Camping

is cool!

by Ruth Lawrence

With spring in full bloom and summer around the corner, thoughts are drifting towards the long evenings and holidays ahead. With cash in short supply, camping is being rediscovered as an affordable, fun way to holiday.

f you have never been camping, why not give it a try this summer? Blacks of Horsham are a one-stop store with everything you need, including good advice to make your nights under the sky go smoothly. The last time I went camping was at Glastonbury in the early 80s when you could still climb under the fence without getting arrested. I asked Black’s Manager Terry Kill what kind of kit is available to a casual inexperienced camper today. Apparently pop-up tents do exactly what they say on the bag. Throw the thing in the air and down it falls, in the right shape, job done without resorting to the Ray Mears survival manual.

For something a little more

serious, staff offer demonstrations and advice. Twice a year the

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company hold tent shows down in Worthing. They can order big family tents, the ones you always felt jealous of as a kid, when you were crammed into a two-person nylon tent with your parents. Scouts are a core business of the shop. Blacks supply equipment and offer open evenings after normal hours where kit can be explained and tried out. There are a number of Scout groups in the area and the staff are always keen to be involved in external events, if requested. The shop has ongoing

promotions that change every ten days or so and include deals on brand clothing and kit. Blacks are suppliers of outdoor clothing labels North Face, Berghaus and Craghopper as well as their own brand. They also stock surf wear

from O’Neill and Billabong. Hugely popular outside the surfing scene, these clothes look good all year round as urban streetwear without a beach in sight.

The shop is laid out

“Blacks supply equipment to the Scouts and offer open evenings after normal

hours where kit can be explained and tried out.”

to encourage browsing and clothes are easy to walk around – there’s space to look about to make comparisons and there are accessories to co-ordinate. The activity section is organised to provide information without having to search it

out. Photos and specifications of tents are arranged on a wall so you can compare and choose without confusion, and camping paraphernalia is available to cover Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20