Shopping in London?

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Erbswurst

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 5, 2018
4,079
1,766
Berlin
Which outdoor shops and especially little or larger military surplus shops in London do you recommend?

Where are the knife sharpeners, best shoe makers and cutters with leather sewing machines and experiance in sewing Cordura nylon?

Tell us about, what kind of stuff they sell, where they are hidden and set us the links to theyr homepages and internet shops if possible!

Where in the area can I rent a canoe or other stuff to try it out?

Do some shops regularly organise events where one can look at theyr tent offers and play with the stuff?

Where are the best touristic camping grounds of the area wich look like a wild camping place because they are pretty empty in Spring and Autumn?
 

Woody girl

Full Member
Mar 31, 2018
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I'm not sure that London has any campgrounds. It's a city!
There is a camping place at crystal palace but I think it's more for caravans and motor homes.
Best thing to do is Google campsites near tube stations London. .
There are plenty of travel lodge etc that may well be cheaper than a London campsite. Most sites will be an hour or more drive away in Surrey or the surrounding counties
There are plenty of youth hostels.
 
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Erbswurst

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 5, 2018
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Berlin
Most towns in France and Germany I visited have nice camping grounds not very far away.
Usually we don't think about such options, because we wouldn't surch it. But they usually exist. In Hamburg, in Berlin, nearly everywhere...

But of course I mean camping grounds half an hour away from London.
 

Woody girl

Full Member
Mar 31, 2018
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I'd look for campgrounds in the surrounding counties such as surrey or Essex
I live the other end of the country on the moors so I'm not realy much help I'm afraid.
I don't go to London at all. So I don't realy have any real info. Too many people and too much noise and trafficfor me.
I'm not even a town type let alone a city!
Are you thinking of visiting the UK?
 
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Broch

Life Member
Jan 18, 2009
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Mid Wales
www.mont-hmg.co.uk
You get your normal high street outdoor shops as in every town/city in the UK but London still has some of the more traditional outfitters such as Farlows (going since 1840 I think) - but they tend towards hunting and game fishing


 

oldtimer

Full Member
Sep 27, 2005
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Oxfordshire and Pyrenees-Orientales, France
I always feel embarrassed when European friends ask this question because we do not have the network of sites that is common in France, for example. The Camping Club list of sites to which Broch refers is the best, but you will find that all sites listed will involve a train journey into London. www.campingandcaravanclub.co.uk may be a good place to help with your research. They also advertise commercial shows where a lot of firms demonstrate their ranges.

I agree with Jared that Silverman's is worth a visit and there are outlets of several major firms such as Blacks and Cotswolds nearby. But how much do you really want to go to London? Outdoor shops are much more plentiful nearer areas in which the kit gets used, such as the Lake District, Derbyshire and North Wales. These areas also have the benefit of a wider choice of places to camp. They are also the places where you are more likely to find displays of equipment set ups. University cities also tend to have fairly good camping shops because of the numbers of students needing equipment for expeditions. Oxford, near to which I live now, and Cambridge, where I used to live, are better served by outdoor shops than London and they also have country pursuits shops, shoe makers, leather goods makers and traditional gentlemens's outfitters if you are rich.
 
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London isn't that great for outdoors stuff.
However, if you are determined to visit... you could try Lea Valley campsite (i had a german friend camp there before).
It's not too far from the Bushcraft Store in Enfield (highly recommended) if you have a car/camper van.
It is also close to Epping Forest for walks etc.
Public transport would be an issue. Also local shops etc would require your own transport.

Hope this helps.
 
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Erbswurst

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 5, 2018
4,079
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Berlin
I have an own interest to visit Britain, as I just visited England round about 35 years ago. My agency thinks about organising classic concerts in Britain and in this case I would go there to hang up the posters in shops. And everywhere I go I look into outdoor shops and especially look what military surplus shops offer.
Here and there I find outstanding good handcrafters and usually regret, that I didn't plan in more time to visit them.

I currently have less to do, because we cancelled most of our concerts and I use the time to prepare myself for the next years.

And especially I ask now, because @Wushuplayer , who is a greenhorn, wants to get started with bushcraft and lives in London. I recommended him a lot of grade 1 stuff from Endicotts and Solognac clothing I use myself since years, that he gets a well working relatively cheap equipment system together, but a few things like good boots, Socks or a compass he needs to buy directly in a good outdoors shop which sells currently produced civil equipment, especially because he isn't so tall and needs some lightweight equipment too.

That's why I ask the questions here now, which interest myself in the long run too.

For a beginner it's not so easy to ask the right questions.

And I know from Berlin, which is smaller than London, that nearly nobody knows all the hidden shops in this town...
 

fenix

Forager
Jul 8, 2008
136
102
Kent
Depends how you categorise London, most of us down south class anything inside the M25 as London. For the type of stuff your after your probably better off being out of London and using the train to get in, or head to other towns and cities. If you want to canoe the Medway is easy and you can hire or visit shops if your around Tonbridge. Think there is a bushcraft place in Penshurst now, also a bushcfat type place doing SUP, canoe, kayak hire, possibly you can ask them about camping. It would be about 35mins into London using the train.

https://www.thebushcraftcompany.com/centres/penshurst-place
 
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C_Claycomb

Moderator staff
Mod
Oct 6, 2003
7,354
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Bedfordshire
The Bushcraft Store, inside the M25

Covent Garden has a concentration of outdoor shops:
Cotswold Outdoors, Mountain Warehouse (yuck), Ellis Brigham (good), The North Face, Field and Trek, then a bit further north, Rohan and Snow and Rock.
 
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fenix

Forager
Jul 8, 2008
136
102
Kent
The Bushcraft Store, inside the M25

Covent Garden has a concentration of outdoor shops:
Cotswold Outdoors, Mountain Warehouse (yuck), Ellis Brigham (good), The North Face, Field and Trek, then a bit further north, Rohan and Snow and Rock.
Paramo just around the corner as well
 
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C_Claycomb

Moderator staff
Mod
Oct 6, 2003
7,354
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Bedfordshire
Indeed. I loved stopping in and browsing around when I was in that area. To be honest, I had thought Paramo had moved further away, outside the convenient tube network, but I checked the map and it is very doable in the same day, just not so easy for a quick look in.

While I love my Paramo gear, they are expensive and really only do clothes. For someone starting out their gear can be a steep investment.
 
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Laurentius

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Aug 13, 2009
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Knowhere
Oh I dunno, it has never been the same since Laurence Corner closed, and there was that shop next to Euston Station wasn't there?
 

Erbswurst

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 5, 2018
4,079
1,766
Berlin
Where can one try on Altberg, Meindl, Lowa, Hanwag, Haix hiking boots or similar quality boots?

Is anywhere in a reasonable distance an orthopedic shoemaker master who offers custom made all leather middle heavy quality hiking boots in individual measures? If yes, what do they cost round about?
 
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Laurentius

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Aug 13, 2009
2,422
614
Knowhere
[QUOTE="

Covent Garden has a concentration of outdoor shops:
Cotswold Outdoors, Mountain Warehouse (yuck), Ellis Brigham (good), The North Face, Field and Trek, then a bit further north, Rohan and Snow and Rock.
[/QUOTE]
They do and if you are into vintage Rokit is not far away.
 
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