UKH

I'm going to buy a rucksack, waterproofs and a few other things. I know what I want, so nothing has to be tried on. Which online retailer that isn't Amazon is best for this kinda stuff? 

Needle Sports or V12 etc..
Consider supporting a small independent retailer in these difficult times. 

Have a look at Nevis Sports. They had some cracking deals in the summer.

Sportspursuit dot com has some good deals on rucksacks as well. 

That's the point of my thread. 

I haven't shopped there since the 90's. They were expensive and the service was shite, so I never went back. 

This.  There's no shortage of options and a web search, added to your own experience, should see you right.

T.

I'm looking for recommendations from other people's experience. 

Fair enough. I went into the Fort William store in July and got a great deal on a soft shell jacket and my daughter and her partner bought rucksacks and hardshell jackets. The customer service was excellent but to be fair, the shop was empty. I can't comment on their online service as I've never used it. 

Bought quite a few things from Pete Bland Sports on line shop. Always been delighted by what they were selling,  at a fair price.

I've often found that if something is on sale, that smaller independent shops/businesses often give just as good prices as big chains. 

Just start googling the thing that you want and see what comes up. I spent ages tracking down two DMM straight gate Shadows this summer (I've been sport climbing quite a lot and had got to the point where the two non-Shadows bolt-end krabs on my rack of 12 chunky sports quickdraw was starting to annoy me more than probably it really should. It seem loads of places were out of stock of straight gate Shadows, but eventually I found them at Some place called BAC Outdoor somewhere up in the Yorkshire Dales I think. 

But Rock and Run, Needlesports, Outside (Hathersage), Joe Brown/Climber's Shop, Face West are all good independent or small chains that I've used down the years, but still often have stuff at very fair prices even compared to GO and the like. In fact I incredibly rarely use Amazon for outdoor equipment, normally just google what you are looking for and and find links to smaller shops that way - although of course many of those shops use Amazon and eBay also, but probably they do slightly better selling a product via their own webshop than via Amazon.

I can highly recommend Needle Sports. Also, The Climber's shop in Ambleside, Joe Browns in Llanberis and Capel Curig.

Assuming by "best", you mean "cheapest", it is very much going to depend on the model you are buying, you will certainly have to shop around if you want to get the very best price.

One trick you can do on Amazon is find the stuff you want, so who is the cheapest seller and then contact them directly to buy outside of Amazon by ordering over the phone or whatever. Bonus of doing this is you get extra warm fuzzy feeling from not only avoiding Amazon but also using Amazon to void Amazon

Nevisport, Tiso, Ellis Brigham, Cotswolds, Gaynor Sports, Needlesports, V12.....

There’s a lot more. Search for what you’re looking for then just use the shopping option to narrow that down. You can easily avoid Amazon and get some great bargains.

Definitely Needlesports for me, great advice either in person or by phone makes them worth supporting.

They are usually ballpark on price so it's a win win as far as I'm concerned.

For example why Amazon wins. I went onto Needlesport and searched for women's waterproof trousers. The 1st result is a pair of shoes, then 3 pairs of trousers (result!) then a climbing harness, then 3 sleeping bags! WTF?

I went onto Amazon and searched for women's waterproof trousers and I got pages of, wait for it, have a guess,....... women's waterproof trousers.... 

Alpkit. Ethical and economical.

I’ve used the following and had no issues and fast delivery

 Climbers shop

E outdoor

Rock and Run

Urban Rock

Epicentre

and probably a few more that I can’t remember right now

Ones I wouldn’t use online again

Cotswold online 

Hey aln, have you thought about buying from a 'local' independent shop, you know to support them and all that...

sorry couldn't resist ; )   

I don't have any outdoor shops near me, if I did I would. 

I bought my new climbing shoes online from Absolute Snow. I'd never heard of them but they have a bricks n mortar shop in Watford and the reviews were all good. I didn't look around the rest of the shop but the price was fine and delivered in good time.

Worth looking at Mountain Magic in Nottingham. Very cheap if they've got what you want. Good service so far too.

If you're in Fife you nearest local independents, or fairly independent (not largely owned by Mike Ashley) is Craigdon or Freezepro in Edinburgh or Caingorm Mountain Sports in Aviemore or Braemar. There may be others. Alpkit are opening in Edinburgh soon.
Online I rate V12, Facewest, Mountain Factor and Alpkit. Sherpa and Patagonia have a good online service too, often with bargains.

erm....it was meant to be a joke (admittedly a fairly crap one) 

It was indeed. 

I don't know how much you know about Scottish geography but Aviemore and Braemar are not local to Fife. 

easy treacle ; )

My experience, searching Amazon for some rather specialized kit as well as rather normal outdoor clothing was exactly the opposite:

Completely random suggestions on Amazon, better results on other search engines (idealo and heise, who are generallly more techy in outlook).

I guess it just an example of AS*.

If you do not have an item for sale, just say so! Otherwise I totally approve of the approach of using Amazon for looking what is on offer, and then buy locally or online from independent retailers.

The one thing where I am happy to use Amazon is used books and CDs. There, the combined power of searching the offers of hundreds of retailers can never be matched by going to a local used book / CD store.

CB

* artificial stupidity. Much easier to implement than AI!

