We tried out our cheapest baby carrier the other day; the Vaude Swing IV. We borrowed one of these a few years ago from a friend (before we had set the shop up!) and were impressed with it then so we thought we’d give it another go and add a bit of a review to our blog.

The swing is a favourite of mine because it is so light.  When I am lugging my 2 year old around (”Mummy my legs are broken….CARRY!!!!!!”) I’ll take any weight savings I can get.  So here is how we go on with our test run:

Firstly It fitted me (5′ 5″) and my husband (almost 6″…) easily so we swapped on the walk quickly without a lot of fussing about.  I found the shoulder straps and hip belt comfortable and easily adjusted.  I cranked the straps on the top of the shoulder straps up so Ivy’s weight was as close to me as possible and this made a massive difference to how comfortable it was and my manoverability.

The base footing of the Swing is different to many child carriers which have a third leg collapsible footing. The Swing has flat fixed bar which our daughter liked to hook her feet on to after a while. The only downside of this is that the carrier isn’t as stable as others when it is on the floor so you need to lean it against your legs when you put your child in and the under seat pocket isn’t huge, but it is still big enough to fit a sun rain cover in and a few other bits and pieces.

The sun and rain cover fits really easily on to the back of the carrier, you just slide the two poles into the sleeve on either side of the headrest then secure the canopy at the front with toggles.  It will be no surprise to hear considering the summer we’ve had this year, that the rain cover was used in anger! It was very effective, keeping Ivys head and body dry.  Her legs got wet so if you are using the Vaude Swing year round you would want to pack an waterproof all in one or get the Vaude full rain cover.

Overall we both agreed that the Swing is a great everyday baby carrier, well priced and as with all Vaude stuff is excellent quality.  If you plan on taking your child on some serious walks you might want to look at the higher end carriers (Jolly Comfort), but for most people the Swing should fit the bill nicely.

Well that was the forecast for this weekend, complete with weather warnings on the BBC, so we decided to be responsible parents and not to go camping with our 2 year old and 3 month old daughters.  Here I am writing the blog and catching up with the Olympics (totally obsessed with the track cycling and swimming) and it’s gorgeous weather! We had some rain overnight but nothing to write home about and it would have been fine to camp.  So I’m feeling a bit miffed. We’ll ignore the forecast for next weekend and just go.

Coincidentally I heard an interview on the radio a couple of weeks ago, a guy from the South West Tourist Board was complaining that the BBC weather forecasts were very pessimistic and they were losing serious amounts of money as people cancelled or avoided holidaying in Cornwall and Devon because of innaccurate forecasts for poor weather. John Kettley surprisingly agreed with him and explained that rather than forecasting rain when there is just a chance of rain as most weather reports do, a more accurate method is to give a percentage chance of certain weather events, for example; Landsend has a 30% chance of 2mms of rain today.  Forecasters have a tendency to cover their backs and forcast the worst case scenario, apparently a trend started after Micheal Fish’s famous 1987 forcast dismissing any chance of a hurricane…whoops.

So we’ll pack the tent (expanding family means we have embraced car camping and just purchased the new 4 man Vaude Badawi TC) and brave the Bank Holiday traffic for next weekend, I’ll let you know how the trip goes.

It’s been a while since my last blog post, but I have a good excuse…daughter number 2 arrived a few weeks ago.  All is well and the sleep deprivation has improved, at least I can now remember what day of the week it is, so back to business.

Rock boots…a nightmare to find the correct size?

One of the reasons we started the site was hearing from people how difficult it was to find a selection of kids rock boots.  Many shops don’t offer any choice or are always out of stock and not willing to order more in.  We think we now have one of the best selections of kids rock boots available online in the UK. 

When we started selling kids rock boots we had loads of returns for a different size.  We soon learnt that the European or UK equivalent size given by the manufactures didn’t count for much.  For example the La Sportiva Shark rock boots are fabulous well made kids boots but we regularly hear that you need to buy them 2 sizes larger than your childs normal “Clarks” shoe size…….. Italian children must have dainty feet!

So what have we done to help you choose the right size rock boot?

