Online Outdoor Gear Retailers

Here are a collection of online stores selling outdoor equipment in the U.K. I know that there is a list on OutdoorsMagic.com but I plan to add my experiences of any of these with which I have had dealings. Many have bricks and mortar stores as well and I will admit to visiting some of these too.

Part of the same group as Millets but serving a slightly different market sector, their bricks and mortar shops have seen me more often that their online variant. My North Face Nuptse jacket was bought at their Manchester branch but I have been known to buy at other ones too.

When I became in need of new boots last year, the Manchester branch of Cotswolds was where I sourced my Scarpa ZG10’s. I also believe that I might have bought my North Face walking trousers from their online store too but I can’t remember for certain.

I can’t say that I have bought much from these people, save for a pair of North Face trail shoes. Saying that, they seem to be stocking North Face’s replacement’s for their ever practical Paramount Cargo trekking trousers. Having the franchise for North Face stores, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that they have a good selection of goods from that particular manufacturer. Nevertheless, they feature merchandise from other big names too and Berghaus, Gregory and Osprey are among the list.

I probably have bought more from this ever pervasive emporium than I care to admit or remember. Apart from the non-delivery of a Magellan GPS receiver by Royal Mail, most mail order items made their way to me without incident. Two pairs of my favourite hill trouser, North Face’s Paramount Cargo, were got from them as were a now defunct pair of Salomon Nubuck leather boots.

These are the people who sold me my (blue) Osprey Atmos 50 after a spot of tick-tacking with them. I found the service friendly and efficient with the pack arriving to me within days of I putting in the order.

It’s a name that appears over the door of number of outdoor emporia so it needs to be said that this one is in Dublin, Ireland. The site is the online branch of the bircks and mortar shops.

This lot are everywhere and, though they may not have much outdoor cred in the eyes of some, I must admit to picking up a few items from their stores, one of which is in Macclesfield. These days, I limit my shopping there to things like water bottles, socks, laces and other odds and ends.

Their shop in Fort William has seen me a good few times over the years and is more than an outdoor gear emporium with a bar, a cafe and a souvenir shop all under the same roof as the outdoors stuff. The Sprayway Commanche jacket that I use for going to work when it’s wet came from here as did the overtrousers that bale me out when the heavens open.

The words "Corrán Tuathail" are anglicised to Carrauntoohil, Ireland’s highest mountain, and it should come as little surprise that an outdoors retailer is based somewhere nearby, Killarney in this case.

I bought my Rab Latok from these people and it took a long time to arrive; the less patient would have given up and gone elsewhere but I put the delay down to waiting for new stock to come in (I placed my order in August). They did send me the wrong jacket first but that was soon put right.

I have only ever been to their shop on Rose Street in Edinburgh but that hasn’t stopped me parting me with money there. It was where I acquired my first ever pair of trail shoes (made by Columbia as it happens and I still have them though they look the worst for wear these days) and I was later tempted by a Lowe Alpine Walkabout 35 going at a knock-down price in a sale.

As time goes on, I should be adding to this but there may be times when the list on Outdoors Magic will have a few more stores on there.