Bargain Hunting

Posted on | August 17, 2008 | 54 Comments

With the uncertain economic times that are around at the moment with the “Credit Crunch”, rising inflation, falling economic growth, ever increasing fuel prices, increasing food prices (although it was reported of Friday that some food basics are dropping in price in a new price cut war), heating bills just keep going up, and the prospect of higher water bills as well (phew that list is so scary). I thought it might be the right time for those that are looking into getting into walk/backpacking/camping and on a tight budget to point out you don’t need to spend a fortune to get kited out. Hopefully anyone on a tight budget will benefit from this reminder as well.

When first looking at buying outdoor gear you see the big famous brands like RAB, The North Face etc on the shop shelf or on the web and can’t can’t help think that the gear is expensive. Let’s face it £250 for a down sleeping bag is a lot of money to me, and a lot of people out there. Let alone spending that sort of money on a coat or even more on a tent. Before you know it you price up the gear you need to try out backpacking or camping and you have an out lay approaching £1000. That’s alot of cash to lay out just to try something, that you may decide a couple of outings in you may not like. That high price may put you off totally even before you put on a pair of boots, or pitch a tent.

I’m not saying that the expensive gear isn’t worth the price. Very often the gear will last you years, and in the long run work out very cost effective. But that knowledge doesn’t help when the budget available is low.

It is possible to kit yourself out cheaply, and cost effectively. It requires a bit of shopping around, visiting different shops on the high street and online. But you can get reasonable kit at a low price, to allow you to get outdoors.

Once you have decided this outdoors life is for you (welcome to the addiction), then you can save up for that RAB sleeping bag, or that Lowe Alpine fleece. Slowly add the more expensive stuff when you can afford it.

Anyway here are some ideas of where you can find those bargains

Surprisingly on the High Street there are one or two places you can go to get bargains.

Argos do cheapish camping gear, particularly their Pro Action Hike Lite 1 Person Tent at £49.99 (which looks to be back to the original design of inner and an outer).

Aldi once or twice a year have inexpensive outdoors gear available. This includes clothing, trekking poles, boots, compasses etc (They also around Christmas time do low cost ski gear). You have to get to the store early when these items become available because they usually tend to go fast. An easy way to find out when these items become available apart from regularly visiting the store is to sign up for their email that announces the weekly bargains that they have.

Also the other low cost food outlet Lidl also from time to time do similar offers to Aldi on outdoors equipment. Similarly they also allow you to sign up for email alerts to up and coming special offers.

While you are at these stores if you have a trip coming up look at them for getting the food for the trip from them as well. They are usually a lot cheaper than the traditional major UK Supermarkets.

While I’m talking UK Supermarkets, have a look at Tesco. They sell some great Aluminum cook ware at a budget price. Also they do cheapish rucksacks as well. Asda might be worth a look as well. From time to time they have had cheap tents instore.

A great store for gear you can afford is Millets. They usually have a sale on of some sort most of the time. They stock Eurohike tents, which are reasonable as a first time tent. So worth a look to see if they have any bargains (I like the Peter Storm fleeces they sell, less than £20 and work fine for me, and often included in their sales).

Ok so you have your heart set on a down sleeping bag, or down jacket. But we all know down is good but very expensive. You aren’t going to escape the fact that you will end up paying £100 (possibly a little less but not much) for a down sleeping bag and around £60 for a down jacket. But even so this is almost half the price than expected. So how do we get this great reduction? Well first visit Alpkit, they sell down sleeping bags and down jackets at a great price (also have a look at their sleeping mats as well while you are there, and their titanium mug the Myti). The next way to get you hands on some good down kit is from PHD Designs. Twice a year they have a sale (one in the Winter and one in the Summer), it’s these sales that allow those of us on a tight budget to get some top end kit at a bargain price. You can sign up for an email alert from them IIRC, or you can follow this blog as I normally announce when they are on.

Right I’m going to tell you about a specific stove now. The reason I am doing this is because I think that this stove is such a bargain (especially for a gas stove) you can’t lose getting it. It’s the Outdoor Designs Mini Stove and at £12.99 from Backpackinglight.co.uk it would be silly not to get this one if you need a stove for backpacking.

It is also worth looking for second hand kit on the forums of places like Outdoors Magic, or UK Climbing which have active user for sale areas. Plus there is also eBay . But with these forums, and especially eBay you need to make sure that what you buying is not a knock off, and that the seller is genuine.

