After much researching online for booster seats, we went for an afternoon of boisterous comparison shopping with our almost 4-year old daughter. Coming from the perspective of nice experiences all-around with Britax Roundabout models up till now, we figured it was natural that she was gravitating to the Britax Parkway in each store visited. She said it was most comfy and kept wanting to sit in only the Britax for each store that had one out to try. It also seemed to offer the best support (almost confining) for a sleepy kid's head compared to other brands and models, though it unfortunately appeared rather tough for her to look outside a window or see someone sitting next to her . . . without moving her head forward, out of the support area, that is.

In our last store of the day, we saw the Combi Kobuk in Opal for the first time and my spouse immediately guessed that would be our new booster seat. It just had the build, cushioning and installation characteristics all-around which we had been looking for, all appearing very well made and smartly designed for ease of use on a daily basis.

Testing on an in-store demo car seat with the Kobuk showed that seatbelts fit perfectly around our daughter due to design of the seat's shoulder and armrest guides. It had a confidence-inspiring fit and taughtness that was remarkably simple and not at all an effort to achieve - an experience that was overall superior to what we felt with the Britax Parkway, Graco Deluxe, Compass B500 and Evenflo Big Kid Everest. Frankly, these are all fine booster seats, but the Combi just stood out in terms of installation confidence for us parents, while apparent ease of acceptance by our daughter rang through to solidify the sale. Oh, and it looks neat, too.

She rode home in the Kobuk from the store, and after we pointed out the basics of a shoulder belt and buckle, she then soaked in the experience and noted matter-of-factly how she could see out the window. She fell asleep about 10 minutes into our ride home.

Our daughter is toward the smaller end of the size criteria for this seat, but her head generally rested on the side of the head support until I came to a stop for tolls (at which point her head fell forward, like in any seat), though it came back up naturally to rest on the side of the head support for the remainder of our drive.

To summarize, this was a very simple installation that felt quite solid and inspired confidence for newbie booster-seat owners like ourselves. Plus, there was enough padding and shell-like design for comfort and hopeful added safety in case of side-impact jostling to further make this feel like a safe choice. Our daughter can hop into it quite readily, and the cup-holder - although there's only one - accepts even her larger diameter travel/sippy cups.

We have one Kobuk in each car now, and would recommend trying them out to anyone shopping for kid's booster seats.

The www.combi-intl.com website apparently has an up-to-date store locator, as it helped us find one only 15 minutes away from home.

My 5 year old sat in a Graco car seat for a couple of years after graduating from a Britax roundabout. We were happy with the Graco, but as my son has gotten older and heavier, we have found the Graco car seat to be cumbersome getting in and out of because of the unadjustable and undetachable arm rests.
br /
br /We also travel a fair amount with both of our sons, and shlepping both the Graco and Britax with us on and off the planes has been very awkward.
br /
br /I found this Kobuk Booster at the local Toys R Us and thought we would give it a try. We have had it for just one week, but my 5 year old and the rest of the family really appreciate it. The arms are adjustable, making it easy for my son to get in and out of his seat independently. (I no longer have to hoist him into the backseat.) The headrest is padded well for extra comfort. The booster is also lighter than our Graco or Britax, but the most amazing thing is that it folds up into a compact package, which is much easier to carry and transport when not in use! The other bonus is that it sits higher than the Graco, which means that my son gets a better view of the outdoors, and I can see him better from the front seat.
br /
br /I am so satisfied with this booster, I am buying another for my 3 year old and will transfer him straight from the Britax to the Kobuk.

I have to admit that, second only to my kids' safety, my goal was to find a black booster seat to better fit the black leather interior of my sedan. On that score, the black opal Kobuk wins points for style. It's also extremely easy to manage, tucking away neatly into the trunk when not in use. From the standpoint of safety, it seems to have all the essentials. The horizontal shoulder belt adjustment is very useful for keeping the belt properly positioned on the shoulder and away from the neck. And the wings that wrap around on either side of the head and body give me some peace of mind, and give my four-year-old a place to rest his head. My son loves it too. He can hop in and out of it with ease, and the budding engineer in him loves the idea of the removable cupholder, which he uses to store his matchbox cars and the occasional Altoid. Overall, the Kobuk seems very well made, and the detachable back with the head rest that slides way up will make this the last booster he or his younger sister will ever need. (That is, until I give up my black leather interior.)

