Camping gear in UK
 

I am coming to europe for a camping trip later this year and rather than cart all my gear along I thought I would buy some new gear when I get there. Will be landing at Heathrow then heading up to Felixstowe to pick up my bike.
Can anyone reccomend some good camping stores. Somwhere around Ipswich or Braintree perhaps.

Need to get some good sleeping gear as well as some lightweight cooking gear and also some good quality outdoor clothing.

Thanks

Try Outdoor Clothing, Climbing And Camping Equipment | Cotswold Outdoor they have a few stores spread about the U.K.

In terms of price it's very difficult to beat Tents | Camping Equipment | Outdoor Clothing | Waterproof Jackets and Walking Boots | Cycling, they have shops all around the country.

You need to sign up for one of their cards though, that requires a UK address

Blacks
 

The outdoor store "Blacks" could be your best bet - they have places in Ipswich, Colchester and West Thurrock.

Here's their Store Finder page.

Iain.

Camping gear
 

There are a few decathalon stores in the south east one of them may be close.
Decathalon is always a stop for me when i am passing through france, the quechua brand is a favorite with me.

as Mr fox has highlighted Go Outdoors often has great deals and a good range.

Decathlon - sporting goods,sports sale,sports shops,sports stores,camping equipment,exercise equipment,fitness equipment,golf equipment,soccer sports,sports sales,sports shop,sports shops,sports store,rugby -

Bonne Route

Gren

I second that! A sa french national I can confirm that Decathlon is the place to go for good value gear if you don't want to spend silly money.
The quality is usually very good.
I have bought lots of camping gear, sport gear etc over the years and have no complaints.
There is a shop (split in 2 large Halls) in the south bank of London near Canada Water tube station. Worth the detour.

Cheers,

If you're after cheap and cheerful camping gear you could try a Tesco extra store. My local store has tents and sleeping bags. There is one in Ipwsich and another in Colchester. Maybe worth giving them a call to make sure they stock what you want.

Store Locator - Tesco.com

Go outdoors in the UK is a huge out of town store with everything you could possible need.

+1 go outdoors

Tents | Camping Equipment | Outdoor Clothing | Waterproof Jackets and Walking Boots | Cycling

and you can get a store card for big discounts too

norwich camping
 

Hi,
An hour up the road from Ipswich Norwich Camping & Leisure – Camping Equipment | Outdoor leisure equipment | Tents | Family Tents | Party Tents - Norwich Camping & Leisure found them good on price and has a family business feel to it. No relation except pleased customer.

If you are after light weight cooking gear and more technical things try actionoutdoors.co.uk as they have a shop in Ipswich.

Thankyou everyone for your excellant suggetions. I can see myself contributing quite extensivly to the UK economy.

On a similar note, what about riding gear. Need a new Jacket and a new pair of boots.
Have found that Heine Gerrick have a store at Braintree. Are there any other stores around theat area that would be worth a look. I would like to get a pair of SIDI discovery boots and Heine Gerrick dont stock them (they can order them in fo rme though)

Does anyone know if I can buy gear VAT exempt and how to arrange?

Hi, I live not far from Braintree, and I don't know of anywhere else, in reasonable distance, that has much of a range of bike gear, compared to HG.
Except for the BMW dealer in Braintree (and they don't keep much clothing in stock) every other place is just a bike shop with a limited choice of riding gear.

Thanks lowuk.
Does the Braintree HG store keep at good range in stock?

Its a fair sized store but they don't pretend to keep all of the styles in all of the sizes.
On a day to day level if they have to order something, which only takes a few days, they ask for payment up front, which is refunded if you don't like the item when you try it on.
You might want to check out which items you think will suit, from their catalogue or website, and let them know when you'll be needing it.