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The Outdoors

"The Premier retailer of British kit in the UK!"
Review by Roger Stenning

Background...

I first became aware of The Outdoors shop in early 2002, when I was performing a semi-regular search of suppliers of surplus military kit in the UK, through Google.co.uk.

Being a bit of a cheapskate, my first reaction at seeing their prices was one of disbelief - how the hell could they be so damned cheap?

I decided that it was high time I reviewed a leading supplier of Military kit in the UK, and dug a little deeper (I phoned Pat Farey, at Gun Mart, if you must know - I work for him, writing up the Airsoft section in Gun Mart Magazine!).

The answer's simple, but requires a bit of a history lesson, so please bear with me.

A little history...

It goes roughly like this: Up until recently (the last few years), all surplus British military kit was sold at government auction; this resulted in prices fluctuating like a rubber ball, as some kit was - to say the least - prized for resale.

This changed a few years back, and the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) Surplus Disposal Agency awarded a contract to a single company, in order to dispose of its' surplus kit. In April 2001, the contract was up for renewal and, against fierce competition from across the globe - not just in the UK! - a hitherto little-known family run business called 'Uniform' won the contract.

Because of the terms of this contract, Field Textiles Limited was formed. This was the wholesale arm of the business. At the same time, The Outdoors was formed, and a split level website published (wholesale and retail), all due to the contract with the MoD; the result was a small chain of retail stores (two at the time of writing, with more on the way) that offered almost farcical prices for UK Military kit to the consumer (that's you and I, by the way).

Field Textiles Ltd. are exclusive contractors in the UK to the Ministry of Defence. With over 50 years experience in the army surplus business, they are specialists in all genuine British kit.

Since Pat had recently visited their warehouse (in Basildon, Essex), in order to perform a review of their services to the retailer (for Gun Mart), I figured that a visit from me, as Practical Airsoft, wouldn't be too much inconvenience - so I phoned them. They were more open to my suggestion than I'd hoped for, and got an almost immediate appointment to visit them the following Monday - two working days away! Now how's that for encouraging?

The Heart of the Operation...

I visited Field Textiles on Monday 11th March 2002, at roughly 09:40 in the morning. Operations at the Warehouse were in full swing, with a delivery to them (a massive articulated lorry, loaded with brown MoD flat-pack boxes, fairly bulging with kit) proceeding in full swing.

I met Mark Bayford, their Sales Manager, who showed me first to their showroom, and explained how the company came about.

He then explained their grading system. This is how they actually describe their kit, to their customers, both wholesale and retail alike.

The surplus kit arriving from UK Bases, wherever they may be, is first brought into the warehouse, divided according to type and style, then graded. They have three main levels of grade, which are:

Supergrade:: Unissued, or very slightly worn, to the extent that the untrained eye cannot normally tell the difference.
Grade 1:: Very good used condition.
Grade 2:: Slightly more visible wear, no repairs.

For their retail shops, it is highly unlikely that you'll find webbing in anything other than Grade 2 condition, by the way. For all other lines, the stocks in the shop I visited (more on this later on) were in top-notch condition!

After discussing the history of the company, how they achieved the Contract with MoD, and how they received and distributed their stocks, Mark then took me on a tour of the warehouse.

The heart of the operation is naturally centred around their warehouse.

One half is the receiving / grading / dispatch area, the other, their stock area. Since one stock warehouse looks much like another (rows of shelves bearing masses of stock lines), I concentrated on the former area, where the staff were processing the latest delivery. Stock was brought in, unboxed, and put onto a moving conveyor belt, where the staff then grabbed the stock, and sorted it according to type and style. These initial sortings were then passed to the graders, who re-sorted it into Supergrade, Grade 1, and Grade 2, then passed to the stock area staff, who stored it all in the correct locations in the other half of the warehouse facility.

It took barely four hours to complete this massive delivery, from the truck arriving, to the delivery being fully processed - now THAT'S efficiency for you!

The retail side of things...

I then talked to Mark regarding their retail operation. Due to their contract, as well as sell the stuff wholesale, from their warehouse, they had to open up several retail shops, to assure MoD that they could sell on the surplus kit that they received.