+ + + + + +
br / - Black colour of the seat is really practical. You almost can't see the dirt on it.
br / - Great look
br / - Superb cushioning
br / - Easy to mount
br / - Adjustable height; easy to adjust
br / - Great quality
br / - Really good price
br /- - - - - -
br / - the cupholder is a bit too wide and should be higher, it is also too angled towards the seat but the drink won't fall out; takes a lot of place, too

This booster is a good booster, narrower for my twins who are smaller than many four-year olds so they don't slide around in the seat too much. The boosters also fit in both my vehicles perfectly (vw jetta and bmw sedan) with a carseat in the middle for my two year old.
br /
br /My complaints for this booster are: in its description the width of the booster is only for the seat part, not the high back part which is wider than the seat by 3/4 of an inch(for those of us with 3 seats in the back that can mean the difference between safety and overlapping carseats), and when put together the high back section does not lock into place more securely. I have looked at other boosters that offer the seat and high back to be separated but only after pressing a button to release the locking mechanism. While carrying the booster from the car the seat part will flip down out of place if I don't support the seat and the back. This is annoying.
br /
br /My twins do like the seats; being able to buckle and unbuckle themselves. I have not used the cupholders for the boosters, so no comment there. The head rests help to keep their heads up while asleep in the seats.
br /
br /I would not allow my experience with the locking system of this booster to dissuade anyone from purchasing it. It is still a very good booster for people with smaller kids, and/or a need for more space in the backseat for other carseats.

After trying this booster for a couple of days with my almost 4 year old, I transfered him back to his Britax Marathon. Britax is higher, a lot more secure and much more comfortable for the kid. Safety-wise, I found that on longer trips my son would pull his arm from under the seat belt because he was not comfortable, which was not safe, of course. And sleeping is not nearly as comfortable for him as in his Britax. Overall, I am just putting this booster aside for a year or so. I think it is designed for an older child.

Bought this one, 3 years ago for my daughter who's now over 5 years old. She loves. Just bought the same one for my almost 3 years old other daughter. The reason is simple : I compared it to my friends car seats (most of them got the Graco...)
br /1- When I see my kid sleeping in there, rarely her head falls forward (ALL of my friends kids have their head falling... ok maybe it's a kid thing more than a car seat thing... :)!...
br /2- it's light, compact ...but to me, it looks more durable than the other booster seats and the seat itself is pretty large (larger than the other booster seat, so very comfortable as the child grows)
br /3- the cup holder does not fold inside the car seat (there's only 1 - down side compared to the other booster seats who have 2 sometimes) It can be removed and placed on the other side of the car seat.
br /4- the head rest - the sides are not too big so she can see on the side without wanting to go out! but big enough for holding her head...
br /5- the Egg Shock foam in the head area is also what helped me to make a decision - it's an amazing feature that only the Kokuk has (to my knowledge!...maybe now it's available on other car seats - not sure about that, but 3 years ago, it was the only one!) and after all, the reason why I got this car seat it's mainly to protect my child in case of a car accident
br /...After 3 years using it, I believe for all those reasons, this car seat would do a much better job in case something happens!

We bought two of these boosters to go in my Silverado right around Thanksgivingz. We have a 2.5 year old son and a 3.5 year old daughter. We have been using two Costco Alpha Omega boosters in out Yukon since they were about a year old.
br /
br /The Kobuk is much lighter, much sturdier, and has far superior belt placement for the kids. The height adjusts quite high (my daughter is already 3 1/2 feet tall!!) without sacrificing safety, and the wraparound head protection is comforting. It sort of reminds me of the well designed Porsche racing seats you find in a C4 turbo!! These seats have lots of lateral support and a firm belt system that securely fastens over the legs and adjusts to height and widths of a variety of kids.
br /
br /We like these so much - we are going to replace the two alpha omegas this month! No more sloppy belting and sliching kids - these are great!!

I read the reviews prior to purchasing this seat. It is true that the seat does not offer much cushion, but I am not worried about that. Overall it is a good seat which will grow well with my child.

Love the look and feel of the seat! My son loves it too, and feel like a real big boy that he gets to use the grownup seat belt. Only challenge is when he falls asleep in the seat he slumps all over the place like a sack of potatoes. So sad (and, yes, sometimes quite amusing) to watch. COmbi might think of a specially shaped complementary cushion to sell/give with this for just such a thing, instead of sending owners to research and try the cushion options available which don't quite fit.

I bought this seat b/c of all of the so-so cup holders and lack of armrests on the Britax Parkway. I have a very thin child and wanted something that she would be comfortable in. The seat is okay and definetly has more bells and whistles than say a graco high back (more sturdy, good strong height adjustment, shoulder adjustment strap to be used with just the base) my one complaint is that it is HARD HARD HARD. Also, we bought the sand color and is it more of a yucky light taupe that looks like it will get dirty in about 2 seconds. I think that we will revisit the Britax family.

This was our 5th and 6th carseat to purchase - starting with 2 infant carriers, then 2 creeper age seats and now 2 of these. Nothing really spectacular, except it seems to fit our [...]well. (52lbs) Since he is a little larger, we wanted to make sure it would allow some room to grow. We love the cup holder; however, it doesn't accomodate the Gerber Sippy Cups that we use (with a wider base). Additionally, this is NOT a very comfortable seat to take a nap. The sides of the neck rest provide zero comfort and my son looks SO uncomfortable when he is sleeping in this seat. Proabably wouldn't buy another one, but we are not TOO disappointed to buy # 7 8 car seats.