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Long Term Report: Pacific Outdoor
Equipment Kid's Mini Chair
Date: November 27, 2006
Child
Tester
Information:
Name: Daykota Hartley
Age: 2 years, 8 months
Gender: Male
Height: 3 ft 0 in (.91 m)
Weight: 30 lb (14 kg)
E-mail address: c/o Ma-Ma
Relation to adult tester: grandson
Location: within 10 miles of Ma-Ma's house
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Adult
Tester
Information:
Name: Pam Wyant
Age: 49
Gender: Female
Height: 5 ft 5 in
(1.65 m)
Weight: 165 lb (77
kg)
E-mail address: pamwyant(at)yahoo(dot)com
Location: Western
West Virginia, U.S.A.
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Backpacking Background:
I love being outside. I have been day-hiking with my Ma-Ma since
I was about four months old, in all sorts of weather, and have went
tent camping with her
once. This summer she plans to take me camping more times, and I
hope she will take me on a short backpacking trip. I can carry a
small day-pack of about 5 lb (2 kg). In addition to lots of
snacks, I like to bring some of my toy car collection. When I
camp with Ma-Ma, we sleep in a tent.
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Backpacking
Background:
Finally pursuing a
long-time interest, I started backpacking 3 years
ago. I've progressed from day-hiking
and single overnights my first year, to weekend trips the second, and
finally
to a 7-night trip on the Appalachian Trail in Georgia this year.
I
hike and backpack mainly in the hills and valleys of West
Virginia,
and generally use a hammock sleeping system.
For a two-day trip my typical pack weighs 22-30 lb (10-14 kg) including
consumables, and I’m still trying to lighten that a bit.
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Product
Information
Manufacturer: Pacific Outdoor
Equipment
Year of manufacture: 2005 (according to
tag)
Date of Delivery: July 21, 2006
Listed weight: 18 oz (515 g)
Weight as delivered: 17.6 oz (499 g)
Listed Dimensions: 12 x 25 x 0.5 in (30 x 63 x 1.25 cm)
Dimensions as delivered: 11.75 x 25 x 0.5 in (30 x 63 x 1.25 cm)
Color: Sunshine (Yellow, Orange, and Black)
Manufacturer Website: www.pacoutdoor.com
MSRP: $15 USD
Product
Description
The Kid's Mini Chair is a folding foam padded seat with a
backrest. The chair is covered in a tight woven polyester fabric
and has stiff stays for support in both the seat and the back.
The chair is bright yellow and orange in color, with a black bottom and
black printed nature scenes on the front and rear. Adjustable nylon straps (1 in or 2.5
cm wide) with quick release plastic buckles securely hold the sides of
the chair in 'sitting position' or can be unfastened to allow the chair
to become a pad, and the bottom straps can also be wrapped around the
backrest to hold the pad together for carrying via the webbing loops at
the top of the chair. For a more complete description of the
materials and design, please see our Initial
Report.
Field Testing
Conditions
We used the
Pacific Outdoor Equipment Kid’s Mini Chair tent camping in western West
Virginia on family property, day hiking on an old dirt county road, and
at a family cookout, at elevations from 600 to 900 ft (175-275 m)
in temperatures from 50-70 F (10-21 C) and in western North Carolina
lounging in the yard of a rented cabin. Daykota also used the
chair indoors watching TV and
lounging around.
Use/Findings
 We've found the P.O.E. Kid's Mini Chair easy to carry and
set up. Although Daykota can't yet adjust the straps or open the
buckles on his own, he can fold and carry the chair by the
handles. Being a very active 2 1/2 year old, he rarely stays in
the chair for very long, but he seems to enjoy carrying it around,
plopping down in it, and jumping in and out of it. He also likes
using it as his own sleeping pad, and it provides enough core
insulation to keep him comfortable in temperatures at least down to 60
F (15 C). It might keep him warm in lower temperatures, but
Ma-Maw hasn't been quite brave enough to take him out in colder or wet
weather at his age. It's easy for him to move the Mini Chair
around from one side of the tent to the other and back, and back again,
and back again, well, you get the picture of how a night sleeping in a
tent with an excited young grandson goes. The only thing I would
like to see improved is a way to fasten the straps under the chair when
using it as a sleeping pad, since they do tend to flop around when he
moves it and when he rolls off the pad he sometimes ends up laying
uncomfortably on top of the buckle.
He also enjoys using the chair while he watches television - and
enjoying a snack in it makes it even better. The chair is firm
enough to provide support for his back, while soft enough to conform to
his shape and provide cushioning from the hard floor.
One thing we discovered is that it fits quite well on the back of
Daykota's child carrier - I just ran the longer bottom straps behind
the removable day pack on the child carrier, which held it in place,
and fastened the two shorter top straps together, which kept the chair
closed. It was very easy to carry in this manner and accessible
for our rest stops. I could also carry it fastened to my smaller
daypack by attaching the chair handles to the grab handle of my pack
with a mid-size carabiner, although it did tend to flop around a little
bit as I carried it.
The chair has held up well, with only a few signs of a little dirt and
grass stain on the black bottom surface and no real wear. Daykota
seems to be easily able to keep his balance in the chair when he wants
to, although he often has fun tipping it over backwards on purpose just
to act silly. One thing we appreciate is that the chair fabric
appears to be breathable, since he doesn't get sweaty while sitting in
it or laying on it.
Overall the Pacific Outdoor Equipment Mini Chair appears to be a winner
in Daykota's eyes and we anticipate several more years use before he
passes it down to his younger brother. In fact, I somehow
anticipate the need for a second chair in about a year as his one year
old brother gets old enough to notice the nice cushy chair Daykota is
using.
Likes
–
Cheerful color
Easy to convert for carrying, sitting, or lying down
Daykota enjoys using the chair
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Dislikes
–
Straps on backrest are too short for the pad to lay flat
if they are fastened together.
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Thanks to Pacific Outdoor Equipment and BackpackGearTest
for
the
opportunity to test the Kid's Mini Chair!
Read more reviews of Pacific Outdoor Equipment gear
Read more gear reviews by Pamela Wyant
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