They stock everything, as does their parent company, Field Textiles Ltd., from Army surplus clothing and accessories, to army boots, army combats, airsoft clothing and military camping equipment, angling and fishermen's accessories all the kit for hunting and shooting. They carry the largest, most comprehensive range of British Military Surplus in the world and are 'The Exclusive Textile, Tentage & Camping Equipment Contractor to the M.o.D'. For instance, while I was there, they were busily processing a mail order sale bound for a British soldier in Afghanistan (via, of course, a British Forces Post Office (BFPO) address)!

The first two stores are already open, one in Hornchurch, the other in Brentwood (both in Essex), and a third is in the latter planning stages, possibly to be sited somewhere in Kent, with more on the drawing board. Mark also commented that, since being awarded their (exclusive and sole UK supplier status) contract, their business had boomed by a whopping five-fold increase!

Anyhow, back to the subject at hand - retail. Goods are taken from the warehouse, and supplied to their shops (not surprising), where they are then double checked, and placed on hangers, shelves, and in display cabinets, for sale to the general public; due to their position in the trade, they are, luckily for you and I, able to sell these items on at almost farcical prices (compared to certain other well-known suppliers).

They also have a web site for their retail operation, at www.the-outdoor.co.uk, which is administered from the warehouse, with orders being processed at the shop in Brentwood (see below).

I was then invited to visit their retail shop in Brentwood, and talk to Mark Dipple, one of the brothers who ran 'uniform', before Field Textiles and The Outdoors were formed. It was a twenty minute drive, and, since I hadn't expected to visit, had to hunt for a car park (hint - use the Multi-story one, it backs onto the shopping centre!), which took a little longer.

The Brentwood shop...

Located within the Chaple High Shopping Centre, the store has a slightly understated look to it, as shown from the photo. It may not be that wide, but it's three times as deep, and loaded with stock - I almost had to pick my jaw up - the place is a gold-mine!

Mark Dipple (this was getting confusing - TWO guys named Mark!), the manager of the store, was very helpful and patient, answering every dumb question I asked; he explained how they stocked the store, how the operation was run, and their plans to expand in the future, to become the largest retail chain in the surplus world. In other words, folks, The Outdoors are expanding - watch out for announcements on their website!

The stock was well-presented, sized (of course), and clean; the layout of the store is logical, and the vast array of products, in addition to the surplus kit, was well-thought-out, and appropriate to the purpose.

The other member of staff in the store when I visited was Ronnie, and both of them have extensive knowledge of their product lines, and were very helpful to the customers who came into the shop while I was there.

Stock lines were what you'd normally expect to see in a surplus store, with a few notable exceptions.

They have stocks of somewhat rare and normally impossible-to-find items; for the Airsoft site operator, they have stocks of Norgie Food Containers (which are mostly used as camping tea/coffee urns!), camouflage netting, DPM camouflaged overalls and such like; for the Airsoft player, stocks of such things as a VERY rare temperate desert DPM jacket and trousers (you can normally only find the tropical weight version). They also had masses of issue 'boonie' hats (tropical DPM camouflaged hats), which are difficult to source at the best of times in most stores!

They also stock safety glasses (the laboratory type), masses of combat boots, as you'd expect, camping equipment, waterproofs, and so on.

The one thing that stood out head and shoulders above everything else was the singularly low prices for everything that came from the MoD; other items were pretty much at the usual market prices, such as rank badges, qualification insignia, knives, field/camping accessories, and such like.

Their web site also lists most of their stock lines, but, as you'd expect, things sometimes go out of stock, due to the very nature of the Surplus trade. For instance (for the slightly portly amongst us!), Soldier 2000 pattern trousers in large waist sizes are few and far between, and you may have to wait a while to get your hands on them. If, by the way, you're looking for Northern Ireland gloves (leather, with a foam pad on the back), you better get your order in soon - MoD stopped issuing them a couple of years ago, since they started to supply the S'2000 issue gloves instead!

All in all, I was impressed with the business, and won't hesitate to recommend that you, at the very least, visit their website, or either of their current stores.