The Outdoors Show
We visited the Outdoors Show, held at the Excel in London. It was marketed as one ticket for four shows, combining the Outdoors Show, Active Travel Show, London Boat Show and London Bike Show. This meant there was plenty to see and do — it would be easy to spend the whole day at the Outdoors show alone.
The Outdoors Show alone had over 100 exhibitors, ranging from manufacturers showing off their latest outdoor equipment to outdoor associations, and there were even bouldering walls to climb and zip wires to fly down.
As well as getting to see the latest in outdoor products and companies, there was a great selection of speakers across the various stages. Some of the speakers we enjoyed listening to included:
Helen Skelton
Helen Skelton is not just a children's TV presenter on Blue Peter — she also holds two Guinness World Records for her adventuring: kayaking 2,010 miles down the entire length of the Amazon river on a solo journey, and a 500-mile trek to the South Pole, both undertaken for Sport Relief.
Charley Boorman
Charley Boorman first appeared on our radar with the epic TV programme Long Way Round, in which he and Ewan McGregor motorcycled round the world. That trip, Charley said, sparked a 65% spike in sales in the "adventure" motorcycle industry. He spoke about how Long Way Round came about and went on to discuss his other adventures, including Race to Dakar.
The Wild Britain Stage
The Wild Britain Stage was hosted by Ordnance Survey. Here there were a range of inspiring speakers and talks on essential outdoor skills including map reading, GPS, bushcraft and more.
Those are just a couple of the many talks and events. Among the stands we enjoyed was meeting the writer of The Glamorous Girls Guide to the Great Outdoors, which was launched at the show, and the Beyond the Beaten Track outdoor provisions stand where there were several tasty ration packs and camping foods to try. At times it felt like it could be called the Good Food Show — we also loved the Grasshopper Foods stall, who make tasty porridge and soups in innovative vacuum-packed "pop up" bowls.
We also picked up plenty of ideas for adventures — the Great Glen Trail was a particular favourite, a 79 mile trail across Scotland from Fort William to Inverness, mainly following the towpath of the Caledonian Canal, with opportunities to complete all or part of the route on foot, bicycle or canoe.
Our only observation, rather than a complaint, was the lack of camping-specific companies there — when we think "outdoors" we think camping, but the only tent supplier present was Robens (who had a fantastic selection of tents up), with no stove companies and few outdoor clothing big names.
That said, the Outdoors Show makes a great day out, whether you're interested in planning an adventure, having a browse, or just after a day out — and that's just one of the four shows under the same ticket.