Customer Reviews

Evenflo Snugli Cross Terrain Carrier - Silver/Charcoal

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

We bought our first backpack, a compact, secondhand. We weren't sure if we'd like it, of if our child would like it. Well, we loved it, and we recently upgraded to the Cross Terrain. We had no idea what we were missing!

It's hard to believe how well designed this pack is, compared to our previous one. It fits better, holds the kid better, and the features are superb. If the price is keeping you away, check out the Cross Country, which is exactly the same, except it has fewer pockets and somewhat less padding. We splurged on this one for the brighter color and the extra pockets.

Plus side: The main advantages of this backpack over our prior compact are it's enlarged storage spaces, better padding on all the straps, fully adjustable (and easy to adjust) straps all around. Since we do a lot of walking at dusk, the built in reflective strips and lighter color (Gray) were selling points as well. The kid straddles the lower pack; they can't stand up or launch themselves out of it (which is why we upgraded), and they can't kick you or ride with their knees in your back. Also, there are plenty of pockets, even a cell-phone and water-bottle holder.

Minus side: The main drawbacks are: the price (~2x a compact), though cheaper than most high-end hiking packs. The pack is also heavier than our prior compact, but not prohibitively so. Finally, the "landing gear" that holds it upright on the ground doesn't have a hard lock when deployed (unlike some brands), so you have to be careful when setting it down with the kid onboard.

Niggling minus points (engineers take note): the reflective strips are nice, but smaller than I had hoped. The pockets are numerous, but it seems like they went overboard. The sun visor is hard to attach, but not that hard. I consider these all minor.

Whatever pack you buy, make sure it fits before you get it. Put the kid in and do some shopping. Get someone to show you how to adjust it properly.

As promised, this is my follow-up from a previous review. After using this over Mother's Day weekend, I would not use anything else. There is so much storage space, we didn't need the stroller; the diapers, wipes, bottles and more fit easily into the ample storage compartments. My 14mo old daughter loves this! In fact, she loves it so much she cried to get back in when I took her out of it.

The canopy is great and did a fantastic job of keeping the sun off of her. After practice at putting the canopy on and taking it off, it's now a snap to use. It's able to be folded up and tucked away between the detachable storage compartments on the back of the pack.

The kickstand is handy to use the backpack as a seat for her when we sat down to take a break. I heard nothing but "WOW"s and "Awesome" from other people the whole time I was walking around with her in it. It was as if no one had ever seen such a thing before, which I find hard to believe. While at the zoo we went into exhibits that didn't allow strollers (while laughing to myself) and had no problems getting around with this. While parents had to park their strollers outside, we went about the exhibits with no problem.

Do yourself a favor and at least try this. It's reasonably priced and you'll be thankful you did it - for yourself and for your child. Depending on where you buy, you can always take it back if you don't like it.

This is GREAT! I bought this for my daughter that always feels the need to be right woth either mommy or daddy. She loves it! The first time she was a little scared, but after the first few minutes she found that she could see everything and still touch mommy and daddy. I love this, because she snuggles right into my back, and twirles my hair with her hands. And it's built so that I can turn my head around and still see her and what she is doing. It has a built in cell phone case, a sippy cup holder or bottle of water for mommy, and plenty of storage so you can pack baby's snack, your snack whatever. It has this sort of pouch on it where the small of your back is, I've used to put an ice pack in to me cool while carrying her, works very well, it doesn't get the baby cold because of where it is located. Hood is detachable!! The only down fall that I've noticed is that it'll only fold flat, great for storage in a closet or in a suitcase for traveling, but it won't fold up any smaller. But I don't forsee that being a problem because it folds flat. The picture's that I've see don't show this but it comes with little stoppers that attach to the bottom corners of the metal bar on the bottom for stability while taking baby in and out of it. So it won't slip on a table or whatever surface. The straps for adult and for baby are very cushioned and soft. It's a great product.

