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Review of the Britax Advocate 70

It’s raining tonight, so I had time to sit down and pull together my notes from our look at the Britax Advocate 70.  Typically we reproduce part of the manufacturer’s product description as a starting point for our review and comparison.  For this seat however, we are going to focus in on the most important aspect, which Britax calls “360 Degree Protection:”

“BRITAX 360 Degree Protection
The BRITAX ADVOCATE 70 features technologies that work to minimize injury to your child during a crash from any direction, including both frontal and side impact crashes – the most frequent types of crashes. These technologies work together with other features on the car seat to minimize injury to your child during a crash by:

• keeping your child in the vehicle,
• diverting crash forces away from your child,
• helping to slow down your child’s body,
• minimizing movement of your child,
• and protecting your child’s brain and spinal cord.”

What this means to you, the parent:
Re-read the section above more than once and it is apparent what Britax is marketing on one thing:  Safety.  They achieve this in several ways which we cover below:

• SafeCell Technology – Britax’s patented SafeCells are built into the base of the car seat which are designed to compress during the impact of a crash to absorb a large part of the force exerted on the seat.  This has the effect of reducing the frontal impact AND “forward rotation of the car seat.”  In simple terms, it slows down the rate at which your child’s head is moving forward, the instant after impact.

• Side Impact Cushion Technology – If you take a close look at the side padding on the Advocate 70, you will find noticeably thicker padding than comparable seats offer.  Britax reports that this extra padding reduces side-impact forces by 45%, and will keep your child’s head, neck and spine aligned in the event of a side-impact crash.

• Click & Safe Technology – The harness on the Britax Advocate 70 is designed to overcome one of the most common mistakes parents make when putting their children in a car seat:  not appropriately adjusting the harness, either too loose or too tight.  With Click & Safe Technology Britax provides an audible indication that the harness is properly adjusted, so you can be sure your child is properly secured in the seat.

• Versa-Tether – We have covered this in other articles, and are always impressed with the ingenuity of this design.  These tethers are designed to release incrementally in a crash to slow the forward movement of the seat, and again protect your child’s head and neck from whiplash.

See the video below for a quick review of the safety features of the Britax Advocate 70:

The take-away:
Every time I am asked to look at a Britax seat, I am reminded of an elementary school science fair where the children are asked to design a safety shell for the egg-drop.  Everything about this seat is designed to absorb energy and minimize impact on the child.  I can just imagine the Britax engineers wrapping their egg in cotton and bubble-wrap preparing for the dreaded 10-foot ladder drop!

This seat is a little more expensive than it’s contemporaries in the convertible seat category, but the safety improvements are easily worth the premium.  You simply will not find a more safety conscious car seat on the market.  If you are considering the Britax Advocate 70, I recommend you read more parent reviews (which mostly echo what I’ve written in this article) by following our trusted link below to Amazon, where they are currently offering 26% off: