Evenflo Crosstown Soft Portable Travel Gate
by Evenflo
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List Price: Our Price: $34.38 You Save: $5.61 (14%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Category: Baby Product See more product details |
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Baby Products Reviews of Evenflo Crosstown Soft Portable Travel Gate
Customer Review: Good Price for the Size of Opening it Covers
Summary: 4 Stars
I love the neutral colors. The sides are brown and the mesh and top and bottom are tan. The included travel storage bag is nice (it is about 39.5" long and 11" wide and has a carrying strap). The gate is approximately that size when folded for storage or travel and is only as thick as the gate (about 1.5"). The fabric sides/mesh middle of the gate cannot be removed, only spot washed. I imagine you can wash the travel bag but I have not tried and I didn't see any washing instructions. The gate is easy to put up (it's all one piece/ no assembly) and works great for my 42" opening at the bottom of my stairs. I even have a baseboard that it works with since the top and bottom bars can be adjusted separately. There are bars in all four sides which helps keep it sturdy. The top and bottom bars are spring loaded and have rubber ends that grip and protect your walls. Although I do think it is easy to install, I do have to mention that it is not intuitive. We took this gate on vacation with our extended family and no one could figure out how to take it down or put it up unless I showed them. It does take a few steps in both the putting up and taking down process. It is held mostly by the spring loaded bars but then you have to twist another part to tighten it the rest of the way. Not difficult, but not intuitive. I don't like taking it up and down all day because it takes some time and both hands. I don't really like stepping over it either, but that is what I have been doing. For this large of an opening and this low of a price for such a large opening it is a good deal. Just be prepared to either step over it a lot or spend about a minute or two every time you want it put up or taken down.Customer Review: just right and no installation
Summary: 5 Stars
We purchased this gate after buying a metal one with defects that had to be sent back. We had already owned an older version of this gate for our older kids and decided to go with it again. The new model has more neutral colors (the old model was purple and white) and with a greyish mesh does not show dirt. It also has a more sophisticated opening mechanism (I assume because of changing safety standards). It holds in place well and expands to be used with many different sized openings, a big plus for a military family that moves to a new house every couple years. It also doesn't need to be installed and doesn't require any tools or holes in the walls. It's a great price for a gate that fits a wide space between rooms.
The downsides are not deal breakers in any way. Being fabric with a mesh gate area there can be snags that happen, our old one was used for several years and ended up with a handfull of small snags in the fabric over that time. The parts that adjust the size are now more involved and require the instructions be read to understand how to work it, the old one was easy to figure out. It's tall and must be climbed over. I'm 5'4" and I can just barely get over it. Our older kids, who are allowed to go in the rooms the gate is blocking off, cannot get over it and must be lifted over it or walk around through another part of the house. The old model had short sides that could be removed so the top bar could be put a couple inches lower but this one has built in locking sides so the height cannot be adjusted. It must be installed above the baseboards, which adds to the height.
Customer Review: I think I really want to like this gate
Summary: 4 Stars
I purchased this gate for a 60" wide doorway. It works by extending the upper and lower bars to the appropriate length. As you pull, the bars will lock until you release them by pushing a lever in the middle. After extending the bars and locking the vertical sides in place, the gate is then pressure fitted against the doorframe with an additional "screw" type handle on the end of each bar. Unfortunately, the gate we received was faulty and the lower bar would never lock into place. I think this may be one of the problems that some other reviewers are having as well. That being said, I called Evenflo and they are sending me a new gate without any hassle. Once I get it I will have to return the mesh part of the gate only (as proof of destruction). The gate seems well made and I believe will work very well.
It DOES fit a 60" wide doorway. Also, it is extremely compact when folded and you could easily transport it.
If my new gate works, then I'll stand by my 4 stars and maybe even say 5 stars. Really it seemed perfect if it hadn't been for the locking problem.
UPDATE: I received a new gate from Evenflo very promptly and without any hassles. It works fantastic for my large opening and we've been using it for a month now. Initially setting up the gate is a bit laborious, but not unexpectedly so. When I take it down from my opening I actually do not fold it up, so it can go in and out in about a minute. Great product.
Customer Review: Useless
Summary: 1 Stars
After spending a frustrating hour or so trying to install this gate, my husband and I quickly decided to return it back to Amazon. We brought it to confine our puppy when we need to leave her alone in the house, and wanting something easy to setup and store away we went for the Evenflo Crosstown Soft Portable Travel Gate, thinking it would be the ideal solution.
Firstly, this gate did not fit our standard sized doorways. We'd been hoping that as the gate was advertised as being a travel gate, it would fit both small and wide openings. Not so.
Gladly, the gate did fit our hallway, so we decided to set it up there instead. Unfortunately, this soon led us to realize the biggest problems with this product: it is extremely awkard to assemble and put away.
The buttons are concealed beneath the thick fabric, which is slippery and difficult to grip. The buttons themselves are awkward to locate and hard to push. The instructions are astonishingly lengthy and were vital in order for us to figure out how to put the gate up. There was no way I could manage to put this up myself (my husband did it for me).
It wasn't very easy to put back into the travel bag either. It took both my husband and I to get it back in there! We heaved a sigh of relief when it was packed back away, and returned it back to Amazon immediately. Not a good product, at all.
Customer Review: Works and is Inexpensive.
Summary: 3 Stars
Our boy is 10-months old. He loves to crawl. He'll be walking soon. It was time for a few gates in the house. My wife and I looked around and selected the Evenflow Crosstown pressure-mount gate as a start for his bedroom door.
When we attempted to put it up, we found that it was too wide for the door. It's our fault for not measuring first, but keep the dimensions in mind if you purchase. Fortunately, it could be installed from the hall walls outside the door and that worked just as well. It was a real struggle to install the first time. All the controls are under the cloth and are very awkward to use. We had difficulty getting both the top and bottom rails installed with the same pressure. If the top was tight, the bottom was loose and vice versa. Finally, it was installed and works rather well although it is rather awkward stepping over with the baby in our arms. It opens wide enough that we probably can install it several other places in the house and, as he grows, we'll probably do just that. Fortunately, no screws or anything like that are required. It's portable so we can take it with us when visiting other houses.
I have mixed feelings about this gate. Right at the moment, I wouldn't buy a second one. However, it serves it's purpose and it was relatively inexpensive.
Gary Peterson