My husband and I purchaesd this backpack for our vacation this summer. We were so impressed with this backpack, it will be reccommended for a long time to come. We have a wonderful stroller and found ourselves preferring the carrier. The shoulder straps are cushioned well, and it is a comfy ride for our 12 month old son, the only one he ever felt comfortable falling asleep in. He loved seeing the world from our height. It was not too bulky to wear into shops where space is limited and the stroller would not have been able to manage. Plenty of pockets to store things in, we also have a 9 year old daughter, and she could even put her purchased "trinkets" in the pockets. Also it was great even when we stopped to eat, we could store it easily against his booster seat since it folded flat. We had no problem with the canopy as mentioned, and it worked great to protect him from the sun. The only thing I wish was different was the hip strap. I wish there was someplace for the excess strap other than tucking it into the hip strap itself. Very minor. If that is the only complain I have, great. I imagine that anyone that purchases this will be happy with it. Price wasn't bad considering how long we can use it. Definately worth all 5 stars!

I have been doing quite a bit of shopping around for a backpack carrier and this is definitely the one. I found the Kelty backpacks to be extremely heavy. Other simpler backpacks are not comfortable for my baby. This one is the perfect combination of comfort for me and my baby. I was originally going to buy the Snugli Cross Country backpack because it was less expensive, but when I tried them both on, I found this one was much better. The straps on the Snugli Cross Country do not have as much cushion and they feel like they are digging into your shoulders. My husband found the hip belts to be much more supportive on the Cross Terrain. I am 5'2" and my husband is 6' and we both wear it comfortably. Happy Trails!

There are 100 reasons why I love my Evenflo Snugli Cross Terrain Backpack.

I had purchased 1 year ago a Kelti Summit and even though I am 5'8" I felt the backpack was made for a man and never fit me right. We spent too much money on it. All the main storage was out of reach and was too small for a big adventure with a baby who needs all the things a baby needs. She sat too far back and with the storage in the back I felt I had to lean way forward to compensate. To top it off the Kelti was 9 lbs and with a heavy baby plus stuff, it was a lot to carry. In addition, the shoulder straps were always to wide on my daughter and would fall off or she could squirm out of it and she sat higher than my head so I always ducked way down when going under something afraid we would hit her head. Kick stand only seemed stable on a hard flat floor. I was completely unsatisfied with the Kelti and that is when I bought the Cross Terrain.

The Snugli is excellent and by far exceeds the Kelti for comfort, safety, and storage and price.
The Snugli is very light and is easy to figure out how to use to make adjustments. My baby's feet go out to the side instead of right on my back where she can kick me. My baby fits very safely in the seat with cushioned straps that buckle at the top so there is no work involved in getting her snapped in. The straps stay on her narrow shoulders. The kicks stand is very stable and when my baby is on my back I can look over my shoulder to see her. Everything is easy to access, such as pockets within reach for keys, phone, sippy cup, water bottles, money, ect. Then there is storage for large bottles, insulation for formula or soups, tons of room for a blanket and toys, a change of clothes and diapers and whatever else. The only thing that I amended on the backpack was that when my child fell asleep her head would lean forward onto my upper back/shoulder and I found this uncomfortable so I used the Eddie Bower pillow that we weren't using in her car seat and already had Velcro straps to fasten on the shoulder straps of the backpack for her to rest her head on. This works perfect. I also like that it is very compact and I take it on trips when packing is limited and a stroller is to much to lug around. The Cross Terrain is about 6" shorter and 4" narrower than the Kelti and still tops all of Keltis' features. I love this back pack and would highly recommend it for any place from the house, to the grocery store, to the airport or out for a long hike. It's the best!

I tried on all of the backpacks in the store, and this was by far the most comfortable. I came here expecting alot of rave reviews but I guess it's a bit too new. I won't repeat everything in the last review. Be sure and get the waist belt adjusted correctly for your height, and it will be really comfortable. I am a 5'5 female and it works for me. It has very padded straps for parent AND baby which is what makes it so comfy. Everything is adjustable and the adjustments are pretty easy to make. The only issues I had are that it seems to cause my 9-month old son to sit down a bit too far on the highest level, and he is quite long/tall for his age. So he has trouble seeing over the pack and me. Also I had a little bit of trouble getting the canopy rods inserted into the pockets, but after some practice it wasn't too hard. Other than that, I would say this is probably the best model out there in this price range. I might like a Kelty better but I haven't tried one. I am very satisfied with this product and recommend it if you want to be on the go without a stroller, no matter what your size.

