Online bushcraft related store reviews and recommendations

[gra_farmer]

Being a fan of tools and bushcraft kit, I thought I would start a thread where the community can clearly recommend sites/stores they have purchased from.

I don't intend this thread to report negative experiences, only positive.

I know there will be a repeating, of favourite sites, but I think that helps.

So stores that offer the following: reasonable prices, ease of use, excellent information provided at all times, no quibble returns, available to chat or quick with the email, and a human touch.

In mine in order of preference:

1. https://www.knivesandtools.co.uk/

Knives and tools - this company is based outside of the UK under parent company KATO Group. The local warehouse at Apeldoorn, Netherlands

The range of items they sell is very wide, and they do great offers regularly. But what is really good is their customer service, any issues or queries are quickly answered, and have not had a bad experience at all, in fact they have bent over to help on a few occasions and really looked after me as a customer. This is my primary online store I use and my wife loves the range of kitchen items.

2. https://heinnie.com/

Heinnie Haynes - UK based company in Barry, Wales

Heinnie is a regular site used by many here on the forum, and very nice people whom you can contact and get answers to your questions. They again have a huge range of items and kindly provide a discount code for BCUK members.

Again the customer service is very good, and they have been known to also do a quick QC check on purchases at request, before purchasing.

3. https://www.rohan.co.uk/

Rohan - Scotland based business, but worldwide recognition and stores.

Rohan is a office, every day wear, trekking and exploration clothing store. The clothing is amazing and I am yet to wear out any clothing I have purchased. Again customer service is very good, they stand by their clothing and only once I returned a coat, they refunded the price I paid with no questions asked (I didn't even go in for a refund), and as it was a material fault, gave me an extra £20 gift card (again offered freely without request).

Even with older clothing they honour their warranty, and have professionally reproofed a coat for a friend free of charge.

Please add your recommendations, I am interested to hear from others...

 

[Coldfeet]

I have a number of items by 5.11 Tactical - https://www.511tactical.com
They are generally well made, and last. IMHO they do a lot of "tacti-cool" stuff, and can be expensive.

I personally have trousers and shorts that are getting on for ten years old, and are still worn most days, depending on weather.

 

[punkrockcaveman]

Great idea Gra. I was tempted to reply to this thread really quickly, and then I thought how can you really tell good service? Normally I'd say it's when you have had a problem and the company has dealt with it in a really good way right? I can't say I have had many occasions where I've had problems to be honest (I know I'm completely asking for a bad experience now haha) but there seems to be some really quality sites out there. I really like Tamarack outdoors (BCUK full members get discount there too) and I can't believe they are actually pretty local to me, so I'll have to get over there at some point too.

Endicotts have been great in the past, haven't ordered anything recently from them. Alpkit, the bushcraft store, prepare for adventure and woodlore have all been good, but not had to test there service properly if you get me.

Wasn't keen on the rigmarole / fussiness of setting up a decathlon account, and the go outdoors discount cards annoy me.

 

[Nice65]

No offence or anything, but do we not have a thread of excellence? Mind you, many could be outdated, under new ownership, or lost their rep.

Seen the latest Knives&Tools reviews? They’re not good.

However mate, good on you for starting a new one, the larger percentage of reviewers who have had a poor experience leave bitchy reviews while the companies that provide excellent service aren’t rewarded. Many years ago, the main man of BritishBlades celebrated Heinnies for hitting 5 star reviews without ever having pushed themselves upon that forum or any others. Just very consistent good service over years.

Off the cuff, and also based on what I think we’re getting at here: reasonable prices, ease of use, excellent information provided at all times, no quibble returns, available to chat or quick with the email, a human touch.

Heinnie Haynes remains a superb company, consistent and helpful. I’d often rather pay a few quid extra because I know I’m going to get the absolute best service.

Moonraker Knives, just for Tony’s missus to pick up the phone and yell for him only to get excellent human service.

Brisa, haven’t bought for a while, but they’ve always been spot on.

Bison Bushcraft, to chat with Roger about sizing, wool types, general stuff bushcraft.

Flashaholics. The Heinnie of the torch world, Anthony is a lovely guy to chat with, has a penchant for rare Spyderco knives and his service is excellent. I haven’t bought in a while, but I did know one of the outstanding Spydercos from his collection was a Wegner Junior. The guy had searched high and low for years, never finding one. I went waaaay back through some sales threads on BB and found one for sale from Guy Stainthorp (Guycep) marked as Sold. But it wasn’t sold, and our man at Flashaholics was thrilled to bits. Got a nice Eagletac out of that with a tidy discount

Thor at www.techthor.com is another nice guy to deal with, I got my Eagle kettle from him a fair bit cheaper than the Ray Mears site.

The Bushcraft Store, totally efficient and informative every time I’ve ordered.

 

[gra_farmer]

No offence or anything, but do we not have a thread of excellence? Mind you, many could be outdated, under new ownership, or lost their rep.

Seen the latest Knives&Tools reviews? They’re not good.

However mate, good on you for starting a new one, the larger percentage of reviewers who have had a poor experience leave bitchy reviews while the companies that provide excellent service aren’t rewarded. Many years ago, the main man of BritishBlades celebrated Heinnies for hitting 5 star reviews without ever having pushed themselves upon that forum or any others. Just very consistent good service over years.

Off the cuff, and also based on what I think we’re getting at here: reasonable prices, ease of use, excellent information provided at all times, no quibble returns, available to chat or quick with the email, a human touch.

Heinnie Haynes remains a superb company, consistent and helpful. I’d often rather pay a few quid extra because I know I’m going to get the absolute best service.

Moonraker Knives, just for Tony’s missus to pick up the phone and yell for him only to get excellent human service.

Brisa, haven’t bought for a while, but they’ve always been spot on.

Bison Bushcraft, to chat with Roger about sizing, wool types, general stuff bushcraft.

Flashaholics. The Heinnie of the torch world, Anthony is a lovely guy to chat with, has a penchant for rare Spyderco knives and his service is excellent. I haven’t bought in a while, but I did know one of the outstanding Spydercos from his collection was a Wegner Junior. The guy had searched high and low for years, never finding one. I went waaaay back through some sales threads on BB and found one for sale from Guy Stainthorp (Guycep) marked as Sold. But it wasn’t sold, and our man at Flashaholics was thrilled to bits. Got a nice Eagletac out of that with a tidy discount

Thor at www.techthor.com is another nice guy to deal with, I got my Eagle kettle from him a fair bit cheaper than the Ray Mears site.

The Bushcraft Store, totally efficient and informative every time I’ve ordered.

Cheers Rich, updated the start of the thread to be clear

 

[Coldfeet]

I have a number of items by 5.11 Tactical - https://www.511tactical.com
They are generally well made, and last. IMHO they do a lot of "tacti-cool" stuff, and can be expensive.

I personally have trousers and shorts that are getting on for ten years old, and are still worn most days, depending on weather.

To add a customer service element to my post, I contacted 5.11 when I thought I had bought counterfeit goods. I provided the information they requested, and they confirmed the item was genuine, just older stock. For my effort they sent me a free limited edition baseball cap all the way from the states; I think that counts.