Kelty Journey PerfectFIT Elite

The first time I eased my daughter into the padded child compartment of our Kelty Journey PerfectFIT Elite Child Carrier pack, her body was so small I had to secure the five-point safety harness about as snugly as it would go. Scarlett was about 18 months old and only a few pounds over the kid carrier backpack’s minimum weight limit, which is 16 pounds. 

Back then, with minute adjustments to the broad waistband, the shoulder and chest straps, and the load distribution straps at the shoulders, I could scarcely feel I was carrying any weight at all and could effortlessly portage my second born child over mile after mile of terrain.

Flash forward a couple of years, and now the kid weighs a little more than 30 pounds. Pairing her weight with the added heft of water bottles, snacks, sunblock, a first aid kit, and whatever else the outing calls for, and I can hardly pretend not to notice the weight, but thanks to how well the PerfectFIT Elite distributes the load, I’m still ready to log the miles. 

Sure, today I might be a bit sore after a long hike toting a kid along, but it’s worth it to not have to turn around when her legs get heavy. Besides, my total current “gear” weight (with a small blond-headed human counting as part of said gear) on an average family hike is just about on par with the load I used to haul up mountains like Mt. Whitney, San Gorgonio, Mt. Rainier, and so on in the pre-child days – around 40 pounds or so. And having schlepped plenty of gear up many a hill and along many a trail using about a dozen different packs so far, I can tell you this with assurance: this child carrier hiking pack is as ergonomic, supportive, adjustable, and effective as any technical hiking pack I have used.

Frankly, you could swap out the child-carrying section for gear space, and it would be one of my top-tier go-to packs for a trek sans kids – it’s that good in terms of my user experience.

Ah, but how well does the pack serve its little occupant? As Exhibit A, I’ll posit this statement: when my daughter was a toddler, she spent most of her time in this hiking pack asleep. We’d get her secured in the harness, I’d hoist the carrier onto my back and tighten and adjust all the various straps and buckles (the adult wearer can adjust the fit at eight distinct points, FYI), and hit the trail. Invariably, within a mile or so, she would be head down and snoozing soundly, usually nodding off right as we passed a waterfall or scenic mountain meadow or some other vista we’d hoped she’d view.

So it goes. Missed majesty of nature aside, I know of no higher praise for a hiking pack than one so comfortable it serves as a portable napping station, and thus this Kelty kid carrier pack was for a year or so. As Scarlett grew into her later toddler phase, she often wanted to be out of the pack and running around, but as soon as her powerful but decidedly little legs got tired, it was “I wanna go back in the backpack. Uppy daddy! Uppy me!” (We initially tried to teach her to say “Up, please” which became “Uppy.” She is now more than old enough to know better, except we have never told her “uppy” is not a real word and dammed if I ever will.)

And this is still the case now that she is well past three and is now only a few pounds from the upper weight limit of the pack, which is 40 pounds. (That’s the maximum recommended child weight, for the record – total max combined cargo weight is 48.5 pounds.) She hikes and climbs and wanders and runs and such, then she tires, and she wants to go right back into the pack. The napping toddler was the first sign this was one of the best child carriers for hiking to be found on any trail; the nursery school-aged kid still wanting to ride in it is a proverbial feather in cap number two.

Third cap feather? Even after all the miles logged, which includes treks in mountain ranges ranging from Vermont to the French Alps, untold miles logged on woodland trails all over New York, both upstate and nearer to NYC, and plenty of time toting my toddler along on sidewalks and city streets, too, this backpack remains in excellent shape.

Like it is in perfect shape, function-wise, and only has a few scuffs and scrapes to show all the miles and elevation logged.

Beyond the kid and adult comfort, of note here are two large cargo compartments on the back of the pack, one of which has internal mesh pockets ideal for water bottles, dual compartments on the waistband that are large enough for energy bars, compact binoculars, a little first aid kit, and so on, and a pop-out sunshade that can curve over your little one’s little head and shoulders, protecting them from rays or from the drizzle, too. The overall cargo capacity is 26 liters, which is petty ample when you realize that carrying gear is ancillary to the child carrier’s prime directive. A note parents will appreciate: the pack itself is reliably water-resistant, as is the interior lining of the pocket – in other words, rain or spills won’t inundate your gear, while leaked water bottles (or milk or formula or juice or whatnot) spilling within won’t leak out from inside the pack.

You’ll also appreciate all the padded handles that make maneuvering the pack easy, as well as the broad aluminum bar that folds out from the back of the pack, letting it sit solidly on the ground as you load a child in and then wrangle it onto your body or after you ease it down and then ease a child out, often contending with large clunky toddler hiking boots. 

These features are especially helpful when you’re using the pack without another adult there to help you.

Or in my case when the other adult, my wife, in this case, is helping the other kid with yet another rock in his hiking shoe. Or more often than not, proffering yet another snack that was just fished out of the pack you’ve been wearing.