When I was asked to review the Koo-di Pack-It Universal Raincover I was so pleased. I had always wished there was a way I could take my raincover out and about with me in case of a surprise rain shower without it taking up so much room. The problem is that raincovers are normally so bulky that you either have to leave the house with the cover already on the pram (which is no good if it is sunny) or if you try and take it with you then the cover takes up the whole of the basket underneath the stroller….then you have no space for shopping. The worst thing is when you decide NOT to take it and then , as you know, it decides to rain!
Luckily I can say that the Koo-di Pack-It raincover has solved the problem! It all packs away into the little pouch and then it has a loop that can then be hung over your pushchair handle. If you have a pushchair with a single bar handle then you can still hang it over the handle as the loop has a press stud that allows you to undo the loop and then do it back up over the handle. The pouch is part of the raincover which is great as you can’t then lose the pouch. Unlike them little pouches for umbrellas …I always seem to lose those!The raincover is available in black or red and retails at around £19. I was sent the black one to review. I’m not sure which my favourite would be. I love the red one as it is so vibrant but I know that black is much more practical as it won’t show the dirt as much.
The raincover is very easy to get out of the pouch as you just pull it out. Once you have it out of the pouch it just velcros around the frame of the pushchair and pulls over the hood and then velcros down the side. Here are some photos of it on my OBaby Atlas stroller.
 |
| This photo shows the velcro tabs. |
 |
| This photo shows the raincover velcroed down the side of the pushchair. |
The raincover is made from a waterproof material and it has a plastic window that allows the child to see out. The window is velcroed shut or it can can be rolled up if you wish. 
The window is rolled up and then kept out of the way by a little length of material that goes through a loop and then press studs back on itself. I really struggled to work this the first couple of times but I’ve now worked out the key is to roll the window up very tightly in the middle to allow the press stud to fasten. I found this window very helpful as I could even lift my daughter out through it.
There are mesh ventilation windows on the side and on the back of the raincover near the handles the built-in pouch turns into a pocket. This is handy for putting a bottle or dummy in, etc.
This raincover is very lightweight and as it folds into a small bag it is so much less bulky than the original all plastic cover that came with my stroller. I would say that I still prefer my usual plastic raincover for day to day use when it is already raining when I leave the house as it is easier to put on as it doesn’t have any velcro tabs to fasten, etc. However this is a great raincover to have in your changing bag, in the car, take on holiday or take with you on a shopping trip, just in case it rains. My daughter was perfectly happy with the raincover once it was on but at first she didn’t like me draping it over the pushchair to fix it into place. I think this is because the fabric is so dark and she doesn’t like the fact it blocks out the light momentarily whilst I’m trying to put it on.However I have now solved that problem. I now velcro the bottom of the cover onto the frame and then it only takes a second to pull it up and over the hood…thus she doesn’t tend to cry now.
 |
| Photo showing the difference in size between the the Koo-Di cover and my original plastic raincover. |
I’m afraid I haven’t had an opportunity to use it in very bad rain as I tend to avoid going out at those times but when I have used it on those drizzly days the raincover has performed perfectly well. One thing I would say to bear in mind is that this cover will completely mask the design of your pushchair. This is a good and a bad thing really. It is good because it means that any dirt will go on the cover not on your expensive pushchair but the bad thing is that no-one can then see the design of the pushchair. In my case I bought a floral girly pushchair and I like to have it on show as much as possible…so if I decided to use this raincover all the time I’d never get to see the loveliness of my pushchair… which would be a real shame. Also, my pushchair has a viewing window in the hood and when I use this raincover it blocks off the the window and I cannot see my daughter from behind the pushchair.
Overall I highly recommend this raincover as it is so compact and easy to use. It takes up less space than a conventional raincover and is easy to put on. This is something I probably wouldn’t pay £19 for but I would definitely keep my eyes out for it in a sale . The cheapest I have found it for today is £14.99 in Red at Boots.com. I would definitely pay that price for the raincover as it makes life with a little one that little bit easier and that is worth £15. Plus as a bonus you’d get Advantage card points if you bought it from Boots!
I’m really happy to have been able to try out this Koo-di product and I’ve looked at the Koo-di website and it seems they make some really innovative products. Some of the other things they sell in the Pack-It range are the Pram bag, Seat Harness and the Hip Carrier. All of those items pack away into little integrated pockets so they too take up little of your much needed space in the stroller basket.
