Deuter Kid Comfort III Review

In August of 2010 when our son was only 6 months old we went on a 5 day backpack trip as a family.  Call us nuts, but this experience was very liberating.  For this trip we borrowed a Deuter Kid Comfort III which was AMAZING!  We are currently saving up to get one for ourselves.  Here are a few things we loved and disliked about this kid pack.

PROS:
The main compartment is HUGE!  We could not believe how much we were able to stuff into that thing.  In fact the more we stuffed in the higher our kid sat.  There are plenty of pockets to suit any and all of your needs.  With all of it's pockets this pack held all of our child's clothing, 20 disposable diapers, a few toys, and other personal gear.

The seat is adjustable allowing this pack to grow as your child grows and the shoulder straps adjust for a perfect fit on whomever chooses to wear it.  My wife and I were able to swap packs in the middle of the day with minimal trouble.  Another great feature is the hassle free load/unload on one side for getting your child in and out easily.

Unlike with other kid packs you don't have to worry about finding a place to put the rain/sun shade, it is built-in with it's own storage compartment.  This feature alone was totally awesome!  The Kid Comfort III also has a higher back rest for the child versus many other carriers on the market.  The chin pad made for a great pillow being as our little man would fall asleep only minutes down the trail, and it was easy to remove and wash.

The base on this pack was very stable and unlike other's on the market it doesn't fold up when you put the pack on.  We could see where that feature would be nice, but for on the trail it was nice to be able to pick it up and move it around with out the base stand folding up on us.

This pack offers a hydration pocket where you can put a camel-bak reservoir which as well came in very handy being as when the pack is on you are unable to reach the pockets that may be housing your water bottle.

There is a small zipper pocket on the right hip that is just large enough for a few snacks.  On the left hip is a pocket that houses a mirror which comes with the pack when purchased so that you can keep an eye on that little one.

CONS:
The zipper on the large compartment proved to be a pain to use.  There is a fly that shields the zipper from rain and this fly was a bit snug making it difficult to operate.  The zipper operates in an arching motion which also made for difficult operation.

At 6 months old this pack nearly drowned our little man.  We were able to compensate for this by stuffing more things into the main compartment, which boosted the seat up just enough.

While wearing the pack it was impossible to reach any of the pockets on the sides or rear.  Once you had it on with the child secured in place you really didn't want to take it off just to get something out of it.  Which I guess comes with any backpack once fully loaded.

With these few minor flaws in mind we believe this pack to be one of the best on the market for backpacking with young children and would recommend it in a heartbeat.


Update:
We saw Deuter at the Winter Outdoor Retailer Show a couple weekends ago and got to play with the newest version of the Kid Comfort III.  They fixed the zipper issue we have talked about by getting rid of the flap that covers it.  The pockets are still difficult to reach but they made it so that the kick-out leg locks open when retracted and can be put back with a push of a button. 


In our opinion, they pretty much made it perfect!