So much better than the first pack we tried Original Review + 1 week follow-up Review after comparing w the Osprey: I have broke my review into categories as best I could. If I think of more I'll add more. We decided to buy Osprey, known for superior comfort & ergonomics, to compare with the pack we bought first. With this update I will provide my comparisons. Normally I would leave the other brands name out of the review but in this case we were so disgusted with the poor quality of the other brand, I am going to throw them under the bus. First I'm going to tell you about the Chicco, then provide the update after we got the Osprey so you get the full contrast of how things improved for us. STRAPS: CHICCO - shoulder & waist straps are poorly padded and narrow. waist is super high coming around the mid-upper belly... for reference I am athletic build, 5'9" ; my wife is 5'5 we both have this issue. Chest clip works well, helps keep things in place, however, my wife didn't like the position. She has a bustiers chest and found the position to pull and accentuate her chest in a way that was uncomfortable both physically and awkward socially. she needed to keep the strap almost fully lose to not feel awkward, but that also meant the pack was less secure, shifting on her shoulders and backside, which made things less comfortable. OSPREY UPDATE: Nothing got better with the Chicco pack. The Osprey had significantly better padding, wider straps that spread the weight across more of your shoulders. The Chest clip is adjustable (up/down) which made significant improvements to pack comfort, security and social acceptability; especially for my wife. Additionally, Osprey had significantly better waist strap adjust-ability, allowing you to raise/lower for proper fit. CHILD HARNESS: CHICCO - This is OK. Easy to unclip. Subpar design. All straps fall to the inside while putting child into seat (unavoidable), leaving you to fish around for them. Straps are narrow with zero padding for your little ones. waist strap is a little hard to access with kid in pack. OSPREY UPDATE: OH MY GOSH! night & day difference between harness of Chicco vs Osprey. Front harness design on Osprey is so easy. You don't lose straps when putting kids in, no fishing them back out. no struggle to reach in to clip or unclip. Osprey clips disappear behind their own padding at the child's backside. straps are comfortably padded and very ergonomic. so easy to clip and unclip...PLUS clips are behind your child so they CANNOT unclip themselves either by accident or b/c they were playing with the clip (something i hadn't thought of for the Chicco) WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION: CHICCO - extremely poor. no matter how we adjusted the straps, baby position, etc. OSPREY UPDATE: Chicco had no improvements. Osprey had better weight distribution largely r/t better strap adjust-ability. COMFORT: CHICCO - It is extremely uncomfortable, bearing all the weight on shoulder-tops. Gave my wife bad neck pain that lead to bad headache. Our child is 23 lbs so about half the weight capacity. 1st walk, my wife made it 50 yards before significant discomfort. My 1st walk, I had the same XP but continued to walk; maxing out my discomfort about 10-15 min in, then my wife put it on for the remaining 3 min home. 2nd walk, I was able to wear it for about 8-10 min before significant discomfort began, and endured for about 25-30 min before I had to pass it to my wife. 3rd walk, I was able to wear it for about 10-15 min before significant discomfort began, and endured for about 40-45 min before I had to pass it to my wife. OSPREY UPDATE: The comfort of the Chicco capped out for me no matter how many walk i took trying to acclimate; about 10-15 min before significant discomfort began, and endured for about 40-45 min before I had to pass it to my wife. This seemed to be the cap. each additional walk mirrored this, with about 10-15 min before significant discomfort, and I could only endure about 30-45 min of this Chicco torture. This coming from a guy who has done multi-day backpack/camping adventures all over the USA & abroad, as recent as last summer, in areas such as Glacier National Park, Ozark & Yellowstone Wilderness Areas (just to name a couple). My wife's XP with the comfort of this pack was similar to my own, only she always had significant discomfort begin after 5-10 min and could only ever carry for 15-30 min. I cannot even imagine how frustrating it would be if on a long hike we had to switch off every 10-15 min, not giving the body time to relax after the discomfort before having to take it on again. Osprey 1st walk, took a 30 min walk, by the end of which there was very mild discomfort (but i also had not played with any of the adjustments yet). Osprey 2nd walk, took a 45 min walk, by the end of which there was very mild discomfort (played a little with the adjustments). Osprey 3rd walk, took a 60 min walk, by the end of which there was very mild discomfort (I am continuing to play around with the adjustments). But clearly Osprey wins, there is no contest here. CHILD ERGONOMICS: CHICCO - Subpar. seating is fine. the main issue is the position of the legs. The only place for them is in your back (depending on child size this could become very uncomfortable) or where your arms need to swing. first day on a normal arm stride, my kids toes dug right into my funny-bone 3 times (not so funny). other carriers have foot straps or have a design that allows a more vertical dangle for their legs, rather than now designing into room for legs. If you don't mind legs, feet, knees in your back, power to you. child seat is good and backing is good. OSPREY UPDATE: Chicco additional comments. The Osprey child seating adjustability is significantly better and easier to achieve than on the Chicco. Osprey places the child further up and off the carriers back; meaning better airflow, less sweating, and significantly more leg room for the child (so knees and feed do not dig into carriers backside). This provides free range of motion for your natural arm stride. The Osprey has foot stirrups so the child's legs don't dangle and cut circulation from constant pressure. Also, I didn't realize this until I saw it, but the foot stirrups allow your child to get a bit of leverage allowing them to adjust their own position slightly, preventing circulation cut off. SUN VISOR: CHICCO - Too small. does almost nothing unless the sun is lower in the sky and you only walk away from it. OSPREY UPDATE: Chicco's is a joke. if they were to take the same design accordion and add another 1-2 panels, effectively doubling or tripling the extension, it would be acceptable. its not easy to remove for days when its not needed. It doesn't collapse, meaning is sticks way up and catches on things. Osprey was significantly Better. collapsible, retractable design with internal zipper storage, which means it wont be in your way on gray days... no snagging trees, bushes, or the bane of my existence spider webs. Much better coverage from the sun for the kid too. PACK SIZE: CHICCO - we loved the smaller size. OSPREY UPDATE: Osprey we opted for the smaller pack from this brand. even when fully broken down it is larger than the Chicco. PACK STYLE: CHICCO - we loved the simplistic style. OSPREY UPDATE: We still really like the simplistic design of the Chicco, and if Osprey had a bare-bones option similar to the Chicco, we probably would have gone for it. However, we opted for the simplest pack from Osprey. We REALLY like it... so much better. Even just the simple add-on of a mesh pouch on the belt strap, perfect for sunglasses or my phone, blows the Chicco out of the water. something Chicco could have just as easily done for no added cost. DURABILITY: CHICCO - Impression is moderate to good. fabrics, metals and even plastics seem decent. but i doubt it would hold up if you are hard on it. OSPREY UPDATE: have not notices any issues that would lead me to believe the durability woul
