GearFlogger

Slumberjack Cub 40 Kid's Sleeping Bag

It's crazy how much you can spend on outdoor gear for kids these days, but let's face it: your eight-year-old is not going to summit K2 this year, and even if s/he does it at age ten they will still need new gear because they grow like weeds. Slumberjack has a novel solution, a reasonably priced sleeping bag that works just fine for your kid and won't leave you crying in the not-unlikely event that said kid destroys it. It was an accident, of course, but still...

The Slumberjack Cub 40 is a 40 degree rectangular bag that won't freak your kid out if they don't like the close fit of a mummy bag. Or the name of a mummy bag. Seriously, once your kid finds out what a mummy is, why would they want to sleep in one?

The Cub is roomy enough to fit a 5'4" kid or small adult - and yes, we're looking at the five-foot-nuthin' Sheflogger here. It's a lightweight pound and a half on our scale, with a full length zipper that lets it convert into a blanket for warm nights. The Cub feels like it would work well below 40 degrees as the insulation is pretty lofty, and there's even a draft tube to boot. At the end of the trip just throw it in the wash, thank you synthetic fill. Our Littleflogger loves it and it's going in the camper for the summer. Want a better deal? It's on sale right now.

$14.98 (on sale from $29.95) at Slumberjack

REI Tarn 12 and 18 Kid's Backpacks

It was long past time to upgrade Littleflogger to his next level backpack. He's six years old and it's time he carried his own weight. OK, maybe not the full 50 pounds, but at least his lunch and a few layers. We've got a full travel schedule this year and the pack will function as carry-on and destination daypack, so we set out to find the right pack and we happily ended up with the REI Tarn 18.

The Tarn comes in 12, 18, 40 and 65 liters, with the 12L for 5-8 years and the 18L for 8-12 years. We went with the 18 for our 6yo, wanting the extra space for puffy layers in the Alaskan winter and for snacks, toys and books for car and air travel. It still fits him just barely and gives him some room to grow and some extra organization options, but the 12L probably would have worked fine too.

The 18 has pockets on the hip belt and load lifter straps to cinch the main compartment tight, and other than that and the size is pretty much identical to the 12. Both have dual stretchy mesh bottle pockets, a large stuff pocket on the front (remember the front is the back - opposite the shoulder straps - when you're talking packs), and a top front zipper pocket for smaller more frequent access. Inside is a hydration bladder sleeve, a clip on a lanyard and a small zipped pocket on the flap with a cool graphic that shows the ten essentials.

On the front of the stuff pocket are daisy chains, and on the bottom there are even four lashing points. I don't see us ever using any of those but hey, you never know. The sternum strap has a whistle, sure to be a hit with any normal loud-noise-loving kid, and a safety feature to boot. Overall this is a great and reasonably price pair of kid's packs, and either one will pull duty from school to the Jungfrau. For a video comparing the two see the link below.

$34.95 and $39.95 at REI

Frogglez Kids Swim Goggles

Consider this a public service announcement, of a sort. The Sheflogger and I enrolled our five-year-old in swim lessons, both to burn off what seems to be an unlimited amount of energy (that he steals from us, but that's another rant) and for the sake of safety. Swimming saves lives.

Littleflogger didn't like traditional spaghetti-strap goggles much, but when we hooked him up with Frogglez it was problem solved. These goggles have a wide, comfortable neoprene headband that takes a lot less fiddling then traditional straps. The hook-and-loop adjustment is infinitely variable within its limits, and is easy enough that kids quickly figure out how to do it themselves.

Your kids will eventually move to traditional goggles, but for a year or three Frogglez will be the go-to goggles that make both your lives easier.

$18.97 at Amazon

Rollerblade Spitfire XT Kids Inline Skates

Inline skates are great, and its no mystery that we're big fans of Rollerblade. Even if inline skating is not as hugely popular as it used to be (like a lot of sports), it's still fun in its own right and proven effective training for ice skating, skate skiing and other sports and activities based on similar movement patterns.

But what about the little floggers? It's a pain to buy them new footwear every year as they consistently convert hot dogs and mac and cheese into larger feet. Rollerblade to the rescue, with the adjustable Spitfire XT kids inline skates. The Spitfire comes in three macro sizes, each of which adjusts to a range of toddler shoe sizes: 2 to 5 (this size only has 3 wheels), 5 to 8 and 11 to 1. That's FOUR full sizes. Every parent who has ever bought kids shoes will know immediately what a big deal this is.

