Deuter Kid Comfort Active SL Child Carrier Review
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Deuter Kid Comfort Active SL Child Carrier Kidpacker Rating: 78/100
Updated: May 02, 2021
Deuter Kid Comfort Active SL Child Carrier Summary
At Deuter, they want to ensure that the products they offer fit the needs of everyone. That’s why they offer an SL line of backpacks specifically designed to fit a woman’s frame. Created specifically by a team of designers and engineers, the Deuter Kid Comfort Active SL is sure to provide a more tailored fit and better overall experience for a woman.
This pack is essentially a replica of the Kid Comfort Active, but the shoulders, torso, waistbelt and padded hip fins are all designed to more appropriately fit a woman’s body.
Deuter Kid Comfort Active SL Child Carrier Scoring Summary
Deuter Kid Comfort Active SL Child Carrier Pros and Cons
Extra Soft Padding
Especially surrounding the child cockpit
Rain Cover Available
Allows for use in adverse conditions or cold weather
Sunshade
Not included but may be purchased separately
Adjustable Torso
Ensures a great fit especially for women
No Hip Belt Extender
Which may not accommodate everyone who may want to wear the pack
Limited Gear Storage
Only 12L which is less than most competitors
Sunshade Design Could Use Improvement
Price
Considering the features offered, this pack may be overpriced
Deuter Kid Comfort Active SL Adult Comfort: 9/10
As mentioned above, the Kid Comfort Active SL is essentially the same pack as the Kid Comfort Active, but designed specifically to fit a woman’s frame.
The Deuter Active series of child carrier backpacks is their lightest weight version in their child carrier series. The Kid Comfort Active SL strives to optimize weight first and foremost but, comes at the cost of a few extra features.
When it comes to comfort, the waistbelt and shoulder straps are well padded, and covered with a perforated mesh to help wick moisture away and keep you cool. The back panel utilizes a ridged foam with a mesh covering. This isn’t quite as plush as the Kid Comfort or Kid Comfort Pro models, but it is plenty comfortable. Overall, given this pack is meant to fit a smaller variety of body sizes, this pack should fit most women much better than the hybrid packs designed to fit both men and women.
Deuter Kid Comfort Active SL Fit Adjustability: 9/10
The Vari Quick suspension system on the Deuter Kid Comfort Active SL is easy to operate. By unlatching the velcro, you simply slide the shoulder harness up or down to fit your body type. This adjustment is quick and fluid, and securely fastens into place.
Generally, we would rate fit adjustability lower because there is no hipbelt extender included. However, given that this pack is designed for smaller body frames overall, we give the lack of this feature a pass.
What we really like about this pack is that, despite it’s smaller range of fit, it does fit certain body types much better than other packs. Specifically, if you are looking for a pack that will fit a woman that is, say, 5’-2’’ or shorter, this is your pack. Most hybrid packs designed to fit both women and men just do not have enough adjustments built in to fit shorter adults effectively. A great resource for sizing a backpack is from REI and can be found here.
Deuter Kid Comfort Active SL Child Comfort: 9/10
Similar to the other Deuter child carrier backpacks, the Active SL has a very plush child cockpit area. It is well padded and is then covered with a perforated mesh that helps wick moisture away, and allows for good air flow. This is critical for those long warm summer days. Children can get hot in baby backpack, and the Deuter design helps to ensure your child is comfortable all day long.
This baby backpack also includes a removable drool pad. This is a great feature due to it being washable, which will inevitably be needed at some point.
Foot stirrups come standard on the Deuter Kid Comfort Active SL. When your child is young, this might not be a critical feature, but as they grow, the foot stirrups are a must. They help ensure your child finds a comfortable sitting position with good circulation.
The child seat itself has an ergonomic design. It easily slides up or down as your child grows. When they are young, you can slide the seat up high to ensure they have a great view of the world as things pass by. Over the years, simply slide the seat down to adjust for their growth.
Deuter Kid Comfort Active SL Child Safety: 9/10
As mentioned above, the child cockpit is well padded and plush. Combined with the wide drool pad, your child will be well protected from bumps along the trail.
The Deuter Kid Comfort Active SL comes with a five-point safety harness to help ensure your child is securely fastened into the back. Through a series of easy to operate buckles, you can quickly adjust the harness to fit your child.
The waist strap on the belt rests a bit lower than most, and we like that. It helps keep the child nice and snug in the pack.
Deuter Kid Comfort Active SL Sun Protection: 4/10
A sunshade is a critical part of child carrier backpack. Children’s skin is very sensitive and tends to burn and damage very quickly. Unfortunately, the Deuter Kid Comfort Active SL does not come with a sunshade. However, you can purchase it separately.
There isn’t a great spot to store the shade when not in use, but the best spot is in the lower rear compartment. To install, you place two pegs in the rear of the pack, fully extend the shade and pull it forward, and secure it into place directly behind the shoulders with two drop down straps.
We will be honest, we don’t love the design of this sunshade. When the sun is high in the sky, from approximately 11 am – 2pm, the sunshade provides good protection. However, the rest of the day, when the sun is at a lower angle in the sky, nearly full sun is in contact with your child. There are no side panels on this model, which is the main issue. We love some features on this pack, but we would like to see the sunshade included and come with a few design enhancements.
Deuter Kid Comfort Active SL Nap Effectiveness: 6/10
A good nap is critical for everyone. Not only does it provide the rest your child needs, it also provides a little peace and quiet, which is never a bad thing. Good news, children generally get great naps in a child carrier backpack.
