Kelty Tour 1.0 Review

            Hey folks! Nicer weather is right around the corner, I swear! Here in Arkansas the temperature has already been getting as high as 70 some days (not to rub it in or anything ;) ) and we have already taken the hiking carrier out a few times. We have had ours for about a year now, so if you are thinking about getting one for when the snow melts and temperatures warm up, I thought I would share our experience with our Kelty Tour 1.0 model in case you are thinking about purchasing this one for yourself! (Or just curious about hiking carriers in general.)
            First of all, unlike soft structured carriers, children need to be at least 16 pounds to use this carrier and be able to hold their head up on their own, of course, and sit unassisted too (if I remember correctly). While this carrier does come with a 5 point safety harness, there is no head support like in most soft structured carriers, hence your child needing to be old enough to do so on his own! We started using our Kelty Tour 1.0 when Myka was around 6 months old, which you can see on the left in the picture below.

Crazy how much she has grown in 9 months!

            I want to point out several things in the photos above. First, I wanted to show you that children still have plenty of room even as they get older. She doesn't look squished at all to me. :) Second, you can see the auto deploy kickstand in the right picture. This thing is super nifty because when you start taking your carrier off and tilt it back slightly to set it down it automatically pops out to safely and easily set your child down. (Not to be used as a highchair, etc. in that mode, though. Your kid could still rock back and forth and knock himself over if he's old enough.) Finally, while it's probably a safe bet that most people buying hiking carriers are already in shape, I wanted to show that this one fits even us pudgy folks. Admittedly, neither of us have much play room once we have the waist belt tightened where we need it, but it still definitely fits, which we were both worried about! (Don't worry. It still fits tiny people too. If you are big like us, though, they do have extenders you can purchase.)

 Myka is about a year old in all of these pictures. 

            While we're on the subject still, here are some pictures of myself wearing the carrier. As you can see, I'm a bigger person too. I am only 5'3" and my husband is about 5'6". The biggest issue I have had with our Tour so far is the torso fit. If I remember correctly, I am at the shorter range of what this carrier is supposed to fit properly and it's definitely noticeable. I wish I could adjust the waist belt up just a little bit higher. It seemed like my husband and I both messed with all of our adjustments more than we should be, but honestly, I think that has a lot to do with the fact that we are just short and fat and not the carrier. lol Plus we go hiking in a lot of hilly, uneven areas.

            Now, let's move on to some other features! The picture above shows some of the buckles that are part of the 5 point safety harness system. The left shows the shoulders, which I'm sure you guessed, and the right shows one of the leg buckles, all of which are adjustable as you can see, and very secure! I think some people that aren't familiar with these types of carriers imagine their child flopping around, but that's not the case at all with these safety measures.

            Left: The breathable mesh on the back panel next to the adult wearer's back. This might seem silly, but I love this because my back gets sweaty when we go hiking pretty much every time, even if it's cooler out. Top right: Facing down into the child seat. While I like that it's padded, I have to admit I was a little disappointed in the seat. I expected it to be larger in the butt area and more supportive. I guess I expected it to be more like a bucket seat of sorts. Bottom right: Extra little pocket on the waist belt. Because of the size (or lack thereof), I first thought, "What the heck am I going to be able to put in here?" However, it's been quite useful! Most of the time, if I don't have it in my pocket for whatever reason, I put my knife in there. (I go hiking "alone" (aka with just Myka) most of the time and I'm a naturally paranoid person. Better to be safe than sorry.) Occasionally, I can squeeze my camera in there. This would be great for putting your keys in too.

            Finally, we have the outer pockets. The inner one (shown on left) doesn't look very big, but you can actually squeeze a lot more in there than you would think! The right picture is the outer most pocket on the back and it is a lot bigger. At the time of these pictures, I had a changing pad, toddler jacket, pants, and hat, a trail map, and some WetOnes. I also had a wet bag and a cloth diaper in there too before taking the pictures. This is about half as much as I have fit in the pockets before.

            The Kelty Tour 1.0 also has 2 carrying handles, which the one in between my part and Myka's seat comes in especially handy when I am trying to take her off by myself. Seriously. I'm not sure how I would do it otherwise without flipping her over. lol The shoulder straps and waist belt are also padded, although I wish the waist belt were padded ALL the way around, but I guess it kind of makes sense that it's not since people are different sizes. 

            One other thing that I really wished this carrier included was a place for water. But, this is actually one of the "lower end models" and cheaper (price-wise) Kelty child carriers, so it's bound to not have as many bells and whistles. 

            We bought this particular hiking carrier because 1) Kelty is one of the best companies for outdoor gear like backpacks, tents, sleeping bags, etc. and 2) We didn't want to pay a super exorbitant price for a carrier, but still wanted at least a little storage space since we have to haul around a little extra baby gear, after all. And that's exactly what this carrier is good for: staying at the lower end of the price range for hiking child carriers without sacrificing quality and still having some storage.

            You can find the Kelty Tour 1.0 for sale on their website HERE or a plethora of other sites, such as Amazon. We actually bought ours for about $75 off on Zulily! Talk about the deal of a century! Also, if you're particular, you can find it in several different colors: red, blue green, and black.

Disclaimer: I was not compensated for this post. This product was purchased by myself. I am in no way affiliated with Kelty, Amazon, or any other websites/companies I may have mentioned in this post.