Thanks for reminding of why leaving Fife was first on my to-do list upon reaching adulthood.

Completely random suggestions on Amazon, better results on other search engines (idealo and heise

I've never heard of those. 

if you do not have an item for sale, just say so!

I'm buying, not selling. 

You left Fife upon reaching adulthood because your nearest independent outdoor shops were in Aviemore and Braemar? 

Ah, German/Austrian price matching web sites that started mainly for computers and other electronics stuff, but bizarrely work quite well also for spottings scopes and clinmbing or skiing gear.

The request to admit not having some bizzarro article in store was meant for Amazon, not for you, apologies if that was not obvious.

CB

https://www.needlesports.com/catalogue/department.aspx?node_id=dbaf5d59-dfe... 

That took me three clicks. Using the drop down menus then selecting "women" in gender seems pretty easy. They've got some on decent looking discount too.

Just put what you want on google (assuming 'I now what i want' means make and model). You'll get a long list of the shops stocking it and you can peek the prices. If you click the 'shopping' tabs you get a more shop-like experience but only those shops paying google for the pleasure will come up on it.

In the way of recommendations, the service i received from Outside recently was nothing short of spectacular in how they solved a little mistake, so i can't recommend them enough. Good prices too!

On the other side of the fence, and on the 'supporting businesses' thing, if you don't want to support a business whose owner was a pretty vocal campaigner for Brexit with the prime reason being to get rid of foreigners then i would give Neddle Sports a pass

That's a very bold and damming statement. I would strongly suggest either providing evidence or retracting. Swiftly.

Meh. It's there for you to look up if you want. Find the user with the commercial account named 'needlesports' and browse back to the pre-brexit vote posts.

There was even a thread following that calling for a boycot on the shop or something. You can probably find it if you are that interested

I've found the thread and the particular comment and it doesn't read as you put it. 

Neddle and damming, lol

Alpkit ? - all own branded though.

Never had any issues.  

All depends on what your after. I've never had issues with any online supplier personally.

Amazon - multinational tax avoiding company worth billions which can significantly invest in its website and search engine

Small independents - everything Amazon isn’t.

Its a choice between saving yourself a few minutes and bung Jeff Bezo a few more quid or keep a local shop open and run by staff who can offer useful advice.

I'd add banana fingers and alpine trek to list.

Alpine trek might be the German version of Cotswold outdoors, but they have really good service and prices

I've had excellent service from the Climbers Shop and Rock and Run recently for some bits and pieces I've bought.

On a separate note, if you are looking up Blacks, don't just add .com to make their web address! 

+1 for Outside in Hathersage. www.outside.co.uk

Very good range of kit and quick and reliable online service too.

Dicks Climbing are really good too 

I had a similar experience with Nevis Sports - pricey, and disinterested staff, so have also avoided them since.

Conversely I've enjoyed excellent customer service,( including support in getting defective boots changed ), with Cotswold, who also give a fair discount to BMC and Ramblers members. Good service on line as well.

I've got some good deals and service from Taunton Leisure 

As with so many on this thread, I've had great service from Needlesports.

I've also used Rock and Run, and Alpkit, with no problems - everything wet smoothly.

For cheap outdoors kit purchases, not with a mall/local retailer, I've used trekkinn several times with no problems at all - although their reviews suggest that problems can happen.

If you want an independent, try our local, Up and Under.

George Fisher in Keswick have a decent online shop as well, find the prices a little higher than some other places but they tend to have more trousers with different leg lengths than some other retailers which is quite useful.

George Fisher Keswick is now owned by JD Sports who also own Blacks, Millets and Go Outdoors amongst others. 

To offer some balance, I’ve had excellent customer service in Nevisport in Aviemore, although the shop is looking quite ‘tired’. Including substantial discount for Scottish Mountaineering membership.

I use Trekitt in Hereford for all my outdoors stuff. All prices are less than RRP and the service is excellent, I have returned stuff with no issues before.

https://www.trekitt.co.uk/

And being an independent they are worth supporting to keep them around.

I'd add Ultralight Outdoor Gear to the list of very good independent businesses. They offer an excellent range of clothing and camping gear, and the prices are very reasonable.

Another vote for Needle Sports.

I emailed them recently about a bit of kit for crevasse rescue.  They replied not only with the answer to my question about the bit of kit I was thinking of buying but they also included several different options which I might want to consider.  I have made a purchase with them accordingly!

I am sure they could give you good advice via email about the kit you are wanting to buy as well.

Another Trekkit user here, great service and usually have some good deals

Frustratingly I tried to bypass Amazon for some kit and Nevisport were the closest in cost.  I emailed them with a basic question.  After 10 days of no response I gave up and went elsewhere.  

I tried,  but at times everything points back to bloody Amazon

Needlesports

Ultralight Outdoor Gear

Trekitt

Dicks Climbing

Facewest

Banana Fingers

Rock n Run

Bought two waterproofs (seperate transactions) from Outdoor Action......small problem with dispatch of first - they were excellent at resolving, second transaction smooth. Good prices.

Rock and Run are very good and have some great offers on.

Needle Sports for climbing kit.

Ultralight Outdoor Gear for walking/backpacking.

Alpkit for both.

Same here, only good words to say 

Taunton leisure  - i've used them for 25 years.