Composition: 55 % cotton, 45 % Tencel
Weight: 297 g/m² declared by the manufacturer, 283 g/m² counted by us
Size: 6
Back cross carry
Do you sometimes have the feeling that basically all the wraps of the world are woven in Europe, too? And that the number of countries in which you can name more than one manufacturer could be counted on one hand? And that everything else is kind of exotic, including the USA?
No wonder, Americans are massaged by the ‘dangler’ (i.e. non-ergonomic carriers) manufacturers such as BabyBjörn much more than any other nation. Even such a wrap ‘giant’ as Tekhni sells its products on Etsy. I have a slight notion about Kindred, but mainly thanks to this particular wrap that has been traveling among the Czech wearers from the group Nosíme děti (i.e. We wear our babies) as a tester. Hereby I want to thank for the opportunity to try the wrap!
Similarly to Tekhni (which I am a big fan of – here is an article about my beloved Tekhni Alpha Cinder), Kindred is very consistent when it comes to composition of their wraps. Tekhni loves Repreve while Kindred puts Tencel in most of their wraps and does not hesitate to use a LOT of it. However, unlike Tekhni, Kindred patterns are very conservative – simple stripes, polka dots, geometry. Only the Hawaiian Pāʻia (named after a town on the Maui island) and the folk Tiburon are exceptions; however, speaking of colours, no rainbows or neon gradation; everything simple, subtle, elegant. Regarding the looks of Pāʻia itself, I need to pay it a compliment – there are not many wraps that really suit basically anybody (as I saw in the photos of the previous testers). It is very delicate, subtle and feminine. Although I am not particularly crazy about the hibiscus blooms in this realistic design, this shade of lavender/lilac is the only type of violet I really like.
As far as its properties go, I must admit that I was not particularly amazed. It is very soft to touch, it even has fine hair (and due to being broken-in, maybe even over-broken-in, the hair almost looks like it should not be there) and the tying was fine. But as in all these ‘a-lot-of-Tencel’ wraps, it is too slippery for my taste. The longer I babywear, the more wraps with Tencel I tried and the heavier my child is, the stronger is my feeling that this blend is not my cup of tea. Most of ‘a-lot-of-Tencel’ wraps feel a kind of flat on one’s shoulders, too little elastic and a sort of heavy, even despite seeming thin at the first touch. The only exceptions from this rule are Dekka’s Nikos and Loktu She’s Isolda and Caribic – but they do not contain that much Tencel and moreover, their weave is substantially different than Kindred’s. It is laudable that Tencel has thermoregulatory properties which could be a motivation for a lot of people to buy such a wrap ‘for summer’, but as I always say, when it is hot, one will sweat like a pig in anything and no super-dooper sophisticated blend can prevent it.
So what does a ‘flat heavy too-little-elastic wrap’ mean to me while wearing it? Certainly discomfort. Although Kindred held in the carry quite fine, despite being slippery, even if I finished the carry with a sling ring, I did not dare to wear a single layer carry with 10kg Emilka. I only estimate that if I did, the vengeful wrap would try to amputate my arms. All in all, Kindred was not kind to me so I cannot be kind to it. For me, the American no. 1 in the wrap world is still Tekhni.
