CheapTents Outdoor Gear Blog

Time has flown by since the beginning on the new Millennium! Its hard to imagine that the now iconic structures of the London Eye and the Millennium Dome were brand new, and that they were supposed to be only temporary. At that time the internet was becoming more and more mainstream but it certainly wasn’t the everyday business, communication, entertainment and information media that it has become today.

Yet way back in the year 2000, at Adventure Centre Ltd, we started work on CheapTents. At that time there were several well-known discounting websites such as Cheap Flights. From this the idea of the CheapTents brand was born. It made perfect sense since we were selling top quality outdoor gear at discounted prices, but of course, Not Just Tents!

• CheapTents Now Stocking Snugpak Tents
• An Enhanced User Experience @ CheapTents
• Exclusive Discounts for Members Only

For the past three years the CheapTents team have been writing outdoor blog posts! Whether its gear, getting out and about, industry news, interviews or wildlife, there is a lot going on in the great outdoors. To celebrate our birthdays we like to put together a collection of our favourite posts from the past 12 months. This year we’ll dispense with the long, rambling approach and get straight to the links!

Outdoor Gear

It’s no surprise that we love our outdoor gear and tent reviews are always popular!

• The North Face Tadpole 2 DL
• MSR Fast Stash

• UIAA Ice Climbing Video
• Berghaus Rock Climbing Game – Asgard Project
• Chesterfield Walking Festival 2009

Today we’ve launched a new social media feature into our product pages. We’ve added three buttons to the bottom of our product information pages.

Two of these buttons you will no doubt be familiar with, if you use the internet on a regular basis, Facebook and Twitter. There is also one button you may not be so familiar with, Google +1.
There is more information about these services below.

Try the new buttons on our products today

You can find the buttons just below the price and options box on all product pages, for example the Vaude Power Lizard.

• Cheap Tents Online Shop is 10!
• Brasher hillwalking boots grow in popularity…
• VAT & Price Reductions from CheapTents.com

During 2010 we’ve managed to rack up over 100 articles on this blog. These have included interviews, products reviews, industry news and much more. To celebrate the end of another great year we’ve choosen our favourite posts (of all time) and the 10 most popular posts of 2010 to share with you once again.

Most Popular Posts of 2010

• An Interview with Andrew Skurka – Yukon Expedition
• An Interview with Samuel Gardner – All in Trek
• Walking and Trekking in South Africa
• The Family Camping Checklist 2010
• Pembrokeshire Coastal Path – Best in the UK

• Walking Festivals & Events in September
• New Social Feature on CheapTents
• Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team Teddies

Here at CheapTents we fully understand the chaos that surrounds most people at this festive time of year, especially those of us taking part in the annual practice of last minute shopping.

But never fear, for CheapTents are here!
That sounded much catchier in my head…

Well kind of, if you are needing to last minute shop you will need to pop down to our physical store, in Warrington, the Adventure Centre. That is because our last shipping dates for pre-Christmas delivery have now been and gone, meaning orders placed online from Monday 20th will more than likely be delivered post-Christmas.

• Upgrades to CheapTents.com Online Store

IMPORTANT: 2011 Christmas Shopping Dates can be found here

Whilst some of us are enjoy the current weather conditions, ideal for walking in the countryside, however we have heard a few moans and groans about the snowy weather conditions. Even from our delivery partners. Anyway I’m loving the weather and hope you are too but we need to tell you about some possible delays in delivery of orders.

Most of the UK is currently under severe weather warning for “wintery conditions” and as such the Royal Mail and Parcel Force, our delivery partners, have issues warnings that some deliveries may experience delays.

• Most Popular Blogs of 2010
• New Social Feature on CheapTents

IMPORTANT: Please NOTE final Shipping Dates for Christmas 2010 have now passed

At CheapTents we want to keep our customers “in the loop”, as part of this we have been continually giving you delivery updates during the recent bad weather. Today we’ve been contacted by one of our two despatch companies explaining that orders despatched after Friday will not reach various scottish regions until AFTER christmas.

This means that if you are ordering with the intention of delivery to an affected area before Christmas you must order BEFORE Friday (17th).

Post code areas affected by this:
Note: this is currently only affected SCOTTISH Postal Codes

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Today we competed Phase One of the CheapTents.com redesign and I would like to tell you a little about what we have done and what else you can expect in the near future.

Why Are We Changing?

It has been several years since our last big redesign. Since then the web has changed a lot, we’ve seen the demise of Internet Explorer 6 and the rise of Social Media and the Mobile Web. With this in mind we wanted to revamp our website and make it fit for the day and the future.

• Where do the MSR Hubbas get their name?
• New Social Feature on CheapTents
• 2011 Christmas Delivery Information

CheapTents is known for it’s amazing all year round camping discounts, and for it’s amazing blog obviously. However, did you know you can save even more when you buy with CheapTents … if you are a member?

As a member you will receive some amazing benefits including:

• 10% off your first order as a member (excluding tents).
• Advanced notice of new products and upcoming sales.
• Exclusive Discounts available only to members.
• A monthly newsletter including all the above and more!

And the best bit of all

• Membership is 100% Free!

• Christmas Presents and Special Offers from CheapTents.com!
• New Social Feature on CheapTents
• Launching the CheapTents.com blog!

Earlier this month the second anniversary of the CheapTents.com Outdoor Gear Blog passed by uneventfully. Yet on the 7th of August 2009, the first anniversary was celebrated with a summary of our favourite outdoor blog posts. So it seems only fitting that we should do a round up of the best posts of our second year before this month is over.

Best Outdoor Gear Posts

One of our favourite bits of outdoor gear this year is the Vango Helium Superlite tent. Available in two models, the 1 man 100 model and the 2 man 200 tent, both are lightweight, rugged and ideally suited for mountain marathons or solo walking. Our review looks at the Vango tents in detail.

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