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An update on the standard wire crate, this collapsible model features a garage-style door on the side, rear wheels, and an innovative diamond-mesh design.
The Diggs Revol Dog Crate is a souped-up wire crate with enough smart features to justify the high price, if you can afford it. It’s just as easy to clean as our top pick, it collapses down relatively flat, and it has two wheels, making transport easier. This crate also has two entrances, one of which opens garage-door-style along the side, so there’s more flexibility in where you can place it.
There are multiple convenient access points. Like the Ultima Pro crate, the Diggs Revol crate has two doors for easy access. But one of the Revol crate’s doors opens up like a garage door and tucks away under the roof, so you’re not limited by a left or right hinge. And the door can be left open without taking up any extra space. The crate also has two lockable ceiling hatches, so you can give your dog a toy, a treat, or just some love without having to open the doors.
It can collapse flat(ish). On the top panel, the crate has a handle that, when turned, unlocks the collapsing mechanism. This crate doesn’t compress down quite as flat as the MidWest crates, but it does transform into a relatively compact package. The collapsing process can occasionally be a little tricky, and it may take a little practice, but we eventually got the hang of it. The Revol crate also has an easy-to-clean, removable tray, similar to trays in the MidWest crates.
It’s the easiest crate to move around. The Revol crate was the only model we tested that had wheels, so you can roll it around after collapsing it down. The two wheels, which sit on the opposite side of the crate’s carry handle, made rolling this crate feel less like hauling an overloaded suitcase and more like moving an unwieldy roller bag. This setup spared my bad back because I didn’t have to bear the crate’s full weight. So it may be helpful for other people who similarly struggle with carrying big, heavy things.
It’s relatively sturdy, for a collapsible wire crate. This crate was less wobbly than the MidWest crates (though it was more wobbly than the non-wire options we tested). The wire gauge was thinner by our measurements than those on the Ultima Pro, but the diamond-shaped mesh formed a tighter weave, giving it some more structural integrity. When we applied 50 pounds of pressure, we were able to bend the hinged front door’s outer parts, but they didn’t warp as much as on the MidWest crates, including the Ultima Pro. The plastic frame is “fiber reinforced,” said Courtney Armstrong, vice president of product at Diggs. “So if the dog’s biting the plastic, instead of it shattering, it kind of just shreds, which is safer for the dog.” The reinforced frame also contributes to the Revol crate’s structural integrity.
The diamond-mesh wires and locks are designed for safety. The wire mesh’s diamond shape was designed to minimize the chances of a dog’s paw or jaw getting stuck, according to Armstrong. A traditional rectangular opening is “narrower in one direction, taller in the other,” she said. That might allow a paw to go out, “but if they twist it, they can’t get it back in,” she explained. Likewise, it’s easier for a dog to bite the horizontal bars’ rectangular shape and potentially get their jaws stuck, Armstrong told us. “Whereas with the diamond, everything’s a diagonal, so their jaws tend to slide down and it’s harder for them to actually latch on to it,” she said.
It looks nice (for a wire crate). While we know this is a matter of taste, we think the Diggs Revol and Evolv crates are more attractive than the standard black wire crates. “When people like something being in their home, they don’t put it in a corner and tuck it away,” Armstrong said. It’s better to have “a crate placed in a really active area of your house, like the kitchen,” Susan Krebsbach said. This way “the dog feels like a part of the family,” she told us.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
It can be tricky to put together. The Diggs Revol crate requires more effort to initially set up than any of the three MidWest wire crates we tested. The MidWest wire crates arrive essentially assembled, and you have to just unfold them and make sure the panels latch together properly, but the Diggs crate arrives in a handful of separate pieces. However, everything clicks together with minimal hassle, and there aren’t many small pieces or fasteners to lose track of.
Some customers have complained about the tray cracking in larger sizes. One of the more common complaints in user reviews is that the removable tray sometimes cracks under a dog’s weight, especially in the large size (and occasionally in the intermediate size). This happens because “the tray is not actually sitting on the ground. It’s suspended between bars,” Armstrong explained. So there are a few spots that might be weaker if a heavy dog jumps on it just right. Diggs has been strengthening the tray plastic in response to these complaints, and the company now includes extra parts to add under the tray to mitigate this problem. If you get a tray that eventually cracks, Armstrong said the company will replace it both in and out of warranty.
It’s expensive. This crate is far more expensive than a basic wire crate, reaching up to seven times the cost of our top pick. You can find the small and medium sizes at Costco for less than they cost on the Diggs site, but you can’t find the intermediate or large sizes. Diggs has a 30-day return policy for any new crate, but if you buy the crate from its site, you’ll have to pay a shipping fee to return it. Yet we saw plenty of Revol crates available on secondhand marketplaces. This can save you some money, and you’ll be able to check the crate out in person before you buy. Just make sure it’s in good condition since you won’t inherit the warranty.
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