The Deuter Kid Comfort Active SL gets middle of the road ratings for nap effectiveness, mainly due to the lower quality sunshade. With limited sun protection, children tend to get hot with direct sun and take a much shorter nap.
Also, the lack of side panels on the sunshade means that the child doesn’t have a great spot to rest their head if they want to lean to the side. For sunshades that have side panels, your child can rest their head on them, somewhat like a hammock for their heads. It provides enough support for them rest comfortably for an hour or longer.
However, when your child is young, they will most likely nap leaning forward. The SL model has a nice soft, drool pad for your child to rest their head on, so no issues there.
For the pack that offers the best sunshade and gets the top scores for nap effectiveness, have a look at the Osprey Poco Plus and Osprey Poco child carrier backpacks.
Deuter Kid Comfort Active SL Gear Storage: 6/10
There are no storage differences between the Active and Active SL. Both are pretty short on storage options.
The Deuter Kid Comfort Active SL prioritizes being a lightweight backpack which comes at the cost of gear storage capacity. With only 12 L of total gear storage, you really don’t have enough space to pack everything you need for a full day trip. However, if you have someone else with you, they can pack some of the gear, but if you plan to travel solo or want to avoid having to carry an extra backpack, you might want to look at other models such as the Osprey Poco Plus, Kelty Journey PerfectFIT Elite or the Thule Sapling Elite.
However, the Kid Comfort Active SL does come with some storage. Below the child you’ll find a decent sized storage compartment sealed by a drawstring cinch. We don’t love a drawstring closure as it provides an opportunity for items to fall out. And when a child is involved, you’ll always have extra small items that are prone to falling out of a pack. A hydration bladder can be placed in the lower storage but, we prefer a designated hydration bladder sleeve as this takes up valuable storage space.
On the upper rear portion of the pack, you will find a large mesh stuff compartment. This spot is plenty large enough for extra clothing layers, jackets, or toys.
The main complaint when it comes to storage really isn’t the overall lower capacity, but that there isn’t even a spot for a full sized water bottle. The only spot for a water bottle is in the lower compartment, which means you will need to take the pack off to get a drink, or have a partner grab it for you. This pack includes one zippered hipbelt pocket for small items such as chapstsick or keys.
Deuter Kid Comfort Active SL Extra Features: 9/10
The Deuter Kid Comfort Active SL offers a rain cover that is sold separately. Even though the rain cover has to be purchased separately, we are all for it. We consider this to be a significant extra feature.
Although we did use a rain cover a few different times for rain and thunderstorms, we found that we primarily utilized rain covers for cold weather and windy days. When it was most obvious that it was going to rain or storm, we would typically plan ahead and make sure we were inside and off the trail by the time the storm popped up.
However, the real game changer is to use this full pack rain cover when it is cold out. We would frequently wrap our son in a blanket inside the pack, securely clip on the rain cover and voila, he was easily 15-20 degrees warmer. The same goes for windy days. To keep your child from getting wind blasted when out in the mountains, the rain cover does a great job of protecting them.
The primary reason we rated this pack so highly on extra features is that it is a baby backpack carrier for women! Having been designed with women in mind is definitely a unique feature that differentiates this baby backpack carrier from the rest of the pack.
Deuter Kid Comfort Active SL Durability: 9/10
No issues when it comes to durability and longevity of this pack. Similar to their other top of the line backpacks, the Kid Comfort Active SL is constructed utilizing high end materials and is built to last.
The Deuter Kid Comfort Active SL child carrier backpack comes with a 2-year warranty, which helps give you peace of mind.
Deuter Kid Comfort Active SL Value: 8/10
The Deuter Kid Comfort Active SL typically sells for $100 less than Deuter’s top end model, the Kid Comfort Pro, but does so with quite a few less features. Despite this, we believe the Kid Comfort Active SL provides a good value opportunity, primarily for females that are looking for the perfect backpack fit.
No doubt about it, the Deuter Kid Comfort Active SL is built for women/smaller frames. This pack has numerous anatomical design considerations built in to help ensure that it properly fits the female body. If you are looking for a child carrier backpack that will absolutely fit your smaller body type, this is the pack for you. Specifically, if you are female with a more petite frame, this is likely one of the only child carrier backpacks that will meet your needs.
However, for those women 5’ – 4’’ and up, you will likely be able to get a suitable fit out of the hybrid packs that are constructed to fit either a male or female. Certainly once you get into the 5’-6’’ range and taller, almost all of the hybrid backpacks will fit well.
The biggest downside to this pack is the lack of storage. If you are looking to take longer day trips or utilize the pack for a full day of exploring a new city while traveling, you might want to consider other options that have more storage options like the Osprey Poco Plus or Thule Sapling Elite. However, if you are primarily looking for a child carrier backpack to take on short hikes or trips around town, this child carrier backpack is a winner.
The Kelty Journey PerfectFIT Signature and Elite models also provide great options at a reasonable cost.
If looking for a highly versatile pack built in a bit more of an economical fashion have a look CleverPlus Urban Explorer.
About The Kid Packer
Here at The Kid Packer, we want to help you live your best life. A great baby backpack child carrier can help you do just that! After having used a child carrier backpack for over 1,500 miles of adventuring and exploring, we have a passion for them and know what makes a great pack that both you and your child will love. We hope our comprehensive research allows you to confidently find the right backpack for your needs!