My final tip for cheap outdoors stuff is Amazon for your guide books, maps, outdoors related books in general.Ok they offer a discount on all the books they sell, and over a certain price it’s free delivery. But what happens when you only want one book? Well you still have to pay postage (£2.75) with the following hint, but often even with that added in, you are getting a better deal than the Amazon price without postage. So my hint is to buy (if available) from the new and used section. Often these books are as good as new or new, delivered faster than Amazon (they can take ages sometimes) and as I said cheaper than the Amazon price.

I hope the above suggestions are useful. It does require a little bit of effort. But I think with the savings that can be made worth that effort.

P.S. If you find yourself at your local Supermarket keep an eye out on their reduced items on the food side, or special offers. It can be a cheap way to stock the larder for the trip or camping holiday.

UPDATE 20/11/2008

There is a way to get 10% off the cost of an item when buying from places like Millets or Blacks. If you belong to a club like the YHA, BMC, Backpackers Club, etc alot of them have deals that give you a discount when buying kit from particular stores. With the YHA it used to be 10% off from Millets or Blacks. So check either the organizations web site or members handbook for a list of places that they have negiotiated a discount. You are entitled to the discount so use it.

Category: Blog

Comments

54 Responses to “Bargain Hunting”

john hee
August 17th, 2008 @ 10:10 am

some excellent ideas here Darren – very useful piece
john hee
August 17th, 2008 @ 10:10 am

mind if i use a permanant link to this on my FAQ section?
Darren
August 17th, 2008 @ 12:38 pm

John, thanks for the praise,
feel free to link away, will never refuse a friend ^_^
David Albon
August 17th, 2008 @ 7:47 pm

Thanks, there’s some good tips there Darren!

One more I’d add is T K MAXX. If you have one near you it’s worth keeping a look out for outdoor clothes, gear & shoes. It can be very hit and miss size and colour wise (and as often as not, miss!), but every now and again I’ve left with great bargains from the likes of Smartwool, Pategonia, Royal Robbins, Sprayway etc.
Darren
August 17th, 2008 @ 8:02 pm

David, thanks for reminding me of T K Maxx I had forgotten them. Well avoid them, because usually I get dragged into it by the wife, who has a sixth sense for bargains at that place, and she spends hours in that place (if allowed).
alan.sloman
August 18th, 2008 @ 11:34 am

It’s good to read about how little cash is needed to get quite good gear – wouldn’t it be refreshing if TGO did articles like this? I know that they always mention price and value for money but the only article I can recall them running on cheap gear was by Cameron when he mentioned the Argos tent a few years back. (Someone could correct me here if i have missed any!)

It would be good to see an article along the lines of ‘Go lightweight backpacking for £150′
Darren
August 18th, 2008 @ 12:57 pm

Alan,
I agree. IIRC Trail did one a few years back to, well barely an article just a couple of pages.
As for the £150 limit, that would be tight. Might be able to do it for under £200, and it would only be “2 season” use, possibly 3 at a stretch.
Ian
November 19th, 2008 @ 10:30 pm

This is a very handy list for someone like me who fancies a bit of camping in the wild without shelling out for an ultralight tent – great blog as well.
Darren
November 20th, 2008 @ 7:54 am

Ian, you are welcome I will being updating this post in the next day or so.
Bargain Hunting Post Updated
November 20th, 2008 @ 4:03 pm

[...] I’ll get to the point of this posting, which is to say that I did a minor update to my Bargain Hunting posting I did a little while [...]
Trevor D Gamble
December 29th, 2008 @ 5:10 pm

Hey! Y
Trevor D Gamble
December 29th, 2008 @ 5:11 pm

You forgot to mention Tchibo stuff for outdoors too! Very good value!
Darren
December 29th, 2008 @ 7:54 pm

Trevor, thanks for the tip I’ll add it in the next update of the article.
Geoff Stone
January 18th, 2009 @ 12:51 am

try alpkit.com, very decent prices for down sleepingbags, inflatable thermarest lookalikes, titanium cookware etc.
Darren
January 18th, 2009 @ 9:07 am

Geoff, thanks that was a very big omission of mine and very surprising as I sing their praises on here from time to time.
Paul Mackenzie Ross
January 18th, 2009 @ 10:40 am

I think eBay’s totally underrated for picking up bargain outdoor kit.

Although it’s not considered your “mainstream” line of outdoor kit, I did find an army issue windproof smock a couple of years back. Throw it on over a fleece and it’s a practical jacket. And for £12.50 when the going rate is between £50-£80 is a surefire bargain.

Of course, your advice on “watchout for knock-offs” is perfect and that’s the first thing said to me in a conversation I had with an ex-squaddie webmaster at a conference a few months back; “it’s probably a fake”. It’s certainly not a fake but that was his first impression, so yes, buyer beware.

