Every year more than 250,000 tents get left behind in UK fields after festivals. This includes Glastonbury and Reading and Leeds. As a result, more than 60 independent festivals are urging people to stop buying single-use tents. Did you know that your average tent is mostly made of plastic, and the equivalent of one tent is 250 plastic pint cups? Now do the maths - 250,000 tents x 250 plastic pint cups = 62.5 million plastic pint cups. Wow. Think re-use, not single use DON'T BUY 'FESTIVAL TENTS' We get it. You want to experience a festival as cheaply as possible. Chip in a tenner between ..read more

It's 9:52am in mid February, and the outside temperature is -2. More so than ever, myself and the team at the Complete Outdoors cannot wait for that early Spring sunshine and the start of the camping season. Why? Well, apart from being outside in the sunshine and having the best tan in the HP1 post code, this season will be our best yet as we have, in our opinion, the best range of tents to suit any adventure you wish to take on. You will be able to see the new range of tents at our store daily, and on top of that we are taking our tents on the road, making an appearance at local events and e ..read more

With the cold weather setting in for the winter, it's no surprise you want to find sturdy footwear that will keep you safe on the ice. As you've landed on our blog, you'll probably realise our best recommendations for winter footwear are walking boots and shoes. The reason for that is you need footwear that have rubber soles and a good, deep tread pattern on the bottom, so you can get a decent grip on icy surfaces. We would also recommend boots are shoes that are waterproof (when the snow and ice melts, the last thing you want is wet, cold feet), and some form of insulation against the cold ..read more

Earlier this year, I was asked whether I would be interested in participating in the Fjallraven Classic in Sweden. Not knowing anything about it, I immediately said yes... I had never been to Sweden after all. Once I briefly read what the Classic involved, I was very glad I had signed up to it! Trekking 110km through the Swedish back country with everything you need on your back seemed like the perfect getaway to me. I also thought about what a generous offer this was from Fjallraven, a brand we had only recently started to stock in store. So the day came to head to Sweden... a 3am taxi ..read more

After a couple of years of increased interest in Fjallraven clothing in store, we have made the decision to expanded our range for Autumn Winter 2018 / 19 - and we are really excited to show you what we have to offer! Firstly though, we would like to run you through what's so special about Fjallraven and what sets them apart from our other brand offerings in store. Fjallraven was started by Ake Nordin in 1960 when he developed an aluminium-framed backpack from his basement in Ornskoldsvik, Sweden, and it was lighter and stronger than anything of its time. He then developed a condensation f ..read more

Here at Complete Outdoors, we have been advocates of Páramo Directional Clothing since we first opened our doors at Bourne End in 1996.  This Autumn/ Winter season we are excited to announce that we will be launching a Páramo "Shop in Shop".  Páramo offers a fantastic alternative to conventional waterproof fabrics if you are looking for exceptional breathability and comfort in the outdoors - and we have certainly put it through its paces over the years!  Páramo was set up by the founder of Nikwax, who were the first company in the world to produce water-based waterproofing products to repla ..read more

Autumn brings about many changes to our natural surroundings, putting on a spectacular display before the winter sets in. In the spirit of change, we too have been switching things up a bit at the Complete Outdoors! Not only do we now have a Paramo shop-in-shop, but we also have an extensive new Fjallraven and Dubarry range. Whilst we have stocked Fjallraven for the past two years, our current range is more expansive than ever before. Whether you're looking for a new fleece, a hiking rucksack, a waterproof shell, a warm woolly hat, comfy hoodies, the classic Kanken backpack or even a pair ..read more

At the Complete Outdoors we review a lot of tents before coming to a final decision about whether or not to add them to our range. With this in mind, we thought this year we would give you a little bit of background into the some of the tents we've reviewed, as well as our thought process behind why we now stock them. Here are our reasons why we think these are 5 of the best lightweight backpacking tents around. 1 -  MSR Hubba Hubba Tent Let’s kick things off with one of the largest internal volume backpacking tents on the market. With two vestibules for gear storage & two stay dry do ..read more

Are you looking for a tent range where the manufacturer asks the end user how do we make our tents better to suit your needs? Then better still they listen to your feedback, and go and make the tents? Introducing the Vango XD backpacking tent range. If you are you a group leader, say of a scout group or DofE school group, and you're looking to improve the outdoor kit in your stock room, then the Vango Xd tent range is for you. Bigger, better, stronger. The Vango XD trekking tents are constructed with extra durable materials and components, and are more resistant to wear and tear. The ..read more

It's that time of year again where, after a busy winter season in store, we are starting to think about loading up our backpacks and heading to the hills for a few nights under canvas. One of the things we're really excited about this year is our extended offering of MSR tents. They've often been our go to recommendation for quality lightweight, ultra-livable 3-season backpacking tents and this year we'll be covering all sizes across the Elixir and Hubba NX Series.  ELIXIR SERIES We were super impressed with the Elixir last year, with it offering a very good weight for the amount of liveabl ..read more