Superlight design, with rugged good looks and high utility combines to make a winner.

The Superlight is designed to handle a good sized load comfortably, and it does.  It smartly positions the weight on your back, allowing you to get in a grove and cover some mileage with junior riding shotgun. Easily adjustable straps make trading off between parents a cinch, though switching from my 6’3” frame to my wife’s 5’2” hits the outer limits of the one size fits all capacity.

That the Superlight offers as much storage as it does, while living up to its name, is nothing short of sweet mana from heaven for the hiking parentals. Safety is top notch: five point harness, padded chest plate, plus adjustable seat allowing you to position little heads in line with yours, avoiding the otherwise inevitable knockout blow with low lying branches.

A removable rain/sun shade can be handy, though it could have a bit more coverage for those Joshua Tree hikes.

Our boys love this thing and it’s always a little hard when one gets too big for it and has to let his little brother ride.  I have to say it loos like a sweet ride back there.

As a bonus there’s a compartment in the back that doesn’t look like it was purposely made for a water Platypus bladder, but holds one perfectly and we take advantage of that on every long hike.

The Skinny:

• USE – Does what it says it does, and as well as it says it.
• AFFORDABILITY – These packs will be a little high, unless you can find one on sale or second hand. We found ours on sale for $100, and at that price I felt it was a no brainer.
• SIZE – The Superlight is slightly smaller than the regular Rumba, and the negligible trade off in storage space it worth it.
• SIMPLE STYLING – I really like this pack, almost tempted to wear it around even without a kid in it.
• SANITY – We were looking for a carrier to take on a hiking trip and this one was sharper, better designed, and comparable in price to a lot of carriers out there.

I’d swear we keep having kids just so we can keep using sweet equipment like the Rumba Superlight.  Sherpani got it right in spades.