Posts Tagged Kelty
Kelty Journey 2.0 Child Carrier
Full disclosure: I’m pretty hard to please when it comes to baby or child carriers, so I was excited to see what Kelty had in store in their new Kelty Journey 2.0. Like most traveling parents, we look to for products that are versatile—meaning ones that can be used by kids of varying ages and by both parents. To give the Kelty Journey a test drive, I asked my 5’2″ family travel blog editor, her 6’5″ husband, and their kids (ages three and one) to put it through its paces on a long hike. The Kelty worked well for all of them: it was safe, comfortable on the shoulders and back, and a great fit given its generous torso range of 15 to 19 inches.
Not only did the Journey 2.0 comfortably accommodate both Mom and Dad, but it adjusted easily to fit both children as well (it can accommodate a weight load of up to 50 pounds). We used it on both a one-year-old and three-year-old (ranging in weight from 25 pound to 40 pounds). With its user-friendly straps and clips, it takes less than a minute for parents to raise or lower the carrier seat, switch kids, and be on their way. Plus, the torso adjustment is at the hips, not the shoulders, which keeps kids’ center of gravity lower and less weight off the parents’ shoulders.
I was impressed with the amount of storage space the Journey 2.0 provides: significantly more than I’ve seen on other carriers. It also features an auto-deploy kickstand (especially handy when parents are trying to get the pack off by themselves), toy loops, a water bottle pocket, a five-point harness for the child, removable sunshade, and lots of safeguards on the hinges and clamps to avoid pinched fingers. All the straps (including the hip and shoulder straps) are double-lined and padded, and all material is water resistant (in a downpour, it will get damp).
I’d venture to say the Kelty Journey 2.0 is the best quality backpack carrier to hit the market in some time. If you spend significant time hiking, backpacking, camping, or traveling with kids in tow, it’s well worth the investment. What sets it apart? The ease of adjustment between wearers, the low seat to keep kids secure (and their center of gravity low), and the aple storage space. It weighs in at only seven pounds, and comes in four colors (I’m partial to the bright red). It’s available at eBags or find it as low as $200 on Amazon.
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Posted by Amy in Kids and Family on January 31st, 2012
Our Favorite Travel Gear of the Past Year
We review a new item each weekday here on Practical Travel Gear, which means 200+ items a year we collectively try out in foreign lands, in airports, in the car, or in the great outdoors. Most of the stuff we think we’ll hate we don’t bother to even accept. Some items make us scratch our head or make us think the concept could be better executed. What’s really great is when our jaded selves put something through its paces and then go, “Wow—that’s really cool!” or “How did I ever get by without this?”
Kara Williams, who sadly is saying goodbye after more than 2.5 years, already provided a rundown on her favorite gear from the past two years. The items that stood out for her in 2011 were the REI Sunblock that was silky-smooth and only $6.50, the simple $12 Energizer Dual USB charger for the car, and at the other end of the budget scale the GoPro HD Hero waterproof helmet camera.
Pam Mandel stopped by for eight months before getting too bogged down with other gigs. Here’s what she loved from the items she traveled with in 2011.
She says this Digital Photography Rucksack from Kata “goes everywhere” with her. It holds a laptop, SLR, extra lenses, and more.
Pam also likes the super-bright flashlights and headlamps from Icon.
Speaking of light, Kelty’s Lumapivot Lantern wins the prize for the most interesting looking item we reviewed in 2011. See a photo of it at the top of this post. Pam says, “This cute, versatile little light could have been designed in an almost answer to my camp light wish list.” The “almost” part of that quote is for the inexplicable design decision to make the thing run on six AA batteries. Really, you couldn’t make that rechargeable like 2/3 of the other gadgets we reviewed?
We all try out a lot of footwear for this blog. The shoes that Pam kept coming back to were the Keen Voyageur hiking boots. She’d waterproof them if she were you, but otherwise great for hitting the trail.
