Mr Lools and I have two issues with all of our double side by side pushchairs. Firstly we visit his parents who live 140 miles away quite regularly and although we need to bring the pushchair with us it doesn't get used often. But it does take up boot space, which is also needed for the huge amounts of other items we need to bring with us, which at Christmas includes a large amount of presents! Secondly both Mr Lools and I hate taking one child out in the double pushchair for "fresh air", due to the number of passers-by who seem to feel the need to ask why you are only at half capacity and have a seat spare. So it was suggested to us we purchase "cheap" single strollers, which could be carried in the foot well in the back seat of the car, and also meant we could easily take the boys out separately without drawing too much attention to ourselves. After a search of new territory for us (single pushchairs) we opted for the Obaby Escape.
***OBaby Escape Stroller***
The Obaby Escape is considered more of a stroller than a pushchair because of its basic lightweight nature. Obaby actually describe this as "ideal for those holiday getaways" and a "value" product. It is a simple and compact umbrella folding stroller. The features of the Obaby Escape include a multi position seat unit which ranges to completely upright to lay almost flat. However because this stroller does not lie completely flat it is only suitable for babies of over 6 months. There is an adjustable 5 point harness to hold your child in the seat. The stroller also has lockable front wheels
The stroller is made from a wipe clean fabric and has a detachable hood to clip onto the stroller. The stroller has a shopping basket and included with the stroller is a PVC raincover.
The stroller is extremely lightweight weighing 6.4kg and is extremely compact both folded (its dimensions are h104 x w26 x d19cm) and unfolded (its dimensions are h100 x w47 x d78cm).
The Obaby Escape is available in three different colours, Black, Candy Floss Pink and Turquoise. As always I opted for the safe black colour.
***Stockists***
The Obaby Escape is available from a number of retailers both online and instore. Large retailers such as Boots, John Lewis, Halfords and Tesco stock this product in addition to other smaller retailers online. The stroller is available in black from all of the larger retailers, but the turquoise and pink models are only available from Halfords and Tesco.
***Cost***
I paid £35.66 per Obaby Escape from Boots. I purchased online and this included free delivery. For us price was a very influential factor over why we purchased this pushchair over others on the market.
The price of the Obaby Escape varies quite dramatically between retailers if you search online. There are online baby stores selling the Obaby in brand new condition for £35 and other retailers such as John Lewis, Halfords and Tesco selling this for £49.99 . Very are currently selling this stroller at £62 not including delivery so it is worth shopping around for.
***Using the Obaby Escape***
The Obaby Escape is a very simple stroller to assemble and fold. It is a simple umbrella folding stroller. To assemble you simply need to unfold then press down with your foot on a lever. To fold you need to pull up a lever then push down with your foot on another lever and then the stroller is in its folded position. Both actions take less than 10 seconds to do and can be done using one hand. One issue I do have is that if the hood is clipped onto the stroller it often comes unattached when folded so needs clipping back into place when you reassemble the stroller.
The Obaby Escape is a very simple looking stroller, however for £35 I was quite impressed that although it looks basic, it does not look overly cheap or poorly made. As I purchased in black it just looked like a standard stroller.
When folded the stroller is very compact and easy to store. I can easily store two of these strollers in the boot of my car, along with a full weeks food shopping and there is still room in my boot (a 59 reg Seat Leon). I can also fit the strollers in the foot wells of my car very easily. These are great for those who have a car with little boot space or don't have room to store a bulky pushchair. The height of the pushchair handles can't be adjusted. I'm 5ft 5 and find the handles a great height if I'm wearing flat shoes however if I am wearing heels the handles feel slightly too short and I feel as if I'm bending over the stroller when pushing it. The handles are made of hard plastic but do feel quite flimsy in comparison to other pushchairs. When holding the handles of the stroller you do feel it is basic or a "value" product as described by the manufacturer.
