If you go to http://www.extasybooks.com/eb. php3?ebookid=18853 you can have a look at my latest wor...
If you go to http://www.extasybooks.com/eb. php3?ebookid=18853 you can have a look at my latest work.
Member since:21.05.2001
Reviews:417
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If you are the sort of person who likes to spend their summer outdoors, maybe the odd picnic, some rambling, camping and the like, this is a shop well worth a visit. It's a good, middle of the range store catering to walkers and modest outdoors types - if you want to do more extreme stuff, they probably won't have the kit for you, but for us less ambitious souls, it works very nicely thank you.
Clothes: MIllets do a lot of clothing. I really wouldn't bother buying t-shirts, shorts, jumpers or the like from them however as they are a tad more expensive than other shops, and there's no real difference. Where Millets come into there own is with the waterproofs, coats, trousers, walking boots and the like - these are generally less common in the high street and essential if you mean to venture outdoors in this country. Expect to pay at least twenty five pounds for an item. Millets do clothing for everyone from the age of three up. Getting outdoor gear for smaller children remains a challenge.
They carry a good range of walking boots from the quite cheap through to the really quite pricey. Worth taking out some time to try and browse, and worth considering how seriosuly you want to use your boot - to a large extent, you get what you pay for. If you want to wander down canal towpaths, you can get away with something cheap, or just wear trainers, if you want to go fell walking you're going to need something serious, and consequently expensive. Based on bitter expereince, make sure when you try your boots, you are wearing the sort of socks you mean to wear for walking, otherwise, you can get into serious trouble.
Camping - not a bad range in store, usually there's a good supply of sleeping bags - I've purchased two adult ones, which are very cosy, and one junior one, which kept the babe snug last week. I've had the adult ones over a year, and have no complaints. As well as doing big snuggly bags for people who have cars, they also do small compact bags for people who only have rucksacks. There's a selection of airbeds in store, and you can get ones that inflate themselves, although they need batteries and are currently £40, where a normal double airbed is half the price. Still, an interesting innovation.
Millets do an excellent selection of impedimenta, ideal for camping or picnicing - cooking gear, cups, plates, cunning things so you can do toast on a single gas ring, water bottles, torches and all the other bits and pieces a camper might need. I've bought various items from this selection and have found them to be good, reliable and decent value for money.
Now, the Millets I've got, and the others I've seen have been too small to carry tents in store, but they do offer catalogues. I have to say, unless you know exactly what you want, this isn't a good way to go. It's much better to see a tent upright before you buy it, it gives you a far better sense of how big it is and how fiddly it will be to assemble. There's a lot to be said for getting your tent from a tent specialist, like Atwools down in Gloucester (who I reccomend).
They also sell bags. Again, I've bought from them, and their rucksacks are good. They go down to smaller day tripper sacks, and up to larger ones, although I've no first hand expereince of the latter. The day bags are good and durable, believe me, I've put mine through tis paces. I can wreck a cheap rucksack in a matter of a few months carrying shopping in it, the Milletts bag has lasted over a year now, so that gets a thumbs up.
On the whole, I've found the staff to be pleasant and friendly, reasonably aware of what they are selling, and reasonably helpful. Millets isn't perfect though - they don't carry wax jackets at time of writing, and they don't cater for the more unusual end of outdoor pursuits, its middle of the road stuff. The quality however is good and the prices acceptable on most things. Well worth a look.
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