Ramsey Qubein reviews most of the business travel gear and gadgets we feature on Practical Travel Gear. Here’s what impressed him this past year.
Ramsey likes this Solid Line iPad case because it solves the biggest problem with trying to replace your laptop with an iPad when traveling: with this case you can actually type at a semi-normal speed. It also protects the pad and serves as a stand for movie watching, so he says it “has lightened my carry-on bag by several pounds.”
Since he’s carrying that iPad on long flights across oceans, one of his other favorites has been the PressReader app, which allows you to download actual newspapers (not web versions) from all over the world, to be read without an internet connection.
When it is time to take the laptop, he says he keeps going back to the Jack Spade computer case from Bonobos. “It is neither the largest nor the most practical for lots of exterior pockets. However, it has a beautiful cotton fabric exterior and has yielded more compliments in the two months I have had it than any other bag.”
I’m Tim Leffel and I edit this thing, as well as reviewing two items a week for much of the year. That’s a whole heap of travel gear, so there are more than a few items that keep making my packing list.
I’ve worn (and in some cases given away after) a crazy number of different travel shoes this year. Three pairs are still in heavy rotation in both my home life and my travels: the Cushe Surf-slipper Loafers, the Ecco Tahoe shoes, and the casual comfy Sanuk Donny Primo loafers. Hey, I lived in (and traveled around a lot in) Mexico and Florida this year, so I guess I was in a kick-back beach mood.
I got a sneak peek at a prototype of the SteriPEN Freedom USB-rechargeable purifier almost a year ago and knew then and there it would make my list. If you’re traveling to countries where the water is questionable to drink, you need to buy one of these. End of discussion.
Probably one of the most expensive things I’ve reviewed since this site launched was also one that got used a lot—and will keep getting used a lot. The inflatable (but very high quality) kayak from Advanced Elements. It’s the size of a suitcase when packed, so you can take it anywhere you can drive—even if you have a BMW Mini.
It’s pretty hard to get excited about a water bottle, but I tried out two exciting ones this year. The Dominate water bottle resulting from a partnership between Under Armour and Thermos really does dominate, keeping liquids cold for an unbelievably long time, even in 100-degree weather. I also used the Camelbak filter one a lot for traveling around the U.S.
Since this is Practical Travel Gear, I have to give a shout-out to the best values I encountered: the unbelievably good for the price Roaring River jacket I reviewed from Hi-Tec and the whole range of Ryder Eyewear sunglasses that routinely come in at a fraction of the list price of their rivals.
We’ll continue to bring you reviews of great gear at fair prices in the coming year. Get our RSS feed so you’ll have them all on tap. Happy new year!
Posted by Tim L. in Adventure Gear, Business Gear, General Gear, Travel Light on January 5th, 2012
Outdoor Retailer Show Takeaways
On the first weekend in August, the Salt Lake City convention center is over run with gear heads. The new stuff for spring of the following year (in this case, 2012) is on display. New shoes, clothes, tents, camping gear, paddle boards, luggage, backpacks, gadgets… it’s all out for preview. The big brands are there, folks like North Face and Columbia, and new little guys, too. If you can make your way out of the main pavilion, you’ll find scrappy new manufacturers trying to get their gear to market. It’s a crazy, fun, scene and the amount of gear on display is staggering, overwhelming to even a gear head like me. I did notice a few repeated themes and/or styles… here’s what stuck. A caveat: I’m a rookie to the OR Show, so what I observed may be old news to you.
Vintage styling on day packs. Kelty’s remake of a classic khaki pack with red metal zippers might have been the most popular discounted item at the show — lots of folks were carrying this thing around. Others bringing it back old school? North Face, Fjallraven, Kakadu (I liked their army surplus versions best), too many to remember. They’re cute, I liked them.
Color. Bergen of Norway had fleece in beautiful melon-y colors, that’s where I spotted it first. But oh, the mutli-sport shoes from Vasque, oh, I totally wanted a pair of those. And color isn’t just for socks anymore, though I did find myself pawing through the Darn Tough Vermont stripey samples thinking “I want that one and that one and that one…”It’s nice to see that we’re moving away from the military palette again. I like color, I like wearing it, and it’s fun to see. In Spring 2011, we’ll have color that isn’t just for kids.
