Outbound or inbound adjusts for everyone
Written: Sep 17 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Lightweight, medium duty backpack carrier with sturdy frame.
Cons: Chest strap does not distribute weight well for busty women or larger men.
The Bottom Line: The Evenflo Outbound is a good medium duty backpack carrier that offers a range of adjustments for comfort.
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| sofarsogood's Full Review: Evenflo Outbound |
There are a lot of products to purchase as your child grows. Many parents will find a backpack carrier essential after their child grows out of the front carrier and still isn’t walking well. You might wonder why not use a stroller, but strollers don’t go up hiking trails nor can they hold bulky items when shopping. When you start toting around an older baby/pretoddler, a backpack can come in really handy in and out of the house.
We have now owned three backpacks, retiring one due to carrying discomfort and two due to the age of our children. The last two we bought were an Evenflo Hiker and an Evenflo Outbound. With two children only fifteen months apart, the backpack was an absolute necessity for me to be able to get out of the house and get anything done in the early months. Having my older toddler (15 to 19 months old) in the backpack freed up my hands to carry the baby in the carseat and the diaper bag. It also made it possible for me to get the grocery shopping done with the babyseat attached to the shopping cart. As the older toddler became proficient at walking, the baby (by then 5 or 6 months old) had adequate head and neck control to enjoy seeing around up and away from her big sister who was tromping around everywhere and mommy’s hands were free to help both. This is just a glimpse of my daily use of my backpacks, we won’t get started on travelling or hiking where a backpack can save a lot of manhandling a stroller.
We looked around a lot as we prepared to retire our first backpack carrier. The Evenflo Outbound is rated for children six months of age to 40 pounds. The frame is similar to that of the lower priced Hiker, but the seat and strap assembly are significantly more comfortable and sturdy. We used the carrier just as our children hit 6 months, but stopped far before they reached 40 pounds. The Outbound comes with a medium sized gear bag that attaches to the frame. It is adequate for a spare diaper or two and a snack in addition to keys and a water bottle. Backpacks have some basic drawbacks in terms of use, but we were accustomed to the difficulties of putting them on and taking them off and our children being in them in easy range of hair pulling and kicking. Our goals were to replace our current backpack with one that was rated safe, was sufficiently adjustable for comfort, had a stable, light frame, was easy to store when not in use, could be easily cleaned, and was not more difficult to take on and off than the one we had.
Safety: The Outbound is made of lightweight aluminum that suspends a seat made of nylon with a three point harness to secure the child. The seat is shaped sort of like a large pair of underwear, secured to the frame in front and on the sides at the waistband and stiffened in the back to provide a comfortable backrest. The seat is adjustable to allow an older child to sit down lower into the frame and a smaller child to sit up higher. The adjustment buckle was a bit underpowered to make this function operate perfectly, but it did not compromise the safety. The three point harness attaches to the crotch of the seat and comes up over the shoulders to attach to the backrest. A small slide aligns the harness at chest level to secure the straps in front.
Comfort adjustments: My husband is six foot tall and I am only five two, so comfort and adjustability for the wearer was a top priority after safety concerns. The Evenflo Outbound is designed around an aluminum frame with adjustable straps and waistband for the wearer. They didn’t stop there though. In addition to the standard strap adjustments, the waistband height can be adjusted using to spring pins at the base of the frame where it sits against the sides of the lower back. My husband was thrilled to be able to place the waistband strap just at his hipline, where other models would sit an inch or two above. I was able to adjust the waistband all the way up (I actually set it as high up as I could get the waistband assembly to go, which was beyond the locking settings.). The waistband strap was well padded and made carrying the weight of either or our toddlers very manageable. The shoulder straps were well padded and wide. The straps can be attached with a check strap, but I have found the strap to be too short to distribute the weight well considering my bust. My husband has also found it to be just or not quite long enough to make it useful. The frame sits against the upper part of your shoulders and neck and then against you hip/lower back area. The padding is sufficient for superior comfort with small child and adequate comfort up to about 30 pounds. I would not recommend this product for use with a heavier child.
Frame design: The frame is made of lightweight aluminum and plastic. It is stable when the child is in place and the balance leg is extended and snapped open. The balance leg is a wide U-shape and hinges to the sides of the frame. The wide U-shape allows the frame to balance well on somewhat uneven surfaces. The frame is sufficiently stable that we have often used the backpack as a high chair when traveling or eating out
Storage: The frame does fold compactly. The upper bar that holds the child seat is the widest part (about 5 inches). The frame assembled or disassembled takes up about the same amount of space.
Cleaning: The nylon fabric makes cleaning very simple. Spot cleaning is recommended by the manufacturer and a damp rag does very well cleaning off food and dirt.
Ease of use: Backpacks are hard to put on and take off. For two people, one person can lift and place the backpack while the wearer get the straps on and adjustments made. For one person, it can be more of a challenge. After the child is strapped in, I have found it easiest to get down on the floor to put it on and then stand up with it strapped on or to put the carrier on the table, then strap the child in and put it on (not a good idea with a wiggly child).
I would recommend the Evenflo Outbound to anyone needing a medium duty backpack carrier. This is a backpack carrier though. Most parents will find that this type of carrier puts their child in easy range to pull hair and kick them in the back. Frame carriers are best used for smaller toddlers who are not able to walk well. If you plan to do some serious carrying with a child over 30 pounds, you should probably make a carrier investment, but an Outbound will take you a long way for $60. Evenflo is now marketing this backpack under the Trooper name (there may be some minor changes, but the frame style and backpack construction is the same).
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
sofarsogood
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Location: Washington State
Reviews written: 41
Trusted by: 5 members
About Me:
I cook, I can, I quilt, therefore I am insane !?!
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