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JL Childress Ultimate Car Seat Travel Bag
We love this back pack car seat bag and now own 2 of them. The bags have been through many trips and have held up very well. The bag fits many different types of carseats -including our Graco infant seat & base and also our Britax car seat for the older child. It's pretty comfortable to carry on your back and wheel the rest of your luggage. When I was pregnant with our 2nd child, my husband put the back pack on and a baby carrier on the front. Both made getting through the airport escalators, etc. very easy. We don't use strollers on trips -it's easier to travel without them.
Mom tip -I like to use a clear zip bag (like the one you get when you buy a comforter or similar) to stow all their clothes, diapers, etc. in the same piece of luggage with the car seat. That way if they inspect that piece of luggage, they can see everything through the clear plastic & don't have to go through it quite as much (I also put small stuff in ziploc bags just in case they do so that they won't lose the pacifiers, etc.). Also, if you're going to put clothes in with the carseats, it's a lot easier to use a separate bag that you can quickly throw in on top of the car seat & take out as you're going to/from the airport.
Just make sure the backpack doesn't get too heavy because we've had to repair one of the bags after overloading it on several trips. Now we put anything heavy (like a Costco size can of formula) in our luggage. It's also smart not to weigh yourself down too much since you're carrying it on your back. I agree with one of the other reviewers -the center of gravity is a little odd because of the car seat so it is possible to get off balance if you bend over to do something with it on your back so be careful!
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Our Ultimate bag has survived multiple trans-Atlantic flights and 6+ Caribbean/European/US domestic flights per year since 2004 (it's now Aug. 2008). It has a few rips which are completely the fault of the airline (one looks like an actual knife cut it), which I've mended with duct tape, and still it keeps going. I absolutely cannot recommend it enough for its durability. By comparison, we purchased a 'cheap' alternative last year for our 2nd child. That thing was absolutely destroyed in one single trip overseas. The Ultimate Travel Bag is head and shoulders above its competition. I CANNOT RECOMMEND IT HIGHLY ENOUGH. If you want something with wheels I see that's an alternate model now. I would warn, however, the "other" bag we bought, it had wheels and those were the first things the airlines popped off.Best Deals for J.L. Childress Ultimate Car Seat Travel Bag
LOVE this car seat bag!Fits Britax Marathon convertible seat (which we love) perfectly, plus I can fit a few other items on the seat and still zips up without any problems, which is great for airline travel!
Before, I used it for a rear facing infant seat (baby trend flex-loc) plus the base when traveling by air, and that worked wonderfully as well! With the smaller infant seat, I could actually fit about 60 diapers, plus a small bag for all my baby's clothes for the trip, some toys, blankies AND still had room! I didn't even really need an additional bag for her! I think I may have packed some items in my own suitcase that were hers, but I always pack way more than I ever need.
Also great because airlines do not charge luggage fees for baby items such as car seats or play yards!! Woohoo! A way to beat the system and save some cash while on vaca, folks!
Love that this bag is padded you spend a lot of money on a good car seat and you want it protected while in the care of luggage handlers.
Straps are easily adjustable.
Never had a problem with the zipper, which surprised me, but it is actually quite sturdy.
Has been through many trips and has zero wear! Tough fabric!
Love the spot on top to put your information on it.
It is a little awkward to have on your back and it does bump you in the back of the legs, but I am also short at 5 feet 2 inches, so maybe a taller person wouldn't have that problem. I thought about getting one with wheels, however, I would already be pushing a stroller with my daughter in it and wheeling a bag or two of my luggage so I didn't want yet another thing to roll around.
It does get a little heavy on your back as well, but once again, I'm short and a very petite weakling so for an average person, I think it'd be fine! Also, keep in mind that you probably won't have it on your back for long if you're checking it with your other luggage. If you plan on gate checking it...Well, I think I would just recommend checking it with your other luggage!!
Would be great if it came in a few other colors, but black is fine, and it doesn't show dirt so that works for me. I just put a bright colored ribbon, bandanna, or unique luggage tag somewhere for easy identification. (Of all luggage, I do not want my child's carseat to be accidentally grabbed by someone else!)
When I'm not traveling, I use it to store our infant car seat and base, keeping it looking great and protecting it for future use.
Take it from a frequent traveler, the bottom line is this bag is awesome!
*******UPDATE********
We've had this car seat bag for over 2 years now and it's still doing a great job!