Manoeuvring the stroller is relatively easy. Because it is very lightweight this makes it easy to manoeuvre. In terms of steering it is not the best pushchair to manoeuvre but not the worst. I find it easy enough to manoeuvre around the shops however if I need to change direction quite quickly it is not as easy as some of the other pushchairs I own to do so. However the Obaby Escape is over £100 cheaper than any other pushchair I own so I would expect this! The stroller is very compact as not very wide width ways. Obviously I am used to pushing a double pushchair but even for a single stroller at 47cm wide it is a narrow option.
For around the shops and on pavements the Obaby Escape is perfect. Although the stroller has small quite cheap feeling wheels on smooth ground the ride of the stroller seems fine. On rough more bumpy terrain such as grass or off road I would not recommend the Obaby Escape at all because of the wheels. This would be a very bumpy ride for your child and very difficult as a parent to push because of the small wheels.
The position of the pushchair seat can be adjusted very easily using a strap on the back of the seat. This is very easy to do and you can have your child completely upright or lying back almost flat but not quite. I find the fully reclined position is flat enough to let my boys sleep comfortably but obviously because it does not lie flat you could not use this for a baby under 6 months.
My boys are comfortable whilst sat in these seats; however there is hardly any padding on the seat itself. This makes the stroller lightweight but comfort wise, for long periods of time I personally wouldn't use the stroller for my children.
The 5 point harness is very easily adjusted because the straps are quite soft. I only started using this stroller when my boys were 11months old (they are the size of average 5 month old babies however) and found that the harness even when on its smallest setting is quite roomy if they are not wearing a coat. If you are using this on a small six month old baby you may find that the harness on the smallest setting may actually be quite roomy. The release button on the harness needs to be pressed quite hard which is useful if you have older toddlers who try to release themselves.
Over the seat the stroller has a detachable hood. This simply clips to the frame of the stroller. It can be pushed completely back so it doesn't cover your child or pulled forward so it provides some shade. The hood itself is quite small therefore I feel it doesn't provide full coverage of your child from the sun. Personally if I was using this stroller whilst out in the sun or on holiday, I would purchase a separate parasol to provide coverage from the sun. The issue I have with the hood is that when the stroller is folded then assembled if the hood is clipped to the stroller it often detaches itself, meaning you have to clip the hood back on. This only takes 30 seconds or so, but if you want to assemble the stroller quickly (for example taking it out of your car in the rain) it is a bit of an annoyance.
The stroller has a mesh shopping basket underneath the seat. This is enough to place a bag of shopping within it. The shopping basket is reasonably sturdy and because it is positioned quite high up on the stroller frame, even when placing heavy items in the basket it does not drag on the ground as you push the stroller.
The Obaby Escape comes with a clear plastic raincover. This is satisfactory and is compact enough to fold up and keep in the shopping basket for when you may need it. It attaches to the stroller very easily. It is quite flimsy feeling so you need to take care not to rip the raincover with sharp items. Because it is quite flimsy I find that if I am using this on the stroller when it is windy, it flaps around a lot and feels that it may lift off the stroller.
***Overall***
For Mr Lools and I, the Obaby Escape suits our requirements and I think it is a brilliant secondary pushchair/ stroller. It is great to use around the shops and for short walks. It is extremely lightweight, easy to set up and fold and generally a convenient stroller to use as a parent, with the features you would expect such as shopping basket, hood and raincover. The other great advantage is that it is cheap product. Both my boys seem comfortable enough in this stroller for short walks or trips to the shop.
However as a main pushchair I would probably not recommend the Obaby Escape.
As this is a relatively cheap product the quality is slightly poor. Although it satisfactory the stroller has quite a cheap look to it and it feels quite flimsy especially the frame of the stroller. It does not have all of the features that you get from more expensive pushchairs and for longer periods of time I don't think that it offers total comfort for your child, due to the padding on the seats being light. The wheels are also very basic so over rougher terrain this stroller would be a very bumpy ride for your child.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Also posted on Dooyoo 2011~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Escape easily with this (O)baby! 
Finally back :D x