On the subject of “proper gear” though, I did lose my Lowe Alpine gore-tex jacket & fleece a few weeks back and was gutted that I’d have to fork out at *least* £200 to replace them. Browsing eBay I saw a ton of excellent kit by reputable brands. Some of it new with tags, other items hardly worn and the odd piece of gear that was surplus from being spare kit for expeditions and never worn.

Overall I think I could have got a new or unused replacement gore-tex & fleece for just over £100 which is a 50% saving on new. I wasn’t in a rush to replace my kit though, especially not when I could have ended up with a purple jacket and lime-green fleece. Nice!

I found my Alpine jacket anyway, so I’m a happy camper now =)

(They were in the locked boot of a car of mine that I hadn’t driven in for 4 months and I’d lost the car keys!)
Darren
January 18th, 2009 @ 12:08 pm

Paul,
thanks for that great comment, some good points made there.
I could write a whole post on losing stuff and finding it just after the replacement arrived!
Trevor D Gamble
January 19th, 2009 @ 9:12 am

Well worth watching the regular Bargains thread on OM, or http://www.outdoorsmagic.com, for them that are unfamiliar with it perhaps. Then there are always good deals to be had on the regular sale sections available from the Field and Trek’s website too right now as well. Worth watching Argos for regular sale leaflet items also in their increased outdoors range for their new catalogue now out, that is now up to 36 pages full! And includes a Trangia 27 this time around in their range, with stuff too from Sea to Summit, Adventure Medical Kits, Craghoppers. Leatherman etc. I’m looking forwards to some bargains there this year, and hopefully that Tiger Paws Pro Action decent 1 man tent will go half price or below yet again this year!
Darren
January 19th, 2009 @ 11:47 am

Trevor, some useful tips there. Thnx.
This Sunday At Aldi
April 24th, 2009 @ 4:46 pm

[...] So in this day and age for those of us on a tight budget it’s a great chance to get some bargain gear. This is why I mention Aldi on the article I wrote on bargain gear. [...]
TTG
June 10th, 2009 @ 5:16 pm

TGO did do an article on lightweight gear no costing the earth. One tip was outwell camp mats. They are foam but one weights 130g and costs less than £5. I have one to take with my 3 season thermarest in winter as I can stagger them. There were a lot of suggestions such as a 600g sleeping bag from Vango or an even cheaper make. TGO had the expensive lightweight version and the cheaper, yet still lightweight alternatives for each main backpacking item. It was one of their UL articles.

I would check out the likes of Outdoor Warehouse in Windermere and online. They stock end of lines, etc. for the likes of Montane, Golite and Marmot. I got a £32.50 Montane softshell and a 3-4 season Marmot fusion bag in XL size for about £90. Cheap for a down / primaloft longer length bag.
Darren
June 10th, 2009 @ 5:50 pm

TTG,
thank you once more for a fantastic comment and great advice.
Trevor D Gamble
June 10th, 2009 @ 6:49 pm

Well of course after TTG must come TDG too as us OM’rs must all try and stick together lol! Was in Millets today and saw they have reduced to clear a few bits, one bit good there I thought was their own brand Eurohike toilet metal folding trowel, down from $4.99 to $1.99 right now!!!! That is mant to say pounds, my keyboard is playing me up there!! Also an item of interest in the latest offers leflet from Argos is a very good backpackable portable camp axe for just over seven quid right now! A great little axe that looks to be a most well made item for camp chores in bushcraft outdoors or woodland wildcamps especially out in the coming winter. So the moral of my tale is watch out for clearance offers and reduced buys everywhere you go. You never do know when you will spot something useful potentially to one in one’s outdoors pursuits activities.
Andreas Guibeb
June 11th, 2009 @ 3:22 pm

Judged by the yoyo nature of the current weather patterns its difficult to know whether summer has arrived. However there is no doubt that the summer holidays are approaching fast. Yes the morose economy has sapped our pocket books and most of are going to opt for an outdoor vacation this year in one of the many beautiful French regions. This resource is very helpful in keeping a tight reign over the purse whilst getting the right gear.
ianharper
June 11th, 2009 @ 5:05 pm

great resource. thanks very much
Darren
June 11th, 2009 @ 9:23 pm

thanks guys for the praise and great comments
Trevor D Gamble
June 11th, 2009 @ 9:28 pm

Thank you Darren too mate, for all of your constant outstanding efforts here on all of our behalf!
Trevor D Gamble
June 12th, 2009 @ 5:13 am