The skates are built to the usual Rollerblade quality level, which is very high. Padding is comfortable, and the fit is secure with a combination of laces, buckles and velcro. The right skate has a very beefy brake, which is good because the combination of 72mm wheels and SG3 bearings make the skate as fast as your kid wants it to be. Our five year old was fascinated by the whole process, and since we're putting him on ice skates in the winter (Winter is coming!) we're thrilled as well at the prospect of year-round skate practice.

Older kids will have no problem putting the Spitfire on, while younger ones will need a hand with the closures. Once up and running - with helmet and pads, for the love of Spock! - your kid can progress from garage to street to trail, and the Spitfire XT will keep up with their growth for years. All in all, the price of entry here for a fun and useful sport is exceedingly reasonable.

$79.95 at Amazon

Marmot Boys Guides Down Hoody

The eternal quest of a parent in a cold climate is finding reasonably priced winter clothing for kids. Late winter/early spring, e.g. right freakin' now, is the time to score the deals. The Gearflogger household was lucky enough to score the Marmot Boys Guides Down Hoody on sale at REI.

A tortured name for a down parka, the MBGDH brings big-boy features and construction down to scale. 700 fill down is treated with Down Defender to provide some water resistance, and large baffles let it loft to trap heat. It features Marmot's angel wing cut for maximum freedom of movement, because you can't keep a good kid confined.

There are two zipped handwarmer pockets with easily manipulated zippers, a full length draft flap up the middle, and a zipper garage at the top to prevent dreaded zipper bite. The hood is a typical awesome Marmot hood, in that when fully zipped up it covers your chinny-chin-chin. It's hard to overstate how nice that is, and how much you miss it in lesser jackets.

Elastic cuffs help keep the little guys mittens on, and parents can adjust the hem drawstring from inside the pockets. The hood is not adjustable, but because it zips up so far that's not an issue. Overall the MBGDH is a great jacket for little kids who venture bravely forth in subfreezing temps. Make sure you look around to find the best deal; we scored it for $69.83 at REI, and even though their website might say it's not in stock we've found things there that they insisted didn't exist, so go in and look.

$83.83 (on sale from $140.00) at REI

Kidz Gear headphones

Kids. Long trips in planes, trains and automobiles. You better be good at killing time time or you might want to kill yourself to get out of the misery. Good parents try to minimize screen time, but every parent knows there comes a point at which it's not reasonable to expect kids to entertain themselves on hour eight in the same seat on an international flight.

And when that time comes, that fancy screen will be a lot more entertaining with audio. Problem: kids don't like headphones. Solution: fun-looking headphones built for kids. Kidz Gear has it wired, literally, with their corded headphones for kids. They come in bright colors, are sized appropriately, adjust easily and best of all are volume limited to protect their precious little ears. They even include a good quality storage bag with drawstrings.

Our 2.5 year old didn't like them at first, but with a little gentle coaching he eventually realized he could hear Disney-Pixar's Cars a lot better with headphones on. From then on they were HIS headphones and now all is good. Seriously, given the problem this solved for us the price looks like perhaps the greatest bargain in the history of time.

$19.99 at Amazon

 

Princeton Tec Bot headlamp

Itty-bitty headlamps are insanely useful and should be near the top of your gift list this holiday season. Priced right for a stocking stuffer is the Princeton Tec Bot headlamp, targeted at kids but really, what the hell do they have to look at that's so important? The Bot is great for all sizes of peoples.

The twin-LED Bot takes two triple A's - included! - and the battery cover is held on by a single screw. This frustrated the SheFlogger until I pointed out to her, helpfully and with only the barest hint of condescension in my voice, that it is after all meant for kids, so the screw makes sense instead of a quick release. She didn't even thank me for this information.

The Bot headband adjusts down for tykes and narrow-minded people, and the light is easily adjustable up and down. The button is smart: if you press it repeatedly it cycles through low (9 hours), high (4.5), blinking (11) and off, but if more than a few seconds goes by pressing it again turns it off without having to cycle through the modes. The Bot also shuts off after six hours automatically. That's pretty cool; really, a one-hour shutoff would have been perfect.

The housing is water resistant, so when it inevitably goes in the toilet it can survive if you get in there fast enough. Overall the lighting is great, the design fantastic and the price so reasonable you have to order three to get free shipping on Amazon!