I live in a dense downtown area and rely on public transit, so a baby carrier has been a must since day 1 (day 4 to be exact). I bought this because my little girl got too big for her soft Snugli, and too heavy to carry in front. My only real complaints are that it looks bulky and it's a bit heavy, but it is built for comfort, which makes up for the weight. I can even use it for exercise walks, and my back and shoulders feel fine the next day. It has a lot of bags and stuff attached, which I took off, because the built-in storage is more than enough for whatever I need for the day. That also helped reduce the bulky look. It has little pockets in the waistband where I can tuck my keys and train pass, and the kickstand doesn't stick out too far when folded in, which is very important on crowded buses. I love that I can leave the house with just this and nothing else and have my hands totally free. It's easy to get on and off when I'm alone. I only wish someone would invent a back carrier that solves the problem of a sleeping baby's floppy head. Overall, I enjoy this carrier and would buy it again.

Just had to say, we happily used our new backpack for our 10 1/2 month old during a recent Spring Break trip to Disneyland and California Adventure in Anaheim, CA. The really good points of having the backpack with us on our busy days:

**It was really nice to have another mode of "baby transportation" besides the stroller (Graco MetroLite, by the way... another good product!)for variety for the little one!

**Holding our 20+ pounder in our arms in lines with wait times of 35 minutes + (yes, we actually waited that long, TWICE-- he HAD to experience Peter Pan's Flight and the Haunted Mansion, and he did very well in both) was not something we wanted to do, so the backpack was comfortable and convenient for all of us. While in line, he had fun looking at all the people and eating Cheerios! Once we got on the ride, it wasn't a problem to stash the backpack on the floor of our ride. This backpack collapses beautifully and is so lightweight!!

**The backpack fit into the bottom storage basket of out Graco MetroLite stroller when we weren't using it. At first I was uncomfortable leaving it in there when we weren't using it and we were away from both the stroller and backpack, but nothing was taken or stolen. (Use a bike lock if you're uncomfortable about leaving big items at amusement parks.)

**LOVE the storage within the backpack itself!! Very roomy... enough space for lots of diapers, wipes, places to stash bottles, cell phone and keys too!

**It's sporty and very good looking!! :)

Some of the downsides and inconveniences:


** Yes the backpack fit into the stroller storage basket when not in use, BUT it didn't leave a whole lot of room for my loaded down diaper bag (Guess this comment is exclusive to my experience and not really a "flaw" of the backpack itself...). 12 hours at Disneyland equals LOTS of stuff to bring for the little guy. We survived, but it would've been so nice to be able to stash the diaper bag easily and quickly without always having to adjust everything.

**Yesterday, we used the backpack for a walk by the harbor and somehow, my little guy was "rubbed the wrong way" during his backpack ride-- he was chafed (sp) on both sides of his lower ribs... areas about an inch and a half long! :( We didn't have a problem like this during our trip, but we were thinking that because he was wearing a t shirt without a onesie underneath, maybe the t shirt rode up and his skin was being rubbed the whole time. :( He didn't complain about it, didn't fuss or anything... poor guy!! So from now on we'll be sure to put onesies underneath t shirts during backpack rides.

We sprung for the deluxe(99.00) model Snugli Cross Terrain backpack (more padding, along with other improved features). You can use it from the time the babies are sitting up until they are 3 (which seems the longest time to use any baby item!). My 6 month old loves it...never cries...enjoys everything from our perspective. I can walk two dogs with her...I can do a day of walmart and grocery shopping without my infant shedding a tear. The other day and she just feel asleep on my back...like in a little pappoose. It is so nice to go grocery shopping and to be able to leave your cart--baby always with you...and she interacts with all the people because they are at her level, so she never feels left out. My back is sore after having her on at first, but if you use it often you just get stronger. I feel she is safe and secure in it, and happy! I bought it after reading these reviews. HIGHLY RECCOMMEND!