Suggestion Needed (Baby Backpack, Bike Trailer)

[BeanoNYC]

Hey with the end of the summer upon us, I'd like to hit up craigslist for some outdoor gear I can drag the future "lil-beano" around in. Looking for a good hiking backpack and trailer for my bike. Any suggestions?

 

[Trekchick]

I don't have kids but I have two friends who do a lot of travel with their kids.
I got one of them this one from SAC and they love it.
http://sac.gearattack.com/items/10885

 

[wa-loaf]

I have a deuter kid carrier. It was fine with my daughter who is a lightweight, but my son is a little bowling ball with legs and his weight pulls the pack back. This gives me a headache if I'm lugging him around too long. Otherwise it's a pretty nice pack. Keep that in mind when you are shopping.

Wanna buy a deuter kid carrier?

We also have a hand me down double burley trailer that's 10+ years old and works great. They are really expensive but seem to last.

 

[Grassi21]

i have heard great things about deuter. we have a kelty pathfinder and love it. thank god for baby showers.

just today I was reading up on bike trailers. huge range in price and features. we aren't looking to spend 600 but we don't want a POS either.

 

[severine]

We have one of the Kelty backpacks. But to be honest, only Brian uses it. It's unwieldy and I found it hard to get on for me. It also suspends the kid by the crotch, which is not good anatomically.

I use an Ergo Baby Carrier instead. I like that I can use it around town (I keep it in the car) but it's also great for walking and hiking. And you can add on a pack to it if you want to use it to carry stuff in addition to your child. It's good up to 40 lbs and I even wore my then 42 lb 2 year old in it last year at one of the fairs. I started regularly wearing our son in it when he was 2 months old (on the front). It can be worn on the front or back, so it's very versatile. Some may have even seen me toting him around last winter at Sundown in it when we brought our daughter there to ski. Very comfy and worth every penny.

As for bike trailers, generally you need to wait until they're about 1 year old to use one, so you have some time there. The only regret I have is that we did not get a more versatile model like the Chariot. My FIL bought ours so I really can't complain (we have a Trek 2-seater). But I'm thinking now that it would have been nice to be able to try cross country skiing with them in the trailer, and the Chariots can also be used like jogging strollers.

 

[Greg]

Any Kelty kid carrier will do. They're all very well built. We have a Kelty Back Country which is discontinued, but there are other models like it:

My sister leant us a Trek bike trailer, very similar to this:

Also well-built and easy to partially disassemble for traveling. Smart move going the Craiglist/used route. Most of this items only get used a few times, and unless you plan to have a family of several children, the window of opportunity is usually only a few years. You can probably find some items in good conditions and save a bunch of coin.

 

[wa-loaf]

I use an Ergo Baby Carrier instead. I like that I can use it around town (I keep it in the car) but it's also great for walking and hiking. And you can add on a pack to it if you want to use it to carry stuff in addition to your child. It's good up to 40 lbs and I even wore my then 42 lb 2 year old in it last year at one of the fairs. I started regularly wearing our son in it when he was 2 months old (on the front). It can be worn on the front or back, so it's very versatile. Some may have even seen me toting him around last winter at Sundown in it when we brought our daughter there to ski. Very comfy and worth every penny.

Definitely get one of those for your wife. Those bjorn things are POS! My wife has an ergo and loves it. Not great for hiking only because the kid is right up against you and you'll both be sweaty. Perfect for around the house if the kid is being clingy and you need your hands free. Also good for around town and what not.

 

[severine]

Definitely get one of those for your wife. Those bjorn things are POS! My wife has an ergo and loves it. Not great for hiking only because the kid is right up against you and you'll both be sweaty. Perfect for around the house if the kid is being clingy and you need your hands free. Also good for around town and what not.

It's not bad in the cooler months though. It's just a better design for supporting your child that is better for growth and development. And both of my kids were extremely clingy! I did a lot of babywearing with them in slings, mei tais, wraps.... but if you want something that's uncomplicated and works, then the Ergo is the way to go.

 

[Hawkshot99]

We have a pretty cheap trailer we bought out of the paper. We use it for carrying a cooler to the beach(no babies) Works real nice. No idea on the brand, but it has a big yellow plastic tub.

 

[drjeff]

The Kelty adventurer

has just about made it through both of my kids(my youngest will outgrow it over the winter height and weight wise), and it's been a great pack for my kids that both me and my wife have used to carry them around in many states and circumstances. Plus, there's plenty of storage room in the both built in and removeable packs for just about anything you could need for the kid over the course of a day.

We'd buy it again in a second

 

[lloyd braun]

As for bike trailers, generally you need to wait until they're about 1 year old to use one, so you have some time there. The only regret I have is that we did not get a more versatile model like the Chariot. My FIL bought ours so I really can't complain (we have a Trek 2-seater). But I'm thinking now that it would have been nice to be able to try cross country skiing with them in the trailer, and the Chariots can also be used like jogging strollers.

Okay, let me clarify the above misconception about bike trailer and infants. With the correct set up you can travel with an infant behind your bike in a trailer. We have the Chariot Cougar2 with an "infant sling". The sling is a factory option which is about 70 bucks but allowed us to ride with our little boy since he was about 10lbs. Mostly he slept but now he gets excited whenever the Chariot comes out. We started him young 3 months and he has never had a problem being in it [chariot] for hours.

As far as cost and options we searched and searched, in the end we obviously ended up with the Chariot Cougar2 (made for 2 kids). New purchase, with the infant sling, stroller wheels, 2 bike connectors (the axle with the attachment for hooking on the trailer), and bike attachment (arm) we paid 710.00 with tax. Well worth the money. I am getting ready to order the XCskiing option so we can take him out this winter.

PM me if you have more questions

 

[severine]

Okay, let me clarify the above misconception about bike trailer and infants. With the correct set up you can travel with an infant behind your bike in a trailer. We have the Chariot Cougar2 with an "infant sling". The sling is a factory option which is about 70 bucks but allowed us to ride with our little boy since he was about 10lbs. Mostly he slept but now he gets excited whenever the Chariot comes out. We started him young 3 months and he has never had a problem being in it [chariot] for hours.

As far as cost and options we searched and searched, in the end we obviously ended up with the Chariot Cougar2 (made for 2 kids). New purchase, with the infant sling, stroller wheels, 2 bike connectors (the axle with the attachment for hooking on the trailer), and bike attachment (arm) we paid 710.00 with tax. Well worth the money. I am getting ready to order the XCskiing option so we can take him out this winter.

PM me if you have more questions

Regarding the sling setup, it depends on your trailer. The Trek trailer we have (which was the middle of the line model) does not have removable seats, hence there would be no way to adapt to transport a younger child. I did recommend a different brand like the Chariot for it's versatility. This is something the buyer should be aware of before purchasing - but in our case, we were not the ones who purchased the trailer so we were grateful just to have access to it.

Technically, your child is supposed to wear a bike helmet in a bike trailer. At least here. A child under 1 does not have the neck strength to support that. We tried to with our daughter (who is tall for her age) and even she had difficulties at 10 months of age supporting her head with a helmet on it, in spite of otherwise being the size and having the strength of a much older child.

I'm not trying to dissuade. Just wanted you to know that I'm not talking out my ass either.