With the Bjorn, Armstrong says, "You put it on and hook up one side . . . then the other arm . . . a couple of snaps and you are in. It is brilliant." The Bjorn is his No. 1 favorite piece of baby gear. But he's also proud of being the first of his friends to discover Huggies Disposable Changing Pads, a handy little item that has already saved grandma's carpet on two occasions.

As opposed to Armstrong, Mike Lamb is probably more of a gear-head. He was spotted on a recent morning in the Salt Lake REI sporting goods store, deep in conversation with a clerk about Yakima racks. Car racks. The kind you buy to carry your bike, skis and kayaks.

While Lamb talked racks, his 9-month-old, Eva, lounged in the top berth of what is surely one of the most complex strollers ever built. (Several seats. Compartments galore.) It's a Jeep stroller, Lamb explained. And, yes, he admitted, he loves this stroller and other nifty equipment that comes with fatherhood.

Lamb and his wife, Jacqueline, just took Eva and her big sister to Disneyland, where the Jeep stroller was great in crowds, because it is narrow — tall and long — as opposed to the double-wide jogging strollers that some people try to use on jammed walkways.

Not that joggers aren't cool, too. On a nearby aisle of this self-same sporting goods store languishes a jogger that bears the official sanction of the Ironman competition. (You want to talk sturdy?) It is bright yellow, costs $335, and comes with accessories such as a hydration system and a weather shield.

The Lambs own a jogger, but it is big enough for only one child. They are currently trying to decide if they need to buy a double jogger. How many strollers does their family really need, they wonder?

Armstrong believes you have to keep your perspective. Baby equipment is much more functional and rugged and appealing than it was when he and his wife were babies, he says. Still. Do you really need a $500 crib? Do you have to own the same kind of stroller that Gwyneth Paltrow owns? The Armstrongs try not to be too trendy, he says. "We are really kind of cynical about some of this."

Meanwhile, Greg Allen is having a lot of fun talking about equipment with other dads. They discuss the latest baby bottle the way they used to discuss the latest Palm Pilot. He sometimes wonders if dads would be less involved in caring for their babies if there weren't all this cool equipment.

Yet when you see a photo of the two of them together, of Allen with his first child, he is staring down at her with a look that clearly says she is the most beguiling creature in the world — with or without her accessories.

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E-mail: susan@desnews.com