Newbie help for 6 year old child backpack

[Darryl Romm]

Mary

Oliver will be 7 in Feb, and although it doesn't make him taller or have a larger waist it makes sense to tell you. He would certainly tell you he was 6 and 5 sixths:-)

Interestingly I have managed to locate a Gossamer Gear Miniposa and the company is willing to send it to me and allow me to return if not satisfied. The gentleman's comments were that the material does not lend itself well for a child and the shoulder straps are 3inches thick. He suggested the Golite Jam. They are about 200 miles away so no chance of me travelling to them. I would be pretty sure the Gossamer is not the 2009 model.

Deuter UK are prepared to send me a pack directly to my home and allow me to return it.

So progress in a way, as I am learning we could discuss this until the cows come home.

Oliver will most probably be the one who determines which pack is most suitable, but he is not going to be able to do that unless I put something on his back. So even if the object of the exercise is nothing more than a process of elimination I have ordered a Deuter Fox 30 & a small Gossamer Gear Miniposa.

The Osprey Imp requires me to import it from US unless I can wait until Mar 09, but I believe the Fox 30 will give me a rough idea. The same applies to the Rei Comet as it's just not available in the UK.

EDIT: After yesterday's conversation with Osprey Europe I firmly believed I would need to import from US. After making this post I decided to phone again. This time I spoke to head of Customer Services. From 'not being available until Mar 09', I have now managed to get both the Imp & the Jib available for instore collection or mail order for this weekend with possibility of return of either 1 or both of these packs.

I am now the proud owner of 4 packs with the possibility of returning them all.

I'll report back my findings in the not too distant future.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

True, Ford is tall for his age – tallest in his class every year. He is also very skinny. But! His height is in his legs, not torso – so for him the kid packs worked back then as he had an 11" torso. Nowdays his torso is in the 14"/nearly 15" range so he can get by with a womens pack.
The kid is 5'3" and weighs in the low 90's. Oh to be that skinny……

[Darryl Romm]

Well I have just had a phone call from Dueter UK's preferred retailer and they have collected a Fox 30 for me and have adjusted the hip belt to a measurement of 22 inches [that's 3 inches smaller than what is claimed on Deuter website]. It's being dispatched tomorrow and I should hopefully have it on Friday.

One down, three to go!

[Mary D]

Darryl, congratulations on finding all those packs for Oliver to try out! Let us know which one works the best for him!

You have set a great example of considerable persistence' finally paying off!

Here's to many years of happy family backpacking!

[Rod Lawlor]

Daryl,

That's an impressive way to do it. If you're happy to, would you consider posting a side and rear shot of each pack on him? This would be great to compare, and be able to direct other parents to.

Regards, Rod

[Darryl Romm]

Rod

That is no problem at all.

I'm certainly going to be an asker more than an answerer on this forum so to be able to give something back is my pleasure.

[Brad Groves]

Darryl-

Awesome! It's great that you can get them all there to try on, and I look forward to the comparison pics. I'm also very, very glad that you were able to support a "local" dealer. If you can share any insight on how they modified the Fox hipbelt please let us know–as far as I can see, all they could've done would be cut off the end and sew it back up! Anyhow, keep us posted.

[Darryl Romm]

Sorry for quality of some of pics, but it should show what's important.

Just to remind you. Oliver is 6 years old (7 in Feb). He weighs 51lbs and is 3ft 8inches tall. His waist is 22inches.

The bag contained 4.5lb of sleeping bag and clothes.

Total weight 7.1lb

The above pictures shows how Oliver prefers hip belt being worn this high, does this matter if the load is light?

[Darryl Romm]

The Miniposa pack was just too large. I will take photos, and boy did I want it to fit him. I made an egg timer shaped pad that I inserted with the sit mat that is included to try and ensure that Oliver's back was not too narrow. It was a success as far as comfort was concerned but I have learnt that torso length is one thing, but torso thickness is another thing. By the time he was trying this, Oliver had lost interest a bit. I tried to explain that the photos could help other people in the future, but it was wasted on him. Perhaps when he sees the above posting he'll be more cooperative.

Ospreys not here yet, but should be tomorrow.

[Mary D]

Please tell Oliver a big "Thank you" for posing for those pictures! It looks as though he finds the Deuter Fox comfortable.

If you can persuade him, you might want to take him for an hour's hike with each pack to find out which loaded pack is most comfortable. Watch especially for complaints about shoulder straps. Just make sure he keeps the pack clean (carry a trash bag or something similar to protect it if he needs to take it off) so you can return it. Obviously you want to do this on different days and in different places, so he doesn't get bored.

You might want to adjust the torso length a tiny bit longer on the Fox. The load lifters are theoretically supposed to be a 45* angle to the shoulders, which means that as shown in the pictures, it might be a tad bit short. That might make a difference with the hip belt, too. I'd let him find his own comfort level on the latter–he's the one who has to wear it!

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

Hip belt looks good to me! :-) That is where Ford wore his back then….

[Darryl Romm]

Happy New year to all.

Sorry for the delay, but it's been hectic.

