This is the best place to go to if you're looking for high quality hiking gear. You can trust…read moreeverything you by from this shop - just ask for a bit of advice. The shop staff are highly knowledgeable and helpful but you'll be lost for awhile first in the treasure trove of hiking and climbing gear. Absolutely fantastic and worth every minute you spend in this shop.

A great place to buy your quality/premuim outdoor kit. If they don't have your required piece of…read morekit, they will happily find an alternative or order an item in for you. A very pleasant shopping experience, with some great advice (rather than sales talk). You don't need to be an adrenaline junky to shop there.

A great store for people who like to go outdoors, climbing, fishing, camping, hiking. Whatever you…read morelike to do outdoors, you will find what you need here. Friendy people, great gear! Have fun, be safe!

I love this place. Excellent range, reasonable prices, and absolutely fanatical but friendly staff…read more Even better they have all the little twiddly accessories that a lot of other places don't have - the kind of things that are small, but can make a big difference. Very often specialist shops can have staff that think they are über cool for working there - not here, eager to help without being intrusive, and they chat to you about the product without trying to get you to buy - which is great - they provide the info and let you come to your own decision. This doesn't seem to be an exclusive to the Birmingham store - the Manchester one is similar. I'd thoroughly reccomend 10/10.

Ironically, this ugly warehouse-style building by the side of an urban road contains everything you…read moreneed to enjoy the great outdoors. It's recently been taken over and the new manager is really friendly and has introduced some new ranges, so it's well worth a visit. As the name suggests, the focus is on outdoors clothing and equipment, so expect fleeces, walking trousers, raincoats and walking boots. There's also a good range of camping equipment, ranging from tents to caravan gear, camping stove and dubious looking mountain food. Think Millets, but bigger. If you're not used to outdoor shops, it's great fun looking at the gadgets like 'sporks' (half spoon, half fork) and 'platypuses' (water bladders in backpacks with a giant straw). If you are used to outdoor shops, you'll be bound to find something here. I must confess to being a bit of an outdoors snob, but there are some really good bargains here, especially with waterproofs, and you can't go wrong with generic camping bits and bobs. There's even a new and improved rock climbing section with all the basics. It's probably the best place for rock shoes and harnesses in the area and the manager can give some very useful advice. There are sections for fishing, running, cycling and even skiing, and whilst this is in no way a specialist shop for any of them, it's big enough to have a reasonable range of basic items to satisfy the enthusiast's immediate needs. Go and buy lots of fun gadgets and look forward to your holidays, when living in a tent suddenly seems like such a fun idea.

A great place if you like the outdoors as the name implies. They have a great range of products and…read morealso offer a price match policy and they honour it. They offer a discount if you purchase one of there discount cards and it can amount to considerable saving for just £4.00 per year.

I must admit, I always thought Cotswold Camping was a bit twee, a bit cheap and a bit middle-aged…read more How wrong I was. This is a big, modern store with clothes and equipment for people of all ages. I was very tempted by their women's clothing, which ranges from outdoor casual to normal casual. It's maybe not the best place for highly technical clothing, but it's great for general hanging around the park type clothing, and fantastic for entertaining bored friends who've been dragged along with no interest whatsoever in the outdoors. Sadly the prices are the same as those for more technical clothing, so I couldn't justify buying one of their pretty skirts. I went to look at tents. They've got a selection of all sorts from lightweight to giant family jobs (for the families of giants, of course), but not a huge amount in each category. There was a very helpful shop assistant who took me outside and helped me assemble 3 tents. He didn't know much more than me about them, but was very polite, honest and keen to help as we fumbled around in high winds. I was especially impressed as he didn't look older than 15.

From the owner: At the Bicester store we are keen to help a variety of people whether it be finding boots for…read moregeneral walks around the local area or preparing your kit for a trek up Kilimanjaro. Our staff will be with you every step of the way to help you find exactly what you're looking for and at the same time making you feel as comfortable as possible and offer varying knowledge from their own experiences. This store is set in a prominent position on the outskirts of the ever growing and developing market town of Bicester. Access is simple with direct access through to London and Birmingham and by passing hotspots such as Silverstone on the A43 and the Heritage Motor Centre, Junction 12 on the M40. There are regular direct links through to London and Oxford by train and coach. Parking is free and there is a selection of other shops available to satisfy your shopping needs including a delightful cafe and restaurant with an adjacent indoor play facility for the younger explorers.

As an outdoor lover I think Oswald Bailey has high quality products and beats the high street…read moreprices for outdoor equipment needed for things like camping and hiking. I came in during a sale and thought the original prices were a costly but worth it and it was great to see high quality products at more reasonable prices. When visiting independently owned stores (especially outdoor specialists) I often find that the products aren't good quality and the shop is often cluttered and messy. Here it felt like they had a lot of things happening but store is very spacious and looks much more professional. Rather than piling things up on the floor, like many other stores of its kind, the staff have smartly attached items to the walls. The staff were polite as they greeted me and offered help soon after I walked in. They were also helpful by giving any information I wanted to know about the products.

