Steelcraft Agile Travel System

Posted by Diana on Friday Sep 14, 2012 Under Baby Travel

Leaving hospital with a newborn is a momentous day for any new parent. The capsule for my Baby’s first car trip needed to be of the highest safety standard, be light-weight and comfortable for my newborn. The Steelcraft Infant Carrier is designed to meet all relevant Australian and New Zealand Safety Standards. At 3.75kg the carrier weighs less than my newborn, making it a realistic option for any new Mum who wants a light-weight high performance carrier. It transported the newest member of our little family home from hospital with ease.

The Steelcraft Infant Carrier is packed with design features making it wonderfully comfortable for my newborn girl who is still developing her head and neck strength. The capsule features a snug inner seat pad plus Head Support, Harness Pads and Crotch Buckle Cover.

The base and the capsule are really simple to install in your car – making life easy for new parents with enough going on in their world. The base is well labelled with simple instructions. A belt cover at the rear of the base allows you to feed the seat belt through the holes each side of the base. The base allows for a 3 position base incline for a better car seat fit and even has a well labeled red guide-line on the base to help you with installation. Check the manual in the base for a detailed guide to installation.

The carrier fits into the base in a rearward facing position and hearing the ‘click’ indicates the capsule is engaged. You can simply pull the capsule handle to check it is fully engaged. Clear instructions on the capsule show you how to install the capsule and attach the upper anchorage strap around the carrier to the car’s anchorage point. And you’re all done ready to drive.

The Steelcraft Infant Carrier performs as well fitted into it’s base in the car, as it performs fitted into a compatible stroller. The Steelcraft Infant Carrier isn’t just compatible with the Steelcraft Agile Stroller but with other Britax strollers too! An Infant Carrier Compatibility Chart is available on the Britax website to show compatibility between carriers and their stroller counterparts. I love the concept of a travel system – having a compatible stroller and carrier so you don’t have to wake Baby to transfer her from car to stroller. The Steelcraft Infant Carrier allows a one-handed release for the multi-tasking parent. The ergonomic handle has been designed to allow the capsule to be easily carried on your forearm – another design feature I adore as a busy parent.

The Steelcraft Agile Stroller includes adaptors for travel system use. An indicator panel near the capsule handle changes from ‘red’ to ‘green’ when the capsule is securely fitted onto the stroller. This helpful feature gives a new parent piece of mind that we’re good to ‘Go’ and stroll when the indicator is ‘Green’. The capsule fits in the stroller in a rearward position with your baby facing you. It is reassuring to see Baby’s face while in the stroller and make eye contact when Baby is awake.

Both the Steelcraft Infant Carrier and the Steelcraft Agile Stroller feature generous extendable canopies. Another advantage of the capsule being rearward facing, is the canopy of the capsule and the canopy of the stroller nearly meet in the middle, offering double sun protection for Baby’s precious skin. The sun canopy on the stroller has a removable flap for additional air circulation. A Peek-a-boo window with a quiet magnet closure ensures you can see Baby even with the canopy in use. A canopy pocket allows easy storage and access to items like water bottles and mobile phones. While the shopping basket underneath can carry up to 4kg.

When the stroller isn’t being used with the capsule it is still an awesome vehicle for transporting little ones. The stroller is light-weight at just 7.5kg – yet it can carry from newborn to 22kg! This demonstrates the well engineered and high performance nature of Steelcraft Agile Stroller. The maneuverability of the stroller is fantastic with front lockable swivel wheels. It has handled well on all surfaces, grass and pavement on visits to our local playground. I was able to steer the pram one handed and hold my toddler’s hand with my free hand. The brakes on the rear wheels are linked, so one push on either rear brake will apply the brakes to both wheels. The Steelcraft Agile Stroller has been designed to meet the “Prams and Strollers – Safety Requirements” Australian and New Zealand standard AS/NZS2088.

The standout feature for me of the stroller is the one-lift fold. It is so quick and simple to fold the Steelcraft Agile Stroller with two simple steps. Step 1 – Press the red button on the right side of the stroller and Step 2 – Lift the strap located in the seat. It is that easy to fold this stroller. To unfold the stroller, release the automatic lock and swing open the stroller until you hear the click of the auto frame lock.

While the Agile Travel System is compatible to fit the Infant Carrier, the Stroller and Carrier are sold separately. The Stroller is available in a range of colours, including Black, Red and Forest. The carrier is available in Shell, Red and Forest. I like the neutral tones of my Shell Carrier and Black Stroller. To find out more on the Steelcraft Agile Travel System and the recently launched Agile Plus Travel System, visit the Britax website.

 

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