I often get bargains too at 7dayshop.com online, run out of Jersey. I should mention them again as they have quite a few good outdoors lines there all coming out to one with free postage too! I just now ordered a new outdoors hikers first aid kit in their clearance sale of some items. Check out the Adventure Medical Kits listing under the outdoors section there to see why! It is a very good comprehensive fak down to just fourteen ponds ninety nine, from some twenty or so original selling price or more. They alsohave good regular price offers on basic headlamps, Swiss Army Knives, and accessories as well as Mini Maglites and even decent compasses too.
MoxKirby
June 12th, 2009 @ 5:21 am

Good equipment here can be a rare find via garage sales or flea markets, but there’s a ‘Play It Again Sports’ with shelves full of equipment people bought, used once or twice, then sold.

The other option would be getting sponsored by a sporting goods retailer, but it’s easier just to shop around and be a little frugal.
Darren
June 12th, 2009 @ 9:07 pm

Trevor and MoxKirby thanks for the further tips on where to get bargains from. These are really useful and I hope others find them helpful too.
Brenda Bunney
June 13th, 2009 @ 3:22 pm

Thank you for sharing some reasonable places to fine equipment when you’re starting out camping. It’s a great idea for an inexpensive, but fun weekend with friends or family!

I offer people a free shopping membership to a consumer club. They can save money on things they need or want … like camping equipment
Trevor D Gamble
June 13th, 2009 @ 4:30 pm

I too belong to a scheme like that at MrsCashback.com where one can get cashback from purchases of outdoors kit from a couple of good popular outdoors suppliers like Simply Hike.
Debra Berndt
June 14th, 2009 @ 4:12 pm

Thanks for the tips. I found that sometimes when you buy cheaper equipment, you get what you pay for so it is best to get the top names for discounted prices. If you look, you can always find a good deal.
Davin - Viral Marketing Sanctuary
June 14th, 2009 @ 10:15 pm

Hmmm, well you certainly got me thinking with some of those tips. Thanx for the great article…a bargain hunting we will go.
Darren
June 15th, 2009 @ 5:16 pm

Debra, that’s where TKMax can come into it’s own. But alot of the time there is very little between the top brand and the cheap brand in what they can do.
But thanks for making that point, it certainly worth folks baring in mind.
Davin, thanks for the comment, glad to of helped.
Trevor D Gamble
June 15th, 2009 @ 9:49 pm

Darren beat me to reply there on that same point, since I have been ill a couple of days. But yeah, where there is a big difference in quality is where the real technical outdoors branded kit, the ultra lightweight kit and the lightweight stuff comes into the equation more than anywhere else really; save for that now a lot of brand items of the big brands are produced in China now too, same as the lesser brands as production costs are lower there understandably. On the forum at OM we found little difference in many Tchibo and other type cheap items from branded goods quite often. And too in one case a cooking set from Gelert I think it was appeared to have been made in exactly the same factory, if not the same production line in China as the more expensive almost identical Coleman one! Very often you will find that the cheaper options are almost as good as the top brands now performance and quality-wise these days! The message yu are better off buying branded outdoors goods than the budget brands was certainly truer years ago but in many cases is no longer the case!
TTG
June 16th, 2009 @ 4:22 pm

If you need to get a tent have a look at one of those tent shows that you find around the country run by outdoors shops. They have a few up in Lancaster and the Lakes region near me over the summer. I went to one a few years back and saw a crux bomb or storm for sale at £100. This was one deal I have seen, but you have to be lucky.

Check out some small local, independant retailers as they sometimes offer real impressive discounts. If they get to know you and you regularly buy from them… Also if you get a group of people together they sometimes offer group discount evenings.
Darren
June 16th, 2009 @ 5:00 pm

TTG, thanks for that excellent comment. Those suggestions are really helpful.
I also agree about the small local independant retailer, if folks have one near by then they should be supporting them.
Trevor D Gamble
June 18th, 2009 @ 1:08 am

I forgot to mention that there are still a good few bargains to be had on Recta compasses too at 7 Day Shop.com online. For OS map bargains try dashforit.co.uk too.
Trevor D Gamble
June 18th, 2009 @ 1:14 am

That great little Tiger Paws style orange Pro Action tent and others are once again half price there and the sale leaflet starting on Wed 17th June 09 is full of camping bits. Most basic lines, but still some good stuff for families and beginners there. Tchibo online are selling off in their sale area right now some good quality black ladies thermal walking trousers too for 12 pounds only, down from about eighteen quid. Too late now for this year’s outddors activites now the weather is better here maybe, but perfect for the winter still to come of course. Or for colder foreign climes use too even! There are coolmax socks there for runners too cheap, and some other kit like a zip up sleeveless top with application for running or outdoors use.
Trevor D Gamble
June 18th, 2009 @ 1:17 am

Sorry, last post refers to Argos primarily first off there ok; I somehow most cleverly missed saying in my keeness and tiredness! Many apologies folks.
Darren
June 18th, 2009 @ 10:55 am

Trevor, great comments as usual. But I think you need to get more sleep ^__^
Trevor D Gamble
July 9th, 2009 @ 3:48 pm

Well thank goodness I finally found my favourite thread here again! Bookmarked it now!

