was destroyed because of dust! We also often don’t have time to sweep the floor of our tents, and to re-organize gear constantly. Although I had intended to test the Multimat in dry dusty conditions as it is intended for, I ended up being exceptionally pleased for how it performed in a rain storm!
{ Inside our tent at Regionals. Hi Eberle }
The weather on Saturday was unbelievably rainy. As you can see in the above picture, the Multimat worked better than my friend’s mat to the left in keeping mucky dirt and water away. Tracked muck washed away rather than collecting and getting everything else mucky and wet.
You would never know from this picture that the conditions outside were so bad. People were digging trenches all around their tents, and we were all soaked to the bone!
{ Miles and Eberle stayed dry and happy in their hangout den. }
{ In front of Miles’ crate. }
Nice brass hooks allow for staking the mat in place, but I didn’t find it necessary to do so.
Hi Miles! Miles was very happy to stay dry and dirt-free amidst the storm raging outside.
The dense mat folds up nicely. This is the first major gear in a long time to become a new staple of our all-weather agility essentials. Thank you CGEAR for sending us the mat to try out! It exceeded my expectations.
That looks like a very handy product! Thanks for sharing! And what a handsome model you have 🙂
Yep, we get some laughs when Miles is posing in public. Miles is a patient and willing model. And maybe it is then fitting that he appreciates the mat above — he really does like to stay as tidy, clean, and model-like as possible. Haha.
Emma for goodness sakes get them in as a vendor or sponsor for next year!!! 😉
Great idea — rain or shine, every tent should have one! I’ll let them know…
That really does look lik the solution to what, for me anyway, is an age-old problem. What’s the point of a tarp to keep you off the grit if the grit is n the tarp in 5 min? I want one!
Great post and thanks so much for the tip! I was looking for something like this for next years’ summer competitions- I’m excited to try it out!
That is great Stephanie! Let me know what you think!
I can think of so many ways to use this mat!!!
Definetely — I have used it in both hot sunny conditions, rainy mucky conditions, indoors, outdoors — and it is great for everything.
Oh wow that’s that looks awesome!! I’m going to have to get myself one for using at agility trials!!