phil&teds traveller

You may already know the phil&teds traveller portacot… if so, you’ll know that they are light-weight and easy to use. Recently, the traveller has had a facelift and we got to try out the brand new model.

I’m liking

The old model was light but this version is even lighter – weighing in at 3.2 kg – lighter than the baby, phil&teds suggests ;). The most immediately obvious change is the use of mesh on all sides and this is one of the reasons for its super, light weight. The carry bag seems about the same size as the previous model but the lighter material means that it’s also easier to pack in the bag.

There is one design modifications that I *really* liked: The mattress no longer goes into a pocket – it simply sit on top of the base. One of my issues with the previous model was that I didn’t like the way that your child slept directly on the canvas base. The mattress in the new model now comes with a cotton cover so that your bubba has something a bit nicer to sleep on. Yah!

The bag also has pictures showing how to put it together sewn into the label, which is helpful. I’d have to say that I’m not sure that they would be totally clear if you didn’t already know how to use the cot but, as always, phil&teds has great online instruction videos.

Things that made me go hmmmm

I liked the fact that the old model had a mesh cover for the top. It was great for camping and also meant that I could safely drape a blanket or towel over the top to make it dark. I’d feel more hesitant to do this without the cover. You can buy a cover to go over this portacot – I haven’t seen it but if you are going camping etc it might be worth investigating.

The locking knobs on the legs were very stiff on the model that I tested – I had to resort to jabbing them with a key to get them undone. I’m assuming that they will loosen off over time.

The conclusion

Lots of great improvements on a family favourite. We’ve used our old-skool traveller loads and it’s still going strong and I think this new version has addressed some of the issues I had with the previous model. It’s also been thoroughly safety tested so you know that your bubba is in good hands! Nice work, phil&teds. You can see more here: http://philandteds.com/nz/Products/Sleep/traveller