What is BioThane®?
If you’ve been searching for a dog collar or leash that actually holds up — through rain, mud, snow, and everything a Canadian winter throws at you — you’ve probably come across the word BioThane®. Here’s what it actually is and why it matters.
BioThane® is a coated webbing material made from a nylon or polyester core with a TPU or PVC outer coating. The result is a material that looks and feels like leather, performs better in nearly every real-world condition, and requires almost no maintenance. It’s waterproof, stink-proof, freeze-proof, and easy to wipe clean in seconds.
We started using BioThane® in 2017, back when we were based on Vancouver Island — a place where rain isn’t a season, it’s a way of life. Nylon collars would absorb water, hold onto smell, and never fully dry out between walks. BioThane® changed that. A quick wipe and it was clean. No smell. No waterlogging. No cracking in the cold.
How it’s made
BioThane® is manufactured by a single company — BioThane Coated Webbing Corp — and comes in various series grades. We use the Beta 520 Series, which carries a break strength of 1000 lbs per inch. That’s not a marketing number — it’s a material spec that means the strap itself is rarely the weak point in the system.
How BioThane® compares to nylon
Nylon is the default for most dog gear — it’s affordable, widely available, and gets the job done at a basic level. But it has real limitations that become obvious fast. Nylon absorbs water and takes a long time to dry. It holds onto bacteria and odour, and no amount of washing fully gets rid of it over time. The webbing can fray or degrade under hard use, and the rough texture can irritate skin and mat fur with regular wear.
BioThane® solves all of that. It doesn’t absorb water, doesn’t hold odour, dries almost instantly, and the surface stays smooth and gentle on fur. One honest note — BioThane® can be slightly slippery when wet, though still less so than nylon. For most dogs and most conditions, it’s a non-issue.
Why it’s the right material for serious dog owners
The dogs that wear our gear don’t stay on dry sidewalks. They’re in rivers, on trails, in snowbanks. Their owners need gear that doesn’t require babysitting — no conditioning, no drying time, no replacing every season. BioThane® is the material that made that possible for us, and it’s been the foundation of everything we build since day one.
All of our collars and leashes are made with genuine BioThane® Beta 520 Series and paired with 316 marine-grade stainless steel hardware — because the material is only as good as what it’s attached to.