Continuing on from my previous post and product recommendations, we have a few more products we have grown to love.

Kelty Carriers (5 stars!)

The TC 3.0 by Kelty is a great all-around carrier with a small profile.

Dagny outgrew her Baby Bjorn a long while ago, and we inherited an older Kelty carrier and absolutely loved it.  Dagny enjoyed being up high where she could look at people eye-to-eye.  We immediately went out and bought Steph the smaller Kelty kids carrier, the TC 3.0 (we think “TC”is short for “Transient Child”).

The TC3.0 comes with a canopy (shown in the picture) and a changing pad (works well for on-trail field changes).  There is plenty of room and support and Dagny is comfortable in it for well over an hour at a time.  Along with plenty of storage space, the carrier section collapses when there is no child in it (making it a slightly larger than normal backpack).   Another super benefit is that the ‘burp cloth’ area in front of the baby disconnects and is machine washable (something a lot of the other carriers didn’t do).   The surfaces of the carrier wipe down easily (vomit tested – check).   Oh, and being built by an outdoor gear company, the pack is comfy with a well padded waist belt and is rated up to 40 pounds!

The FC 3.0 is all things good with more carrying capacity and even acts like a high chair.

We loved the TC3.0 so much that Steph got me the FC 3.0 for father’s day (in the “curry” color of course).  The FC (where FC must stand for “Feral Child” carrier) has similar features to the TC but has more carrying capacity with an additional bottom pocket that is big enough for two cantelopes!   The FC also has an awesome kick stand that expands when you take the pack off.  This essentially converts the carrier into a high chair (well, a low-chair actually, but perfect for sitting at a bench with your child in front of you as you sip a coffee).   The FC is rated up to a whopping 50 pounds, so it’s going to last us for quite some time and is a great way to get some excercise with your child.

There are a few annoyances present in the FC that we did not find with the TC carrier.   First, the ‘burp cloth’ area does not come off (we just tuck in a burp cloth instead).   The second annoyance (for me, a 6’1″ tall guy) is that the strap system is not designed for someone my height or chest width.   I find the strapping a little out of proportion and have had to fiddle with it for a bit.

We love both the TC and FC carriers for both strolling around town and on hikes.  In a crowded coffee shop, these packs take up much less room than a stroller and we find ourselves far more maneuverable as well.  On trails, both packs are comfortable for Dagny and have enough carrying capacity for her required necessities.

If I had a rating system, these Kelty Carriers would be at the top, for sure.

It’s Awesome

The Aosom is awesome!

The Aosom play pen (we think it’s pronounced “awesome”) fits its name.   This thing is a basic play yard without all unnecessary frills.   Here’s what we like about this thing:

• It’s well priced.   In fact, it’s price per square foot puts it on the low end of offerings.
• It’s made of unadulterated wood. Translation: It doesn’t have some unknown varnish applied in China (full of lead and melamine, etc) — it’s just natural, pleasant to touch and smell, bare wood.
• It was simple to set up
• It’s stable enough, yet lightweight at the same time.
• Dagny can pull up on the bars without a problem.
• There’s so much visibility and room that Dagny gets the illusion of freedom! This is the ‘hugest’ win of all and provides us with free time to do office work.