Some updates, ok forget Tchibo right now unless you can find left over outdoors bits cheap in their remaining few UK stores! They seem to have retreated back into Europe in this economic recession! Their new lines of outdoors bits have been few and far between too, and their postage is to UK from overseas now so will cost one a whacking great twelve pounds ninety-five pence!!! A real loss to cheap outdootrs kit hunters here in the UK!
Trevor D Gamble
July 9th, 2009 @ 3:52 pm

I just bought a few items in the sale on right now at IWOOT – I Want One Of Those.com online. The sale is in their travel bits section which includes a good few outdoors lines, like the UCO Fire Bowl etc. I got two Sea to Summit accessories lines, a travel towel and a kitchen sink, both a pound off RRP in the sale, plus saved a bit on a set of travel scales for weighing kit. Postage is still free there on all those sale items just for this week! Cannot say fairer than that as a deal really. Save and save again!
Trevor D Gamble
July 26th, 2009 @ 2:24 am

OK, Yes I do love this thread here and am determined to keep it going lol!

First up then is Argos again – Their new catalogue is out now, still a good range of outdoors bits and pieces, mostly for the starters to the outdoors life though obviously. That Tiger Paws tent one man in International Orange is still there, as is a rather good interesting sleeping bag, a down one for about twenty-five quid too also from Pro Action.
Trevor D Gamble
July 26th, 2009 @ 2:36 am

Also of interest to the fishermen here, and to bushcrafters too just maybe, or great for the garden when trying out stoves etc, or for Darren or other bloggers like Baz who might like one as a backdrop to stove tests fims etc, there is a great fishing shelter going for a song right now online too! I just bought a couple of these as they are quite good looking, I had actually wanted one like these, and they are here just at such a silly price now, with postage and packing being just a pound extra on top per delivery! Originally sold on the Readers Union website for about seventeen quid, now down to just four pounds ninety nine only! Well worth having I felt, it is kinda like a half tent section really and the construction quality looks fairly good, and the unit comes in a nice green long little carry bag as well. Great for car camping maybe as an extra windbreak too even, or for campsite privacy. rubooks.co.uk nb the fishing shelter is in the clearance sale section at the moment. Well worth searching out there really!
Darren
July 26th, 2009 @ 8:53 pm

Trevor, thanks for the updates on this post.
Trevor D Gamble
July 30th, 2009 @ 4:45 pm

I still use Hexi occasionally, as like it in the little Gelert packs of the round solid fuel tab 24’s especially really. Gelert packs of hexi are reduced down to 95p each at Trespass outdoors stores right now countrywide. My local one is inside County Mall at Crawley, West Sussex.
TTG
September 7th, 2009 @ 1:24 pm

Joe Brown is doing a Rab generator primaloft smock for £69 in both shop and online shop. I think that meets the requirements for a bargain. Only in the denim colour though. IMO the denim (kind of sparkly blue) is the best colour to have it in anyway. RRP is abotu £110.
TTG
September 22nd, 2009 @ 12:20 pm

Has noone come across a bargain recently? That is a poor show. Apart from my little post Sept 7th the last bargain was the end of July! Come on guys and gals let us know your bargain buys.
Geoff Stone
November 15th, 2009 @ 5:18 am

Terra Nova are selling the Laser Photon for about £220.
TTG
December 2nd, 2009 @ 12:39 pm

Ultimate Outdoors have reduced practically their whole clothing range by 10%. They also offer a club discount on top of this for organisations such as BMC and Ramblers. Whilst anything like this is good do shop around as some items are still cheaper elsewhere.
Ben
December 3rd, 2009 @ 8:32 pm

Bournemouth bargins

TKMaxx have got some cheap Outdoor Designs gaiters and Bivvy bags as well as the usual craghopper and sprayway fleeces.

The new Field and Trek shop across the road has some good opening offers on smaller stuff. I got some smartwool socks for £7.
Darren
December 5th, 2009 @ 4:43 pm

Guys thanks for those two tips on bargains.