$11.88 at Amazon

Kelty FC 3.0 child carrier

Kelty has a thing for pets and kids, but at least they don't try to carry cats around in Baby Bjorns. They keep them separate, like chocolate and peanut butter in their natural states. For the kid who needs a fully pimped ride comes the Kelty FC 3.0 child carrier, a giant step forward from the days when my folks threw me loose in a Radio Flyer wagon to bounce my skeevy little head off the metal rail on the smallest bumps.

The Kelty FC 3.0 is truly cush for both baby and parent. A five-point harness in a fully padded cockpit for the LittleFlogger accomodates any rugrat+gear up to 50 pounds (that's Denali quality training right there) and features a complete array of adjustments from height to legs. The parent gets equal treatment with a suspension worthy of an expedition backpack, including a fully padded hip belt connected to a beefy aluminum frame with an auto-deploying kickstand and no-pinch hinges. Dry weight is a manageable 7.5 pounds.

You can dial in the fit with a sternum strap, torso length adjustment and even load lifters to save your lower back from oblivion after seven hours on the trail, whether it's in Appalachia or Disney World. A rain/sun hood is included, as is a nicely designed folding changing pad with - get this - actual padding so it's usable on a rough surface. Three full-size zippered compartments behind the kiddo let you organize a bunch o' stuff, plus there's a separate little toy garage down low. Getting your little ingrate in and out is much easier than with other carriers we've used, just two buckles for the shoulder straps and a couple quick tugs to snug it up.

Once s/he is on board, the Kelty FC 3.0 carries like a dream. We loaded up a highly active and freakishly strong three-year old for a three-mile jaunt up a muddy trail, and we were nervous about the inevitable bucking about as she tried to grab every single branch and leaf she saw. Imagine our surprise - and relief- when it turned out very little torque passed through the suspension. The only surprise was when when she started imitating my air-blow nose clearing technique on the back of my head, but that was my bad for doing it right in front of her. Overall the FC 3.0 is the best child carrier we've used to date.

$149.93 (on sale from $199.95) at REI

Big Agnes Red Rider kid's sleeping bag

There are a few critical items necessary to an enjoyable outing with the LittleFlogger. Key among these is a good sleep system, with the criteria for good being: synthetic fill (for spilled liquid, either from internal or external sources), roomy and warm. The Big Agnes Little Red +15F hits them all out of the park.

The Little Red is a rectangular polyester-fill bag with a DWR nylon shell that will house up to a 4ft 5in LittleMonster. The clever 2lb 9oz design incorporates mummy-bag features to maintain warmth: a cinchable hood, draft yoke around the neck and a beefy full-length draft tube backing the zipper. Two more features make this an ideal bag for kids: an internal pillow sleeve fixes the head support in place, and an external pad sleeve accomodates any 20"x48" pad, such as the Big Agnes 3/4 length Air Core. No rolling off the pad, and really this feature alone makes this an awesome bag.

There are holes in the head corners that allow the pad to be inflated/deflated without removing it. The extra room allows for the normal kid night-long biathlon of tossing and turning, and there are internal loops for sleeping bag liners. The best thing to do is to set it up before you go camping and let your kid become familiar with it at home. The LittleFlogger will be jumping in and out of it in no time; don't force it, it'll happen. Once they've made friends you can hit the road, and you'll both be in dreamland instead of fighting with your gear. Highly recommended.

$89.95 at REI

Black Diamond Wiz headlamp

I guess with a product lineup as vast as Black Diamond's, they're bound to pinch a stinker once in a while. They have done so with their Wiz headlamp, designed - so they say - to be kid-friendly somehow.

Claims: it's smaller, less bright, more durable and has a "tiltable housing." There are plenty of other lamps, including many by BD, that match these specs, so I'm calling bulls**t. The only truly useful feature is that it supposedly shuts off after one hour to save battery life; I haven't bothered to leave it on that long, but if true I'll give them a point.

Then I'll take away ten for the crappy on/off switch that requires you to press hard and hold it down for longer than the average kid has patience for. Once it's on, pressing briefly on the switch in a normal way turns it to strobe and back. You have to hold it down to make it go out, which is surprisingly difficult for the kids I watched try to figure it out. Back to the drawing board, BD. I recommend finding an ACTUAL CHILD to test it this time. And no, prolonged adolescence in your "extreme athletes" doesn't qualify them for the job.

$18.00 at REI