Customer Reviews

Sunshine Kids Radian Travel Bag, Black

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

This case fit our Radian seat perfectly (once you figure out the correct orientation, which is not immediately obvious and there are no instructions).

However, the case lasted barely half a trip. During the first half, a small tear developed where the backpack straps meet the body of the bag. It didn't look bad enough that it would cause a problem on the rest of the trip. However, when I loaded the seat for the return trip to the airport, the zipper broke making it impossible to close the bag, and thus rendering the bag incapable of holding the seat. Which made life with all of our luggage, plus a seat that I now had to somehow carry, very difficult indeed.

Note that this bag was only used transporting the seat to/from the airport, it wasn't like it was mistreated in checked luggage or something. Very disappointing.

I wish the carrying bag was made as strong as the car seat, but unfortunately, it's not. I've now gone through 2 of these, each one has only made for part of a trip and died. The first bag had the shoulder strap holder tear loose from the bag while in the security, the second bag had the seams bust apart in two locations and the zipper pulled off the track.

For those interested I managed to salvage some portability of the unit by purchasing a luggage strap from target and using it to strap the folding seat closed. Then I used one of the shoulder straps from the case and fastened it to the the nylon eyelets one side of the chair.

I only traveled a 2 1/2 hour flight. When I went to pick up the car seat from the belt, the handle broke. The bag kept in place but without the handle what's the use. I can't imagine if I was going across Europe or wanted to use this more than once.

I wish Sunshine Kids had put as much thought into their carrying case as they did the Radian Car Seat. It seems someone miscalculated the measurements of the car seat when creating the cover. The cover is made to fit so very snuggly that it takes my husband standing on the folded car seat while we wiggle it into the case...and forget putting the rear-facing base in the case - they simply didn't expect you take that along. The car seat has traveled with us on about 8 trips (16 flights) and the bag is already pulling apart at the seams. If you bought the folding car seat, just go buy a duffle bag with wheels to travel with the car seat.

Purchased 2 of these bags to go with the carseats for a recent trip...after one flight and on the way to the gate of our connecting flight one of the straps ripped out of the bag, rendering the backpack useless, but we were able to hook it to a different side and use as a shoulder bag for the rest of the trip. On the return trip the zipper pull pulled all the way off of the other bag, and I had to rip the zipper apart to get the carseat out.

When these worked the backpack option was great, made carrying two carseats through security and the airport almost a breeze. BUT they did not seem to be made luggage quality to hold up to the rigors of travel.

I like the idea of carrying your carseat on your back in a backpack, but this product is not well-designed. Even after my husband and I folded our Radian 65 down completely we had a very difficult time fitting it in this bag--it was as if the bag were designed for a different seat. The zipper broke as we were trying to get the carseat into the airport. We ended up having the airline put our seat in a plastic bag and checking it with our luggage. We threw this bag away.

When I saw this, I thought, FANTASTIC! I travel on planes with my radian carseat, and also am a member of a community carshare, so I have to carry it, and my child/stroller to and from the car each time. I had been using an over the shoulder strap, but the Radian is heavy, and it was very uncomfortable.

This backpack works well, in that it puts the weight on the two shoulders, as it should. However, the straps hook onto the main bag on a D-ring behind your neck, with big plastic hooks. These hooks grate on your neck/back vertebrae. Badly placed. There must be many other comfortable ways to attach the straps to the main body.

The bag only fits the Radian one way, as it is totally fitted to the Radian's shape. No loose space, no manouvrability. It fits well, but exactly, which is a hassle when dealing with putting it on and taking it off quickly on planes and transferring from car to stroller. Extra space would allow to put some other items into it as well: a blanket, stuffed toy etc. As wearing this precludes carrying another bag on your back, it would be nice to have a wee bit of space, a couple pockets etc. As is, it will ONLY fit your Radian.

I have only used this to transport the Radian to and from the car on foot, and on one trip in the plane, ie to the taxi, from taxi to luggage cart, to plane and off again, and where the D ring is to attach the backpack straps, the fabric has totally pulled away from its backing. It is no longer waterproof there, and not solid. There is no reinforcement of the rather thin material at the point of attachment, and I fear it will give out completely soon. I only owned it for perhaps two months when this happened: perhaps 4 car trips and one round-trip plane ride. I would expect something made for travel to be more solid.

The zipper is also very small and not solid, and has only one slide on it, so you cannot open it from any angle, only from the end and zip it all the way around. As it fits so tightly, you have to tug to make it fit perfectly to close the zipper.

So 5 stars for the idea (what better thing for a portable folding carseat than a backpack?), 3 for the design, and -1 for the materials and construction.
__________
UPDATE!
Radian replaced my broken bag with a new one, and they fixed most of the design flaws. The new model is MUCH sturdier. The attach points for the straps are all reinforced with wide webbing that goes around the whole bag, so it is much more solid. There is a sturdy panel inserted and sewn into the side of this where the metal parts of the folded carseat touch the fabric, so it is totally protected. They have fixed the issue of the zippers not finished and fraying out. The only issue is still the plastic hooks that allow one to attach the straps either as a backpack or shoulder bag: they still are uncomfortable and dig into your back in backpack mode.

But Radian has made a huge effort to listen to customer complaints about design and construction flaws, and corrected them in their updated product. And has good customer service, in replacing the defective product for free with a new version. New version: 5 stars for the idea, 4 for design, materials and construction. I have changed my star rating from 2 to 4.

Yes I have a radian 65. First trip with this bag, seam broke at the airport. Strap broke within a few hours. Company did send us a new one but I don't anticipate it will be any different. And we followed all instructions. Don't buy this product.

This bag let me down when I needed it. It ripped while going down the isle of the plane and then for the duration of the trip I had to carry it by hand. The seat isn't light either.

I bought this carseat case...and I agree with most of the other posters regarding the same issues.
Problem 1)
I left the straps on the bag, they were ripped off, which yes left a huge rip in the side of the bag
Problem 2)
The carseat ONLY fits in ONE WAY AND ONE WAY ONLY, so if you can't figure it out using the 4 different positions, it can take a while, plus I think 2 people are needed to help hold it up, zip it, and clench it shut
Problem 3)
The zipper did break off, just kept unzipping so I had to break into the bag to get my carseat out. Thankfully it was when I was at home.

My recommendation is...leave your carseat at home and get one from the firedepartment. They require a small deposit which you get back, and allow you not to lug your carseat around all over the place. Or get one from your rental agency, much less hassle than hauling this 20lb+ carseat around in its virtually useless "carseat carry case"
Other than using a Graco infant seat, this carseat won't ever see the underside of the plane belly..probably because I can't get the clips off the back of the carseat to begin with. And I dont even want to imagine what else will end up breaking or torn.