Great Quality, so Great Value

Blacks is a store dedicated to outdoor activity for men and women, I come here to buy camping equipment or combat trousers, it is a really well thought out store with practical equipment, strong hard wearing clothing and some excellent books on travel.

The store is set mid way down Upper Street close to the Screen on the Green and within around 5 minutes of Angel Tube station. The store is not huge but has enough for anyone interested in a trip, I recently bought a fantastic gas stove here for under £30 which has proved useful on some trips. The prices in general are not cheap but with stores like this you are prepared to pay more for hard wearing, durable stuff that is good quality so it is not an issue at all.

Staff are fantastic so knowledgable and helpful and the whole experience is one I’d recommend to anyone. Remember this place is about quality over price.

Camping and outdoor essentials!

This is a great store which stocks anything to do with camping and the great outdoors.

Located on the Forge retail park near sainsburys and tesco express, this store has plenty of parking outside the front which is very handy and it also happens to be free (unlike the town centre parking!).

Selling camping equipment, tents, sleeping bags etc, walking boots and all weather clothing, this store really is a great place to pick up essentials for a camping trip or to get new walking gear. When they have a sale on you can also pick up some fantastic bargains so check out the sale racks. I managed to pick up an all weather fleece reduced from £40 to £10 last year, an absolute bargain!

The staff are friendly and very knowledgable, do utilise them if you are buying walking boots as they are great at finding the best fitting pair for you.

Tags camping equiptment,  walking boots, 

Quality and great customer service

Pros: Based in the St Johns Walk shopping arcade Blacks is the kind of store you either know about or don't. If you do it is incredibly resourceful and worth the extra money you pay. Its basically a store for adventurers and people who want to travel. You can buy hiking boots, anoraks, sleeping bags, tents, anything you'd need when travelling really, first aid kits, binoculars, anything.

The waterproof clothing are proper brand names as are the hiking shoes and boots, the idea is if your going somewhere and need hard wearing goods and clothing, you'd rather pay that extra bit for quality rather than budgeting and not having the best quality goods for your trip.

Staff are brilliant, they know so much and are really informative in helping you make choices, I really rate this shop.

outdoor activities

Pros: This is a shop selling a range of outdoor equipment and clothing. I find the back of the shop quite dull and feel a bit more lighting would help. There is a sale on at the moment but it depends whether you are into walking and outdoor persuits if you would class it being a good sale a lot of the jackets are half price around £40 mark etc. There was a really nice jacket reduced from around £199 to £185 so some of the prices to me who is not a keen walker seem expensive but i know at the same time your paying for quality and warmth important for climbing hills etc. There was a variety of camping equipment and sleeping bags. Some sleeping bags were reduced as well. Hats, gloves, camping stoves, ready packed meals etc. It is a good shop for finding the essentials.

Cons: I find it quite a dark shop there is a set of stairs but I am not sure if there is a lift if there is it is not well signed so therefore i am not sure if it is disable friendly it might be best to phone and check or you may rely on staff getting stock from upstairs for you.

Tags outdoor clothes equipment, 

good range of top named outdoor goods

Pros: helpful staff and well presented store within the shopping centre.
they offer the north face, berghaus and other big named brands.
they are pretty pricey, but the quality of these goods is excellent, so if you need that one item of outdoor wear then its worth paying the extra.
very good service and to be fair they do have sales on.
they also offer accessories as well