For all the rock boots we sell we have now added information on the overall profile of the boot, i.e. Boreal Ninja has a tapered toe profile whilst the Mad Rock Mad Monkey has a much more square toe.  Also we’ve measured the maximum internal length of each size of boot.  The idea is you measure your child’s foot length (back of heel to end of longest toe) and then use our max internal length tables to pick the most appropriate rock boot size.

Is the new fitting advice working?

Well it’s not perfect, but we’ve massively reduce the level of rock boots returned to us, so we must be doing something right.  We’ve had some really supportive feedback from customers as well, saying it has really helped them fine tune their choice of boot.

If there is any other information we can provide which will make it easier to choose the right childrens rock boot let us know and we’ll give it a go.

We’ve had several enquires from parents wanting to know warm our children’s sleeping bags are.  Surprisingly it isn’t that easy a question to answer and here’s why:

A new European standard (EN 13537): Requirements for Sleeping Bags, was introduced in 2005.  The main impact of EN 13557 was to standardise how sleeping bag temperature ranges are determined and presented.  In practice this means that all sleeping bags sold should have been tested using the same technique which consists of a “thermal manikin test”.  However when applying this test to children’s sleeping bags the problem is that the manikins used are dummies of a 60kg woman and an 80kg man.

As parents you know how quickly you child can get too hot or too cold.  This is because children, especially small children do not have the same natural heat controls as adults. Their metabolism speeds and slows as they grow.  It is therefore not advisable to assess the temperature ranges of a child’s sleeping bag from values derived from adult manikin tests.  This is why many sleeping bag manufacturers do not supply temperature ranges for kid’s sleeping bags.

But you must be able to give me some idea?

Many children’s sleeping bags have identical specifications but are small scale versions of an adult model bag.  Therefore it is often possible to compare comparable adult sleeping bag temperature ranges to get an estimation of how warm a child’s sleeping bag is compared to others.  Give us a call if you would like further advice on the sleeping bags we stock. 

Don’t forget….A sleeping bag is only one part of ensuring your child stays warm at night.  A good quality sleeping mat can significantly help reduce heat loss.  Also extra layers of clothing i.e. long sleeved thermal tops and leggings help to keep the heat in.

Overall if you are planning on taking the family camping we recommend that you kit your kids out with good quality sleeping bags.  Look for: quality brands (you get what you pay for), a more technical shaped “mummy” design, if possible consider the equivalent adult bag temperature range as a guide to compare bags.  Also get thermal sleeping mats (not air beds) and remember spare fleeces, thermals, socks and hats to layer them up at night…..and plenty of food!

Being ‘green’ is very much at the forefront of people’s minds. We spend a lot of time looking at our cars, utility suppliers and recycling schemes to try and reduce the impact we make. Sometimes however it helps to take a look at the simple ideas…

I was watching my daughter run around the garden today in a bright blue fleece jacket. She’s had it a while and to be honest, I haven’t paid it much attention. But as she was running around I realised that the jacket was a hand-me-down from some friends….and if I’m truthful, it was probably handed down to them too. Now, it’s a little faded, but it still keeps her as warm as the day it was bought and she couldn’t care less where it had come from or how many previous owners it has had. The fleece has lasted this long because it’s a well made piece of clothing from a reputable manufacturer. There’s no reason why she won’t be passing this on when she outgrows it.

It makes you realise that it’s a lot greener to buy a well made piece of clothing, wear it and then hand it down within the family or give it to someone else. It saves on expense, car journeys to the shops, the carbon-footprint of manufacture and just a general drain on the planet’s resources. After all a lot of outdoor clothing and equipment is made from plastic-derivatives, which of course, come largely from oil and fossil fuels deposits.

Read the rest of this entry »

It seemed like a pretty daft idea 18 months ago, when trying to find our new born baby a lifejacket that would allow us to take a boat trip as a family… After trolling through yellow pages and a number of search engines, we finally found a proper lifejacket: the Baltic Bambi Supersoft, designed specifically for babies under 6 months: We couldn’t believe how difficult it was!

It started us both thinking and taking a long hard look at what adventure-kit was available for parents. Whilst many sites could sell you kids’ waterproof jackets and walking boots, nobody seemed to cater for the more ‘adventurous’ side of life: sports like climbing, sailing and canoeing. Those that did, had a very limited selection and were often out of stock.

Read the rest of this entry »