Daypack/roller bag/backpack combinations. Down in the basement I’ve got an ancient duffel pack with a zip off day pack from REI. I saw several different versions of this re-imagined as a roller bag. I like the idea in theory, I can’t speak to the validity in practice, yet. Pack straps on a roller bag make sense to me, I’m not so keen on wearing a pack and if I can wheel it behind me, I’d prefer to do so. But sometimes, you’ve got to heft the thing and walk. The zip off day pack is another great idea in theory, but is the day pack the right one for you? I need it to hold my gadgets, so if the zip off day pack has a camera bucket and laptop sleeve, oh, that’s when I’m paying full attention. Eagle Creek has a new line of these and yes, they’re in nice colors. I’ll be interested to find out if they’re all that.
Gadgets: There were a few solar chargers — I spent some time checking out Goal Zero‘s line, but it remains to be seen if they can truly charge my phone in cloud flocked Seattle. I brought home a light, super bright clip on LED flashlight from Icon. There were lots of performance based watches with heart rate monitors for athletes, but I liked the less feature packed step counter watch with GPS from Timex. It amuses me to think of documenting just how far I walked at the Outdoor Retailer show; I can see the appeal of using this on a trip. I also saw several cool camping lanterns, though I liked Kelty‘s best. Wenger had some crazy functional jewelry – “Swiss army knife meets minimalism you can sneak past the TSA” style constructions. That was really interesting but doesn’t compensate for the fact that I have to check my bag to carry a classic multi-tool with knife on a plane.
Greenwashing everything. I lost count of the number of times I heard the term “post-consumer.” We’ll make new polar fleece out of your old polar fleece that was made from plastic water bottles. Our production chain is carbon neutral. We give a percentage of our profits to programs that get kids outside, protect wilderness, etc. etc. etc. I’m happy to see this, don’t get me wrong, but it requires genuine research to validate the veracity of these claims. Those cool camping lanterns I mention are still powered by standard batteries, after all.
The wrap. I’m still noodling on my weekend of gear spotting for items that were truly groundbreaking. I saw plenty of cute, clever, or remixed, but the only thing I recall that made me think “Wow, that’s new; does that REALLY work?” was the fly-less tent from North Face. All that aside, the show was full of travelers, people like you and me who love to be out in the world. It was fun to talk with people who lived in outdoor meccas like Aspen and Boulder, and to talk with New York PR reps who’d recently returned from Kenya or Costa Rica.
Watch for color, and a few new gadgets, vintage styling. If you’re looking to upgrade your kit, you’ll see some nice tweaks — better zippers and pulls, lighter materials — but I’m not convinced there’s a lot life-changing new stuff for spring.
Posted by Pam in General Gear on August 12th, 2011
Kelty Sleep Eazy Inflatable Camping Mattress
The Sleep Eazy blow-up mattress from Kelty has a lot going for it. For starters, it’s eco-friendly, made with PVC-free nylon laminated to TPU (a type of rugged thermoplastic polyurethane known for its abrasion resistance). It’s also quite lightweight and it comes folded up in a zip-up tote bag for easy storage at home and for tossing in the car trunk.
Perhaps the feature I like best about the Kelty Sleep Eazy mattress is that it’s super easy (eazy!) to inflate. The Twist-Lock pump is rechargeable — no batteries required (another nod to the environment). Charge the pump via a car charger or wall outlet, then insert the pump into the valve in the side of the mattress. Flip the pump switch to “on” and the mattress inflates in about 90 seconds. The valve is self sealing, so when you remove the pump you won’t lose any air. Truly, this is one of the most convenient inflatable mattresses I’ve ever used. Deflation is equally easy.
