I live in a rural area and there are not any stores remotely close for me to try this pack beforehand. I ordered it online. I needed a new child carrier to upgrade my trusty Madden ( highly recommend them). I've also owned two Kelty kid carriers. I consider myself an experienced backpacker- I've hiked the AT and Thru hiked the TRT with an 18 month old in a Madden kid carrier. I've not taken any major trips with the pack and have only used it for half a dozen winter hikes so far, so this review is not for a trip that is multiple weeks long. I purchased this pack because of all the great looking features. The rain cover is especially useful. All of the pockets are great. Good job to Osprey for adding the phone pocket on the strap. It is slightly small however. Here are the glaring problems with this pack, and I'm hoping someone from Osprey can explain what the oversight is. The material is not Dyneema or Ultra. Why? It's 10x stronger, weights half as much, and is waterproof. Charge an extra $50! No cottage manufactures make kid carriers, so we are only able to buy from large companies that are not in tune with current hiking trends and technology. There are no cinch straps to pull the kid closer. This has the horrible effect of keeping the weight further from your body, causing neck pain, discomfort, and distorted center of balance. The final glaring problem is the difficuly to strap the kid in. I would imagine this has to do with a recall where some negligant parent didn't strap the kid in and fell out, but come on, it's HARD to put the kid in if he is wearing a coat! Every other pack has adjustable shoulder straps for the kid. This one has stretchy straps in an aquard angle. And the feet are even worse! It is a struggle to put an 18 month old with snow pants in this pack. Even the much smaller packs I own have a lot more let room. The problem is it is not adjustable. This pack lacks cinch diagonal cinch straps as well as the top cinch straps. In all, if Osprey is marketing this pack as a go to for a farmers market- no. It's a huge hassle to get you kid in it compared to any other pack. Any hike more than a few hours- no, no ability to cinch it close to you. Very dangerous when hopping across boulders to have a kid flopping around. Very disappointing!
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