Long Story Short: I LOVE IT

Since we began hiking with A in the carrier waaaay back in 2019, my husband had always been the one wearing our children in the Osprey Poco Carrier. I had worn the Osprey a handful of times, and on every occasion I was left with bruises on my hips. Yes, bruises. After a day or two the bruises would go away and it didn’t seem like a big deal. (My husband never experienced any of this)

After we had a second kid, we established that me wearing G in our Osprey pack and my husband helping A hike would be the best way we could continue hiking with two small kids.

In February we went out to the coast and I wore G the entire time we were hiking in the Osprey. Two days later I could barely walk! I essentially tweaked my back and was in excruciating pain for days. It was as horrible as it sounds. There was no way I was putting the pack back on. We decided to get another carrier.

I had seen a lot of people talk about loving the Deuter carriers– specifically moms. It probably would have been smart to go try on carriers when we first bought ours (one month after becoming parents). But truthfully I didn’t have a lot of mom hiking friends at the time, and Osprey was all anyone was talking about when it came to the topic of baby carriers and hiking.

The Biggest Selling Point

I read and watched a bunch of reviews and chatted with other moms about which carrier to get for myself. I ultimately decided on the Deuter Kid Comfort Active. The biggest difference with Deuter carriers are that the waist can be pulled much tighter than the Osprey. This is huge for women with smaller frames. It makes it so that you are wearing the entire carrier where it’s supposed to be on your hips, instead of hanging low on your lower back and therefore making your posture in a weird position which is ultimately what caused my back injury.

I love that the entire thing only weighs 5 pounds. For contrast, the Osprey Poco weighs 7lbs 12 oz and the Deuter Comfort Pro weighs 8 lbs 5 oz. The Deuter Kid Comfort Pro is very similar to the Osprey Poco. I know women who have and love the Pro carrier too. But I wanted the carrier to be a little lighter, so I chose the Active instead of the Pro.

Also: all Deuter carriers have the side entry ‘door’ which is GENIUS! It makes it so much easier getting your child in and out of the carriers.

A Few Annoying Things

My kid definitely falls asleep less in the Deuter carrier. I’m not sure if it’s her age, the length of the hikes (small hikes due to hiking with a 4 year old) or if it’s actually the structure of the carrier. Also, the sunshade is not nearly as shady as the Osprey is. The sunshade is also sold separately which is a little annoying.

All in all, I am soooo happy we bought this carrier. We’d been talking about doing it for a while and once my back got injured I was finally convinced. We should have bought it for me a while ago! I’ve gone on five hikes with the carrier and it’s been great. I’m so excited for all the hikes this summer. We have a lot of fun adventures ahead of us!