I purchased a new Kelty Kid Carrier FC3 from Bill & Paul's Sporthaus and was wondering if anyone has any advice as to whether these are good for hiking especially with a 4 year old. Any thoughts?
I have a kelty kid carrier. Usually by the time they are 3 1/2 years old, they are too big. I make them walk on their own all the time when they are 4 for sure. If you only have one kid, or this one is your youngest, and you don't plan on any more kids, I would take it back. But, I really like mine for 6 months to 3 years.
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I purchased a new Kelty Kid Carrier FC3 from Bill & Paul's Sporthaus and was wondering if anyone has any advice as to whether these are good for hiking especially with a 4 year old. Any thoughts?
4 year old? I had one of these when my son was 18 months. We did some hiking with it and it was fine (he weighed in the high 20s). The last time I used it, I took him for a 5 hour - 14 mile hike in Texas, in August, when he was 30 months and weighed 35 or so. I sold it the following week.
He is now 3.5, and I will occasionally carrying him on my shoulders if we are day hiking with no pack. If we are doing an overnight, he has to walk and we take breaks. Giving him his own hiking stick has been a big motivator.
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I quit carrying son #1 at 3 1/2. I got tired of being kicked in the kidneys, poked in the ears, hair pulled and most of all his heavy bowling ball butt on my back
I am back to square one now and face years of carrying son #2 but I can tell you that at 4 years you can train them quickly to hike Yes, you won't go as fast but you can realistically expect them to give you at least 4 miles after a couple hikes. I had son #1 hiking 10 mile days by 4 1/2 - which granted not many kids want to do, but with training and lots of treats can do
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We did the 10k Volskmarch up Crazy Horse and a few days later hiked Harney Peak (also in the Black Hills, SD) with our 4 year old boy walking most of it. His 1 year old daughter got the ride in the kid backpack. He did very well even though he hated walking. To over come that we needed to play games, do little races, etc to keep his mind of it and make it more enjoyable.
I just got small hydration backpacks for my kids and they are very excited to use them. So hopefully that will help give them more interest in hiking. BTW, they are now 6 & 3 years old and I'm not taking any of them in the carrier.
Anyway, just stick your kid in the carrier and go for a walk. That will be the best way to determine if the carrier and you are up to i.
Yeah, I am back to square one as well. Just waiting for him to be able to hold up his head to put him in the carrier. And, I just kicked his brother out. A little more than a year ago, I had them all at REI. I put my then 2 1/2 yr old and his 3 1/2 yr old sister on the scale they have for gear. Both weighed in at 30 lbs. I wanted to see how much weight I was carrying when I put one in the Kelty carrier and one on my shoulders. Good thing I never did that for a long distance.
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finallyMe, did you have another baby? Walker just passed 5 months and has been in his front carriers pretty happily. We have a Deuter Kid Carrier 3 but it will be another month or two before he can be in it - it is a big pack, designed to haul even older kids well - so the little ones get kind of lost in it. Oops! Me carrying Walker a month or two ago:
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Yeah, he is 9 days to 6 months old. He is starting to sit up. He is 95% in his weight and height group. He was 25% when he was born. He is a chunker. I put him in our kelty kid carrier when he was about 4 months. He didn't like it, probably because he couldn't hold his head very long. I have carried him in the front loader we have a bunch of times, but never for a hike. But, you can't walk fast with those because it bopps their head around too much, unless they are facing you. He hates that. He has to look around. His older brother turns 4 this month and is pretty strong to hike a ways without having someone carry him. We probably should go on a day hike soon. All my other kids have been begging me to go. I am taking my oldest son backpacking on the 10 and 11th with the scouts. Hopefully I will finish his pack in time.
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Walker has really good neck strength/control so we do get out a lot - but I can't do much where I have to use my feet. Takes me 4 times as long to go over rocks, etc as without him on me - due to not being able to see my feet.
That was us yesterday at Rainier.
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Sarbar, I just found this picture. Forgot I had it. I think it was taken either early July or late June. He was around 4 months then.
I went on a walk on level ground with him here for about 1/4 of a mile. It sucked. I'll chalk it up to me being a wuss. It was hard to keep his head from bobbing around. Now, I think he is old enough for the Kelty, and strong enough. Plus, he is too heavy for the front carrier.
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I think why I can carry Hefty Pants still in his front carrier is the carrier I use - it pulls in quite a bit so he is tight against me - also no flopping is a good thing (helps my balance). It also has a full lumbar/hip support. I walk in town with him in a Bjorn, but for the trail I use that Kelty. It will be a week or two or three till I can get him in the Deuter back one. Since it is designed to carry kids longer than a Kelty or similar the baby has to be pretty big, at least 6 months old, which he isn't yet. It swallows him but it will be worth it when he is 2 years old! That and Daddy can wear the Deuter as well
But I will say this about any front carrier - I had to train myself around town to even like it and be comfy. So instead of pushing him around in his BOB jogger every day I would carry him one or two days in his carrier. Gets ones back in shape
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I have exactly the same pack (Kelty Back country) and I still carry my daughter (4 years old and 30+ lbs) every now and then. It isn't bad as the sholder straps and waist belt are great. Usually my 2 year old gets preference with the carrier though.
That said, my wife wouldn't want to carry our 4 year old daughter in it.
We use ours all the time and took our 1 year old on a 3 day backpacking trip with it a few years ago. She had a great time. My wife carried our 1 year old and I carried the pack (with all the dirty diapers).
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