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I would definitely look at the size/weight of the essentials, like a sleeping bag. Look at a hikers website, and weight is a huge deal, so down bags tend to be favoured. Yes, they cost more, but they last longer, and are much warmer for the weight/bulk than synthetic. The army use synthetic...

Check out ebay as well for those two brands - there should be a fair number in that size, and you might do well.

I have one of their 'offers' cards, and since I can generally only buy when things are on offer anyway, its OK. Plus, like Go Outdoors, they do pricematch. And there are things you really need to try on - and they are patient when you need to find the right boots, etc. And of course those...

There might be, but I can't be bothered any more - there is simply too much decent choice out there to be looking for something that might have escaped the trashing by Mike Ashley. Montane's got into the market a couple of years back, Lowe Alpine is as solid as ever, and ebay brings up Osprey...

Go on Ebay and search for 'Berghaus pack' - there are other brands but its popular so there are a lot of them around. Do some reading up on their current and past back systems (so if they mention it, you'll know how old it is), and you can do well for less than £50. Used will sort out the chaff...

They are fairly huge - they are designed to go over everything, and getting hold of a small or even medium is difficult. I got what I assume is a medium (from the measurements) from a charity shop for less than a tenner, and although its relatively warm, its about the same length as my ME...

Clothes are probably more likely to be seconds, samples, old stock, etc.

I've now got a Cotswolds and a Go Outdoors, plus there is the very nice Open Air in Cmabridge, if you want a journey, but until about 3 years ago, Blacks was pretty much the best of not a lot. And good kit is good kit - you tend to get what you pay for, but one of the best tops I've ever used...

Blacks is a bit odd - it never knew quite where it should be in the market, actually got some high level kit (which it didn't exactly go out of its way to show off) but dumped Millets crud right next to it. I got some really good kit when my local branch of Blacks closed down, and some of the...

We all mourn the loss of Karrimor as a decent brand - I remember when the stock all got sold off at Lillywhites (another find name trashed by Ashley), and the only reason I didn't buy a 45l bag at a stupidly low price was because my wife was about to have a baby (and hence we needed every...

So still some good deals, but not legendary! I'd heard it could be a bit of scrum at certain sales, with a lot of grabbing and everyone looking to dump their stuff on Ebay. Glad to hear that it wasn't quite that bad, but 45min is a long time to wait in a queue to just pay! BTW - are they...

Agreed. There are very few bargains at Sports Direct, and that RRP is a fiction.

Still apparently a place of legend, but you could see what Alpkit have as seconds in their warehouse shop, or there is ebay. There is a seller or two offering some interesting deals on Mountain Equipment down jackets, etc, and they do some sleeping bags as well. Just search for 'mountain...

But thats something you should only need to do the once, although same brands (Samsung!) do seem to make like a bit more complex than they need to. AVFourm has a really good guide to setting up a TV, but just putting the TV on 'standard', and turning down the processing and backlighting a bit...

HD is a much better picture than SD, but many people automatically watch 1, rather than 101. Or connect up their HD box with a scart. Watch something like Blue Planet 2 on SD and then on HD - the difference is very clear, as I occasionally still have to demonstrate to customers . As for 3D...

' But thats the point - why take a much bigger bag? There is a really good page explaining the pros and cons of each, but thanks to production in the Far East, down bags are now much cheaper in real terms than they used to be, and flash sales etc can bring down the cost still further. Its...

Synthetic bags are heavier and more bulky than down bags - but they are cheaper and a bit less susceptible to damp, which is why the Army use them - soldiers are fit, and used to carrying large loads, and by the time they need to be replaced because they've lost their loft, they will have been...

Have a look at Alpkit - they are the benchmark for decent quality down bags (much more efficient for weight/bulk than synthetic) in price terms, and they've just had new deliveries. However, Black Friday is coming up (I work part time in retail, and I hate it), but there will probably be deals...

Something like a decent Goretex jacket would be fine (Berghaus do the very decent Cornice III, which I've got the Suilven variant of), plus the ability to layer with a down/synthetic layer underneath. Layering is really important, as is the need to vent - hence zips rather than pullovers. Having...

Actually, they often are. MP's tend to be impacted by personal letters - as little as 30-50 can seem like a wave to an individual MP's postbag, especially within a short time. Be polite, dont just print out a form letter (because they just look like you've forwarded an email...), and have a...