Inexpensive all-terrain strollers?

Hi,

My hubby and I have taken up Geocaching, which involves some very gentle off-road hiking, with our 2-year-old, and our regular stroller is not really up to the challenge. We don't want to spend a lot of money, but I'd like something that's capable of handling dirt trails and sometimes grassy areas. We won't be doing any major rock-climbing or anything like that; we just need something that can handle unpaved and occasionally bumpy ground.

My budget is pretty non-existent for this purchase, so I'm hoping to find maybe a decent used stroller or a bare-bones model that can handle the bumps. Last time we took our umbrella stroller, so I don't really need fancy features (though a canopy would be a nice bonus).

I just don't want to buy a cheapo supposedly all-terrain stroller and find out it really wasn't meant to be used outside the mall. :)

I don't know much about the brands, since the two factors that led me to this board are a)my hunt for this stroller and b) my fondness for Baby/Toddler Bargains, so please be kind to a newbie and avoid acronyms when possible.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Andrea

[momathome]

The Kolkraft Jeep Liberty is a 3 wheel air-tired all-terrain stroller that I think sells for between $100-140 and can be found at Babies R Us - it has a lot of nice features and while you can't jog with it, you can definitely walk with it on hiking trails and the like. The Instep Safari is another low-end all-terrain stroller that a lot of people like - there are a lot of online stores that sell this. Hope this helps!

[kellyotn]

The Schwinn/Insteps (they have swivel or fixed) are nice and easy to find IRL. Check www.froogle.com for deals, or I've heard a lot of people bought them off ebay....

There's also a Safetech single on ebay. Safetechs were discussed in an earlier thread (the double version). Bascially they are a UK stroller (www.mothercare.com) being sold on ebay under the Safetech name. :-) The Safetech single is a fixed wheel and about $100 if I recall.

HTH,
kelly

[tarahsolazy]

My DH is an avid geocacher, and takes DS with him all the time. They have hiked about 300 miles together in Forrest's first year. He uses a backpack carrier though, a Kelty Ridgeline. He used to use a Tough Traveler Stallion, which was also a nice carrier, but we upgraded to the Kelty for Father's Day this year. You can find lots of gently used backpacks at consignment stores and ebay. It seems lots of folks buy them and don't use them as much as they thought they would!

[knaidel]

okay, sorry to hijack: what's geocacher?
Sounds like a lot of fun, whatever it is.

Geocaching is basically a high-tech treasure hunt. You use a hand-held GPS thingy to find latitude & longitude coordinates (and sometimes clues) to lead you to a "treasure" (usually trinkety things).

More info at http://www.geocaching.com/faq/ if you're interested.

As for the backpack, we have a non-frame backpack and although my son likes to ride in it for awhile, he gets tired of it after a bit and wants out! He's much more patient in a stroller.

What are the advantages to swivel vs. fixed wheel, or vice versa?

[Leo]

A swivel wheel is really important if you need to take tight turns around corners such as through aisles in a store. The fixed wheels are preferred by joggers because they help keep the stroller straight at faster speeds.

It sounds like you won't be using this stroller to jog nor will you use it for shopping, etc. In that case, either should work for you.