Comparing the Husky to the Roundabout and the Marathon
Written: Apr 28 '04 (Updated May 01 '04)
Product Rating:
Durability:
Ease of Use:
Pros: Just about the only option available if you have a very tall child. Up to 80lbs in a 5-point harness!
Cons: Massive. Expensive. Can be hard-to-find (may need to order).
The Bottom Line: If your child is too tall for a conventional car seat, but too young or immature to be trusted in a belt-positioning booster, this seat is really the only option!
mizgnomer's Full Review: Britax Husky Youth Car Seat - Marina
When my son was 2½ he presented us with an interesting dilemma. Tall for his age while still being quite skinny, he outgrew his beloved Britax Roundabout carseat (a forward-facing seat is considered "outgrown" when the tops of the child's ears are level with the top of the carseat's headrest, or their shoulders are above the highest harness setting). Most kids move to a booster when they outgrow their carseats, but because my little guy only weighs 33 pounds (most boosters have a low-end weight limit of 40 pounds), and because he is far too young to be trusted to ride properly in a booster seat that only uses the car's seat belts to secure the child, we were left in quite a fix. Fortunately the seat in our other car is a Britax Marathon, which he isn't going to outgrow any time soon.
After doing some research we purchased the Cosco Summit High Back Booster, which is a convertible booster (meaning it can be used as a forward-facing car seat with a harness, after which the harness can be removed and it can be used as a conventional booster seat). It seemed like the perfect choice for us and came highly recommended by Consumer Reports. Unfortunately, the Summit had a height restriction on the harness that was identical to the Roundabout that my son had just outgrown! That meant he could only use the seat as a booster, but my son is bit too immature to be trusted to sit properly in a booster that only uses the car's seat belts to hold the child in place (he definitely tries to "escape" his seat to explore when he's not harnessed into place).
So after being very disappointed in the Summit's harness with its low height limit, I turned back to the company that has proved itself to us time and time again -- Britax. It was really the only choice left to us if we wanted to keep our lanky little man in a harness until he's older.
Product Description:
Britax, as a car seat brand, is very well respected for its safety record and is known for making great (albeit expensive) car seats. The Husky is our 3rd seat from Britax (the others being the Roundabout, which is a conventional convertable child seat, and the Marathon, which is larger but still a convertable child seat), so I will be comparing and contrasting the 3 throughout this review, as well as comparing it with the Summit booster that we tried for a while but ultimately returned.
The Husky is a "youth" seat (as opposed to a convertible "toddler" seat like the other 2 we have). It fits children from 22 to 80 pounds, and 19 to 53 inches tall. It is a forward-facing only seat (it cannot be installed rear-facing for children under 1 year old).
All 3 Britax seats feature a 5-point polyester harness. The harness is the feature we were really wanting in our replacement seat, because a harness is much safer than simply using your car's seat belts to secure a child. Britax harnesses are well-known for having harness-straps that do not twist as easily as those on most seats, and the Husky is no exception. The 5-points (where the harness originates from the chair to cover your child) is over each shoulder, across each hip, and up between the legs. Two halves of the harness are buckled together across your child's chest, then the two halves go down your child's body and buckle into the seat between your child's legs.
The Husky has 4 different shoulder belt heights, situated higher than most car seats so it can accommodate older, taller children. The buckle (that comes up between the child's legs) also has 2 positions (closer to or farther away from your child on the seat-base) to accommodate growth.
Our 3 Britax seats are all very easy to get your child into and out of. To tighten the harness you simply pull on a strap at the bottom-front of the seat. Loosening the harness is slightly different with each seat, but is still very easy. On the Husky you pull up on a recessed lever while pulling on the straps to loosen them. The lever is also covered with a velcro-able flap of fabric. I like the fact that it is recessed under the seat and out of reach of my rapidly growing toddler.
The Husky and Marathon come complete with rubber pads on the straps, which they call "Floating HUGS" (Harness Ultra-Guard System). The rubber pads help keep the straps in-place against your child, more evenly distributing the harness load in the event of a crash, as well as avoiding irritation to your child's neck during normal use. The Husky and Marathon also come with two velcro-able "comfort pads" for use up around the child's neck. We didn't use these on our Marathon (our boy really didn't like them), however the ones on the Husky seem smaller and he doesn't mind them a bit.
All 3 seats have the same easy-to-use buckle mechanism (actually, our Roundabout is older and has the more difficult buckle, but newer seats have the easier one). Rather than a "puzzle" buckle like older seats, these seats have two metal tongues (one for each harness strap) that fit into the buckle independently. When you push in the first one it stays put but doesn't make an audible "click". It's only when you put in the second one and push them in together that you can hear the click.
All 3 seats come with additional padding around the seat's buckle -- for use to keep the buckle from digging into your child and for protecting their skin from the buckle on hot days. This padding was very loose and came off frequently on our Marathon, but has stayed in place just fine on both the Roundabout and the Husky.
The Husky is LATCH compatible up to 48 pounds (actually the weight is a limitation of the car, not a limitation of the seat -- you should view your car's manual to see if they list a higher weight limit). LATCH stands for Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children, and consists of metal bars just under the rear seat cushions that you can use to anchor the car seat (so you don't have to use your car's seat belts). My husband's car is not LATCH equipped, so we have not used the LATCH tethers on our Husky (although I do use the Marathon's LATCH tethers in my own car -- it is quite nice).