Okay the choice of backpack for Oliver turned out to be quite simple in the end. All round winner for him was the Deuter Fox. He liked it, it looked right on him, he was able to carry a load for 90 minutes without one mention at all of any problems and the price of the pack is most competitive.

Now I will move onto the 2 Ospreys, starting with the Osprey Imp. Quoted weight 2lb 5oz volume 23l

The starting point is that it's weight to volume ratio is the worst in this test, and although it would not be an issue now, I think it would become obsolete prior to the Deuter of the Osprey Jib.

Oliver was put of my it's looks which did surprise me, but he is at the age where cavemen motifs are not so cool. A shame really because I think it is far from tacky. It certainly is very nicely made with more child like shoulder strap widths than the Deuter Fox. However I'm not too sure about the Airspace system nor was Oliver particularly impressed with the aluminium frame.

Anyway we tried in on with the same contents being used throughout this test.

I must be honest, by this stage is was having to contend with Oliver really bot being too interested in the whole situation. All he kept saying is I like the other one and there's nothing wrong with it.

One thing I did start to note was that although the shoulder straps were narrower than the Fox they seemed to want to fall off his shoulders, and whatever the adjustment I made, I could not overcome this situation. I'm really not too sure if it is possible, but others here might add comment.

Now on to the Osprey Jib. Weight 2lb 15oz capacity 35l

It's the same to me but bigger, so no need to repeat. Wider shoulder straps, bigger hipbelt. I would say this would be an excellent choice out of the 3 for an older child 9 – 10, but by that stage lighter weight packs would most probably be viable too.

I must say Im hardly an expert on backpack fitting, and am obviously at the disadvantage of relying on Oliver to give me proper feedback whilst he is not really interested in anything other than the Deuter Fox.

So in conclusion the Deuter wins for Oliver, the Imp is just too small and heavy (even in this heavyweight test, the Jib is really nice but needs to go on a bigger child.

I know the Fox has issues, but nothing that will stop Oliver enjoying himself.

Also note the following, even with the stronger US dollar against the £

Deuter Fox = $60.00
Osprey Imp = $87.00
Osprey Jib = $102.00

The Osprey's aren't even properly available in UK, and perhaps they will be too expensive.

I hope my posting may help others in this difficult area, but if I can be of any further assistance, please just ask.

[t.darrah]

I'm looking forward to the day I buy my young daughter her first real pack. if today I would go with the MLD kid size XS Prophet which fits kids 4'6" to 5'2". Just a couple years to go.

[Jim W.]

My wife insisted on buying a fancy pack for our 8 year old daughter at REI's garage sale last year. Unfortunately the pack is over a kilogram.

We also have a 5 year old son. Tim Marshall (from this site) made a pack for him that uses a rolled sleeping pad for structure. It has padded hip belt, shoulder straps with load lifters to give vertical adjustment, and three mesh pockets. The whole thing is about 250 grams, and is made with sturdy kidproof materials.

[Mary D]

Many thanks to Oliver for posing for all those pictures!

James, that's the whole problem with most of these kids' packs. The support structure is great, but the total pack is made unnecessarily heavy with the bombproof heavy nylon, many pockets and straps, and lots of decorative gewgaws.

I will let you all know next fall how my two grandkids fare with their Gossamer Gear Mariposas over the summer. Big brother JP will be 9 in April. Sissy is just about to turn 7, but she's the same height and weight as her "big" brother and a better athlete. These packs would definitely be too small for younger kids, though. And they will have to be treated with some care. I'm adding extra lacing so the packs can be compressed smaller (the capacity is bigger than these kids need right now, although as they are able to carry more, they'll grow into them).

[Mariano Barrera]

beautiful family Josh… May God bless them dude!

i'm having a hard time getting my son to sleep in a tent in my backyard!
but i'll take him on a short 1.5 mile hike to a beautiful pond and spend a night there.
hope he likes it… cuz i'd love it to be a weekend thing for us.

thanks for the info… ultralight.. and ultrahelpful man!

[Mary D]

Thanks for reviving this thread–I just realized I never came back with results on the GG Mariposas.

They didn't work at all. Both the kids have pressure-sensitive shoulders and need load lifters as well as a good hip-belt. This might be inherited as I have the same problem! I tried making load-lifters for the packs but they didn't work. I need to put these two Mariposa smalls up for sale!

The oldest (now almost 11) did wonderfully last summer with a Deuter Fox 30. He even carried a couple pounds of community gear and out-hiked even his father! The second-oldest (now 9) is using an REI Comet that I butchered to get rid of at least some of the excess weight. It now weighs about 1 3/4 lbs. I wanted to do this to the Deuter Fox, but JP said absolutely not! He seems happy with the excess weight. Only problem is that he probably will have outgrown it in another year. By that time his now 6-year-old brother will be 7 and can inherit it. The problem will be a new pack for big brother!

[. .]

Thanks for keeping this thread alive. REI has a couple of new packs that have appeal. I just ordered one of them with my dividend and will try and remember to report back. My 6 year old daughter has been begging me to take her backpacking on her 7th birthday!

[Sander Private]

yup kids need exactly the same support and comfort as adults. Furthermore more important don't load them up with more than 10% of their weight. Only full grown kids/adoloscents can slowly train to carry more than that.

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