With space being a significant consideration when taking off on an Overland Adventure, compact and functional baby essentials are key to bringing along the comforts of home in a Overland friendly sized package.
A stroller can be an indispensable tool when traveling with your little ones. Any time you leave your vehicle in an unknown area, you have to be prepared for whatever can come at you. This often means loading up some emergency rations, clothing for changes in weather, and plenty of supplies to help take care of any baby needs. A stroller frees you to carry some of this gear, and also provides a means for transporting some of it.
Our choice of compact stroller was the Kolcraft Cloud Plus Lightweight Stroller. This stroller has appeared previously as the Jeep Cherokee Sport stroller and received Jeep branding in that collaborative promotion. The Jeep branded version of this stroller is not currently being produced, but Kolcraft released the exact same version without Jeep branding in the form of the Cloud Plus shown here.
The Kolcraft Cloud Plus Umbrella Stroller is compact and affordable yet a bit more rugged than your typical umbrella stroller. This is notable in the construction of the wheels, and a few extra features that make it more versatile. For example, a suspension was added to the front wheels, which are All-Terrain wheels, to handle more rugged terrain. The canopy is adjustable so that you can position it to block the sun under different scenarios and levels of coverage, and it has a peek-a-boo window so you can allow some sun from the top, check on the little one to see if they’re awake, or just play peek-a-boo with them to keep them entertained. It is one of the few compact strollers to offer a cup holder for both the parent and child (2 each, in fact), which can be useful to hold anything from bottles to sun screen or snacks. A hard foot rest that makes it easy to clean up muddy toddler shoe residue, is a big plus. The foot rest has grip bumps on it to help keep their feet in place, as well as help with removing debris from their shoes. In addition, the material can be completely removed for washing with just a Phillips head screwdriver in case it gets too dirty to hand clean.
One of the things that sets this stroller apart is that it offers a multi-position reclining seat. This is a great deal for long term comfort, and can be the difference between a happy tot and one that’s fussy to be taken out. It also makes for a better sleeping experience, allowing them to get in their nap without forcing you to tilt the stroller back on 2 wheels to angle them appropriately. Though if you do end up having to recline the stroller, it helps that a 5 point safety harness is a standard option. It’s slightly larger size allows it to handle up to 50 pounds, so it will provide you with several good years of use. Finally, it has a useful storage basket at the bottom that is easy to access and relatively large for a compact stroller. They pack all of these features in just under 12 pounds.
While this isn’t truly an off-road stroller, it will certainly handle a dirt path or a path with some rocks along the way (like the ones you find at National Parks or scenic areas that are somewhat maintained) better than your standard umbrella stroller.