Now, we’ve only used the mattress for tween sleepovers so far. While 11-year-old girls are certainly not the best judges of overnight sleeping comfort (their nimble bodies can’t compare to this 40-year-old frame), the two who slept on the mattress on a bedroom floor recently had no complaints! I wouldn’t hesitate to blow it up as firm as possible and sleep on the dimpled mattress on a camping trip. The mattress is thick when fully inflated, so I’d be sleeping five inches off the ground.
Purchase the Kelty Sleep Eazy queen mattress for $92 from Amazon.com. I also found it for sale on other online sites like Backcountry.com and REI. The twin-size mattress retails for about $10 cheaper.
More great products from outdoor-gear company Kelty:
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Posted by Kara in General Gear, Travel Light on June 28th, 2011
Family or Car Camping? Pack Kelty’s Hula House
We had a brief window into spring last week — the yard dried up enough to spend some time outside, and the sun was out for more than an hour. I took advantage of that time to pitch the Kelty Hula House 4 in the back yard — you don’t want to pitch a tent for the first time in the rain, right?
Kelty’s Hulu House is a tall, roomy, lightweight car camping tent. It comes in two sizes, four and six. We like a four for car camping because there’s extra room for stuff in side and we’re not up against the nylon when the weather goes bad. The tent is almost all netting, meaning it’s got lots of ventilation — you absolutely want the fly on if you’re going to be someplace where there’s fog or condensation, but for hot dry places, you can leave it off and see the stars. (We once camped at the Green River in Utah under a bright full moon, this is the tent I wish we’d had then.)
Pitching the tent is easy enough. It’s your classic two pole dome tent with an extra hoop (hence the “hula” in the name) that goes over the top. Once the two cross bars are up and the sides clipped in place, you drop the spring-loaded hoop over the top and clip the tent on at additional points. This makes the sides of the tent stand out well away from the cross bars, giving the tent more of a house shape than your classic half dome. It feels very roomy inside, the husband and I could both stand up inside without hitting our heads. (Okay, I’m short. He’s just under 6 ft.)
The fly stakes out in front in such a way that there’s a little vestibule or front porch and there’s a little window in the doorway too. I wanted extra poles to stake out the door way so it could serve as a sort of awning or shade protection, but I suppose you could tie out to some nearby tree if you’ve got them. On it’s own, you don’t have to stake the tent, you do need to stake the fly. The tent stakes aren’t the sturdiest, but that’s typical for tent kits — we usually carry plenty of extras for when ours bend or break in hard ground.
Pulling the tent down was a little bit more difficult. It’s all doable by one person — I did it — but the hoop was so tightly spring loaded that I couldn’t get it to collapse. It’s not clear if there’s a release point on the hoop; this might make it a bit easy. It’s a clever design — the hoop is entirely shock corded, just like the tent stakes, but it took some fussing to get it to release. The whole kit rolls up into a nice bag. It’s not super compact, but it’s not meant to be, either, it’s a family car camping tent, not a back country ultra-light.
There are a few things I questioned. Camping in the wet as we do, I’ll be watching to see how the seams hold up on the floor — I prefer a bathtub construction floor and the Hula Hut doesn’t have this, it’s got taped seams. Because the tent is all mesh, there’s no pretense of privacy without the fly. All that netting might mean that if you have to pitch it in the rain, you run the risk of getting water inside the tent if you take too long to get it pitched and covered. I’ve no doubt that it will keep the rain off from above once it’s up, the fly covers properly and if you pitch the tent nice and tight, you’ll stay dry inside.
The Hula Hut passed the backyard sunny day test quite easily. We’ll see how this roomy portable house does in the rain later this summer. In the meantime, if you’re in the market for a new car camping tent, check out the Hula Hut. You can get yours from Backcountry.com for about $299, or for now anyway you can get it for $20 less at Campmor.
Related: Need a well designed little lamp to hang from the top of your tent? Check out Kelty’s Lumapivot Lantern.
Posted by Pam in Adventure Gear on April 29th, 2011
