B Porter

I've got a chance to use this twice this summer for beach day trips and I love it. It sets up on about three minutes with beacoup overhead shade for the family. Enough room for 4 adults and some wee ones. My only suggestion for improving would be to add about two feet to the support poles. For pitching in sand I highly recommend using some sand/snow anchors.

Outstanding Daytripper. My wife and I got this for short hikes (about 4 hours or less) with our 11 month old. We have yet to go longer than 2 hours, but I think we should be able to this spring.

Pros: excellent suspension, kickstand can be used by 1 parent (scary the first time), easy adjustment for the little guy, rain/sunshades is pretty durable and super fast

cons: limited storage. If you take your little one solo there is enough space to hold 1 bottle, a diaper change kit, and a jacket for him. Solo I've only taken him on hikes max 1.5 hours . If you can rig a water bottle carrier for an adult you could push a bit further. Otherwise you have to get by with what's in your pocket.

In the grand scheme of things the weight savings and compact nature of the kc1 are worth it to me. Of you feel you need more space then look at the Kc2 or kc 3

I have a small 22 and overall it's a great multi-purpose pack. As other reviewers have mentioned there is minimal jostle when moving at speed from my experience mountain biking & bicycle commuting. I'm a huge fan of the blink patch and that was one of the influencers in purchasing the pack. My one beef is that the stuff panel on the back is just a bit too small for a bike helmet (then again I have a big head), you can make it fit, but it's a pain. All in all defintely not a deal breaker. The mesh pocket is handing for keeping the necessities handy and the stretch pockets on the pack straps fit a cell phone perfectly (again handy to have when riding home at night and the wife calls). The right side stuff pocket and tool holder have worked for me to hold my fleece when I think I'll need it handy. The right side stuff pocket and tool holder also looks like it would be just about perfect for my 6 foot 3 WT fly rod, which would be amazing for the Shenandoah Valley streams. I also have images of me lashing my 2 piece paddle on the side this summer for ocean kayaking trips, or my surfcaster with a cold six pack to balance everything out as I head down to the beach. It's a given too that for the family trip to the park, it can't be beat.

I use this for bicycle commuting. I must wear a suit and tie in the office, I had been using a garment bag pannier from Performance cycle on my rear rack, but the thing weighed a ton and I could never fit everything I needed neatly. So I switched up my plan and used this to carry my suit and shirt, and put my shoes, skivies, belt etc in my back pack (an Osprey Talon 22) and I'm much happier. I bungee this thing to my rack and my suit and shirt are wrinkle free when I arrive at HQ. One downside is that it's open to the elements, but if I could always wrap it in a poncho and bungee it. Bang for the buck you can't beat it!