When using the seat belts to secure the seat, you have two options -- a "long route" and a "short route". With the long route the belts wrap around the front of the sides of the seat through holes to the back -- my husband's belts were long enough for this however he didn't like being able to see the belts wrapping around the seat's front. With the short route the belt doesn't cross in front (except for some little loops that you really cannot see). We could find nothing that said that the long route was any safer than the short, so my husband opted for the short. Their patented Versa Tether (which attaches from the back of the carseat to anchors in your car) must be used if your child is over 50 pounds, or if you use the "short route". Britax actually recommends that you always use the Versa Tether, so we do. There is also a "recline bar" that fits into the bottom of the seat, however the instructions state that you don't need it if the tether is used, and my husband got a more secure fit without it.
There are other more minor differences between the Husky and its smaller cousins. The Roundabout and Marathon have velcro on the arm rests that you can use to hold the straps out of the way as your child gets into and out of the seat -- the Husky has no velcro. The Roundabout and Marathon seats sit atop bases that aid in positioning the seat in your car as well as allow your child to sit up higher (something my son appreciated when he was smaller -- he loved being able to see out of the windows). The Husky has no base, and as such sits a bit lower in the car than my son was used to (although this makes sense -- he'll still be in this seat when he's much taller than he is now). The Husky is NOT approved for aircraft use (it is far too large and heavy), although the smaller Britax seats are approved.
The instructions are very nice (as always with Britax) and easy to follow and understand. Built-in seat pockets store the instructions as well as the LATCH and tether (if you aren't using them).
The material on the seat is VERY plush and velvety to the touch. It is actually softer than the material on our older Britax seats. On the down side, however, there are only 2 colors to choose from (a "Marina" blue and a "Wicket" tannish-brown). Another difference from our older seats -- the Husky's cover must be hand-washed.
Our Thoughts and Experiences:
My son, the harshest car seat critic, does like his Husky just fine, although I will admit that he's not as enthusiastic about it as he was about the Summit seat. I think there are a few reasons for this. The Summit was on a base and thus sat up higher, which my boy really liked (but it actually made my husband and I worry that after my son grew a little more the seat would be TOO high). The Summit also came with arm rests that could be lowered or folded up and out of the way. My son ADORED those arm rests, but the Husky has none. The Summit also came with a built-in cup holder that could pop in-and-out -- my little guy thought that was pretty cool. Still, I'm willing to give up some nifty little features to get a safer, more age-appropriate seat for my boy.
This seat is massive. I really do mean it -- it's HUGE! The picture really doesn't do it justice. We installed it in the middle-back seat of my husband's Camry. I'm a pretty skinny person, but I can just barely fit in the back seat next to it.
The seat itself has more of an "open" feel than most car seats. Our other seats' backs are more rounded, with sides that come out to surround the child. The Husky's back seems flatter (probably to include older and wider children), however it does come around enough that when my son falls asleep he has somewhere to rest his head.
Because my husband didn't notice that my son had outgrown the Roundabout until he had outgrown it quite a bit, we felt a sense of urgency when it came time to find a replacement. Unfortunately, none of the stores near us had a Husky in stock. We tried making due with what was available (hence the purchase of the Cosco Summit High Back Booster), however when we decided that the Summit wasn't going to meet our needs, I had to place an order for the Husky and wait for it to arrive in the mail.
The only thing I worry about is that, when my son is older and more mature, he may want to sit in a belt-positioning booster instead. I've read other reviewers say that their school-age children are embarrassed to sit in a booster that looks like a toddler's carseat and prefer a backless booster. I suppose only time will tell how long we'll be able to keep him in this seat, however it is currently giving me some much needed peace of mind.
Overall, my favorite car seat is still the Marathon. It has most of the nice features of the Roundabout while being oversized and able to accommodate larger children. The Husky is a great "youth" seat, but is lacking some of the nicer features found on conventional booster seats, as well as lacking some of the features found on the Marathon and Roundabout. If I had it all to do over again, knowing then what I know now, I would have purchased two Marathons instead of a Roundabout and a Marathon... then perhaps by the time my son outgrew the Marathon he could go to a conventional booster or backless booster.
Quickie Summary:
Pros:
+) Accommodates children weighing between 22 and 80 pounds!
+) Accommodates children 19 to 53 inches tall!
+) 5-point polyester harness
+) 4 harness positions that accommodate tall children
+) 2 buckle positions
+) Very easy to get your child into and out of the seat - nice belts and release mechanisms
+) Floating HUGS system and "comfort pads"
+) Extra crotch padding around the buckle
+) LATCH compatible up to 48 pounds
+) 2 options (long & short routes) for using the seat belts to install the seat
+) Versa Tether
+) Velvety soft material
+) Excellent instructions
Cons:
-) VERY large seat
-) Quite expensive
-) Not always available in stores - you may need to order it
-) Lacking some minor nice-to-haves that can be found on other booster seats (cup holders, arm rests, etc)
-) Lacking some nice-to-haves that can be found on other Britax seats (no strap-velcro, not for use on airplanes)
-) Cover not machine washable
Final Thoughts:
Our Roundabout and Marathon seats have turned my husband and I (as well as my son) into big Britax fans. For our too-tall-for-his-own-good child, the Husky was really the only option available to us, so while it is quite pricey I still feel relieved that Britax was once again able to meet our needs (thank goodness).
Seat dimensions:
Husky: 30.25"H x 22"W x 22.5"D
Marathon: 28"H x 19.5"W x 25"D
Roundabout: 26"H x 18"W x 21.5"D
We are currently out of stock in this fabric.Product Features: • LATCH compatible • Fits children weighing from 22 to 80 lbs. • Unique, patented ul...More at Albee Baby
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