Most recently, on a trip to Phoenix from St. Louis, the zipper did pop open very slightly, however no items came out. I was concerned about it for the flight back home, but the zipper stayed shut, so I'm assuming it was an airline personnel grab that popped the zipper.
I'm still amazed at the durability of the fabric and padded sections. Very easy to get seat in and out. My only issue with it is it's very large and since it's padded (which I love), it's hard to get it to a more compact size while on vacation. Usually just leave it in the trunk or stash it in a closet so it's not a huge deal, but just kinda bugs me.
Still HIGHLY RECOMMEND this! LOVE IT!
****** ANOTHER UPDATE!! 12/2012 ********
We've had the bag for a loooong time now. Have used it from the infant seat to the Britax Marathon and now she is 5 years old and we just bought the Britax Frontier 85 FITS PERFECTLY in this bag! I am thrilled!!!! (If you have a Britax Frontier 85 Sict, however, I do not believe it would fit in this bag, but the original Frontier 85 fits great!)
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This bag is exactly what we needed for our Britax Boulevard. We didn't want wheels since our hands are already full pulling our wheeled luggage and pushing the stroller. So the backpack design was perfect. I wouldn't want to hike the Grand Canyon carrying it on my back, but for the walk to the ticket counter it was fine. Backpacks that are designed to comfortably carry heavy loads long distances are hundreds of dollars. I think this bag strikes a good balance between cost and comfort. Caution I knelt down to the floor to get something out of my suitcase and almost toppled over like a turtle! The car seat is so large is definately affects your balance.There is no sign of wear following our first trip with it. Construction seems sturdy and it is well paded.
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We use this product with our Chicco Keyfit 30 infant car seat. The car seat fits in this backpack. The best way to put the car seat into the backpack (in our opinion) is have the car seat attached to the base, and put the base along the side that will be alongside your back. When closing the zippers around the car seat, we find it to be a snug fit at two points, but it still closes without any issues (no breakage, no zipper damage).So here's the good points that we like about this car seat travel bag. It can hold a lot more stuff than just the car seat. We stuff a lot of additional things into this bag, it's crazy. The trick we find is to put the additional items into soft bags (plastic bags or those eco-friendly grocery bags), because the additionals would be easier to remove and replace during the security check at the airport. Rather than taking out additional items one by one, just having a bag or two to remove works better.
The last time we traveled, we had just north of 35 lbs of stuff in it (car seat included), and the travel bag worked fine.
So far, we've traveled a few times with it without a problem. We've gate-checked the bag twice, and we've counter checked-in the bag twice. One travel was on an international flight. Our last travel where we checked-in the travel bag unfortunately involved a layover and a flight transfer (so it was handled a lot), but the bag held up fine. From all of these travels, we haven't had any damage to our travel bag or to the car seat inside. I was a bit concerned during the times we decided to check in the travel bag at the airport counter (less for me to carry to the gate), but everything turned out fine.
Being able to toss extra stuff into this thing then gate-check it is really nice. It really expands the amount of stuff you can bring with you and not have to check in (then retrieve at baggage claim). Nowadays, it seems like the overhead compartments are smaller and smaller, and the airlines really wants travelers to check in as much of their luggage as possible at the counter. We can use smaller carry-on items (or smaller pullmans), and stuff the travel bag with items that we don't need during the flight (no liquids no sharps, of course). We (I) carry the thing on my back all the way down the jetway then hand it off by the airplane door, and the airline will stow the travel bag with the rest of the luggage during the flight. When we arrive and deplane, the travel bag is waiting for us at the jetway. Gate check-in. Never did it before, but now a big fan of it.
Another bonus feature of this style of bag is that it's a backpack. Having arms and hands free to carry or to address other stuff (a child about to knock something over, for example) is nice. It's not easy to spin 360° with it on or do the tango with it, but there is still plenty of movement possible. Hand and arms free though is key. Just be careful not to hit anybody with the bag when turning or when say, in an elevator.
We kept the plastic bag that it came in (which is zippered shut). When we are not using the travel bag, we pack it up, keep it in the plastic bag, and then just store it in the closet.
Overall, we like this product very much. No damage and no zipper problems. No rips (so far, knock on wood). Hands-free. Arms-free. Convenient extra space for gate checks. Works well with the Chicco Keyfit 30.
(Not sure how it will hold up with other car seats. Maybe other car seats are too big and bulge out the zipper too much?)
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