Osawald Bailey is an outdoor specialist, located on station road in Solihull. I often find that…read moreindependently owned outdoors stores like these can be really horrible shops to try and use, they often seem to be very cluttered and unorganised. However, Oswald Bailey's is much closer to a professional chain such as Millets or something similar. They've laid everything out very clearly and have a lot on show without making it confused. Most importantly, they've got great prices, more than competing with the big chains, and always have loads of deals on. I recently bought two fold up camping chairs for just £20, and they're significantly better quality than similar ones I bought from B&Q last year. Highly recommended.

If you are an outdoors person, or just want to be well protected from the elements, then this is…read morethe shop for you. In here you will find everything for the great outdoors, from a box of windproof matches to the finest storm-proof tent. The friendly and knowledgable staff will advise you and guide you to exactly what will fulfill your needs. You never feel under pressure to buy, and all the staff members I have dealt with were quite happy to chat (other customers needs permitting!), and share some of their experiences using some, if not all of the equipmment they sell. Most of the staff are themselves lovers of the outdoors and can advise you on camping, hiking or climbing, and can give you excellent first-hand advice. All in all I can definately recommend this as a very worthwhile shop to visit.

Superior service I…read morerecently visited the shop in Hereford,what fantastic service. I was after a pair of walking boots and I was offered at least 5 different pairs to try on with no pressure to purchase a particular brand but just given terrific advice. I eventually purchased some AKU Pilgrim boots and couldn't be happier even though to look at they may not have been my first choice they are fabulous. If you want impartial no pressure advice on walking/ hiking/climbing equipment I would be amazed if it gets better than this.

Ah the sound of seagulls over head. The smell of pasties, ice cream and the feel of salt spray in…read morethe air. It's great to be beside the seaside... wait, we're in Redland. For me BeachShack has to be one of the most peculiar placements for a surf shop I have ever seen - a block of sexy bright yellows and blues on a street of otherwise fairly standard inner city shops. Having said that, it works. The shop fits in, is always busy and yep - I dig it. Anything you could possibly need in the world of surf, beach and water sports can be picked up here. If you're a serious windsurfer looking to completely revamp your kit or just a sun chaser looking for a sexy new bikini - you will receive the same level of expert customer service and value for money. Reef sandals, dry suits, rash vests and so much more - just no Devonshire ice cream.

Peculiar, a surf shop selling all the things any sea-faring, wave-surfer could need. The exterior…read morecertainly brightens up Kellaway Avenue, blue and yellow certainly remind you of sun, sea, sand, and surf but it slightly falls short of transporting you to the salty air of the seaside. I would think the shop would be more fitting situated near the harbour at least, where there is some water in sight. That said, the shop is always bustling and seems to do very good business. Probably because there is such a vast selection of goods for anybody wanting to hit the beach. It is not an elitist shop only there to serve surf enthusiasts willing to spend over £100 on a dry suit. The shop sells swimwear, goggles, flippers and sun cream. A perfect place to go if you want summer seaside attire, without the pricey cost.

Shop is fine. Prices are good so long as you pay for their membership card. Staff are pleasant…read more But oh my God pray you never have to deal with their head office customer service dept. They are completely incompetent and lazy. I ordered some jackets online for my family, in several sizes to try. Kept 4, returned 6. They processed the refund at three different prices - for the same jacket in different sizes. When I pointed out their error I just got a "we refunded this correctly" email. I'm now 12 emails in to this conversation and they're still doubling down. No attempt to explain why they're applied 3 different prices to the same jacket. No attempt to explain why the difference between my original payment and the refund is more than the cost of the 4 jackets I've kept. Just insulting "I've looked into this..." emails when they clearly haven't looked into it and can't be bothered. Lazy, rude and incompetent. It's terrible that their shop staff are being undermined by head office like this.

Go Outdoors is located just off the A45 and is an ideal location for me, but you need to know where…read moreit is because its out of the way a little bit. Store is absolutley massive and has a large range of goods. Has some great offers on coats and tents, which is ideal for family holidays as we love to go camping. I would recommend visiting here if your looking at buying tents or anything to do with the outdoors. Staff can be a bit useless but where dont you get that.

A brilliant store full of kit for those outdoor needs…read more I really like Snow and Rock, I always find what I am looking for and more. This store has a cycle surgery so a bike section with in the store. It's full of all those needs for cycling. There is also a runners need section, again has all the kit needed for runners. The store has ski, mountain kit etc, the staff are very clued up on all the kit they stock. They are great at recommending stuff, not always the most expensive either. The store is an expensive shop, but in this case you get what you pay for. Has plenty of parking and an easy location to get to. They stock plenty of kit but if they don't have your sizes etc they will order the items in for you. There is also a website to visit. www.snowandrock.com Overall a great store to visit even if just for a look. You will find all the latest kit and more !

Inside Snow & Rock there's a small well stocked specialist runners shop, Runners Need. I visited…read moreyesterday and got a free gait analysis within minutes of arriving. The staff were really friendly, helpful and obviously knew their stuff. Recommended.