The Great Outdoors

5 days ago | thegreatoutdoorsmag.com | Chris Townsend

Main image: The Vango F10 Classic was showcased at the Outdoor Trade Show 2025 | Credit: Chris TownsendThe annual Outdoor Trade Show, held at the Exhibition Centre in Liverpool’s docklands is a great opportunity to catch up with brands large and small, friends old and new, and for us at The Great Outdoors to find out which new gear will be in the shops and on our reviewing roster next year. Having so many brands together also reveals general themes and trends.

1 week ago | thegreatoutdoorsmag.com | Francesca Donovan

Main image: Walking with Feorlinn the Lab on Mull, one of Britain’s wild isles | Credit: Eilidh CameronEven in the adult mind, every island is Neverland. But did you know there are too many islands in the UK to count? Estimates range between 4000 and 6000, but only 803 are big enough to warrant mapped coastlines. Of these, a handful have such superlative walking opportunities, they must be worth swallowing down a few anti-nausea tablets before a ferry crossing.

1 week ago | thegreatoutdoorsmag.com | Chris Townsend

Sandals have been worn for virtually all of human history, but it’s only as recently as the 1960s when this form of footwear became designed for the specific act of hiking. Nowadays, specialist boot and shoemakers have developed technology and fit innovations to bring you the best hiking sandals fit for purpose. The modern hiking sandal as we know it can arguably be attributed to the German brand Birkenstock.

2 weeks ago | thegreatoutdoorsmag.com | Lara Dunn

The dark-green Highlander Respite 1 Person tunnel tent is extremely easy to erect, pitching flysheet first or inner and outer together as one. Two, different sizes of aluminium pole insert easily to give immediate structure to the tent, but it isn’t until its four guylines are deployed that the shelter has structure. At the price, it feels like a useful and cost-effective option for camping where good weather is expected, but better options are available if rain is likely.

2 weeks ago | thegreatoutdoorsmag.com | Lara Dunn

The only non-green tent in the test, the Alpkit Soloist is still a sufficiently subtly coloured tent to be useful for stealth camping missions. It’s extremely lightweight and has a very modest packsize. The semi-geodesic design pitches outer first, with a single, jointed pole that tucks into eyelets in the flysheet and fastens along the pole length with Velcro.