Kelty FC 1.0 Child Carrier, Curry

Comment: This is a well-made, stylish, sturdy carrier. The thing that surprises everyone is how light it is empty. It is also very adjustable. My wife is 5'7" and I am 6'4". We set the waist belt at the highest setting for her and the lowest setting for me and it works fine. Our daughter is 22# and loves riding in it. Whenever she sees it, she wants to hop in and go for a ride. It is a little tricky to get all the fasteners that hold her in out fo the way so that her feet don't catch on them when you put her in, but it's easy to learn to tuck them out of the way first. She will often fall asleep in it because I guess the motion of being carried is soothing to her.

On longer hikes, it does start to hurt your shoulders after a few hours, but that is probably just me not getting in shape to use it yet. It has plenty of storage space. We can carry diaper stuff, snacks, a water bottle and more in the large pouch for longer hikes. But we also use it frequently to walk the dogs. A carrier is the only way we've found to walk 2 dogs with a little one.

We also bought the sun/rain hood, but haven't used it yet. When not being used, it fits perfectly in the large flat pocket on the bottom of the carrier (right behind the small of your back when you're wearing it). The lining in the passenger seat is comfy, and it's easy to adjust the shoulder straps and seat height for the child. The pack is a little bulky to store, as the automatic kick stand bracket doesn't fold very flat to the pack, unless you loosen the inner straps that tighten the frame, and even then it doesn't fold truly flat. We've never tried other packs (upgraded from a Baby Bjorn), so I can't compare, but I think it's a great buy and has extended our traveling capabilities with our little girl. And I know from buying camping/hiking stuff that the Kelty name is well-respected.