Suppliers

From time to time I receive emails - "where can I buy .....". It's not always a dumb question. Some of the materials that are suitable for these projects are not easy to find in the high street. The UK market for DIY camping gear is also rather small compared with the US and that also means that things are tricky.

I've listed here some suppliers for various things. I'm not endorsing any of them. It's more a way of getting you started.

I did look at the possibility of making little kits up for various things but the numbers don't stack up.

UK Based Suppliers - Fabrics

Your general high-street fabric store might have some PU-coated nylons as might your local Kite shop. Generally they will not. Fabrics like SilNylon will not be found on the high-street. There are a couple of suppliers I know are based in the UK

Outdoor Fabric - Point North

They supply a wide range of outdoor fabrics including goretex-like stuff and SilNylon and all sorts of bits n bobs such as nylon tape, rivets, grommets and so on. Like all fabric suppliers they actual fabric will vary between rolls and so fabric weights will vary from nominal. Sometimes the weave between rolls will be different and so fabric behaviour might be different.

They can do next-day delivery if you use the fast-track option but otherwise it can take up to two weeks.

Outdoor Fabric - Pennine Outdoor

This is the other supplier that I know of. They tend to be about the same on price and delivery cycles. Their range is often not as good as Point North. They do however promise faster delivery as standard.

Outdoor Fabric - Other Places

Many tent repair shops or marquee manufacturers will keep rolls of fabric and nylon tape and so on in stock. They might not know what it is they have but they will be willing to sell you lengths of fabric.

It's also worth looking at cheap outdoor clothing and accessories as a way of getting hold of fabric. My ultralight day pack project used a commercial stuff-sack as a starting point - it was an easy way to get some silnylon that was a different colour and a higher quality.

Fabric Accessories - Tape, Cord, Grommets etc.

Nylon tape can often be found in high-street camping and climbing stores as well as in some fabric stores. Most fabric shops (and some craft shops such as HobbyCraft) will stock metal grommets and press-studs, velcro etc. No-name stores are often better for the generic stuff. I tend to buy some items in Fabric Land because I'm shopping in there for other materials.

Often it makes sense to buy everything you need from mail-order and save on the time and postage costs. Some things such as velcro and nylon tape I tend to bulk-buy because I know I'll use it over time and some widths of nylon tape are hard to find.

Incidentally: DIY tents tend to use Coil Zips rather than fixed length zips - the lengths you want are never around....

UK Based Suppliers - Metal

Items such as Rivets and metal-working tools can be found at reasonable prices at Machine Mart. You will also find rivets at places like B&Q and MotoMan but they will cost more. A cheap Drill Press is almost essential if you are working with metal - you don't need a luxury item, mine is a bottom-of-the-range chinese bench-mounted clone.

Many hobby shops will have some materials such as brass and plastic and maybe even aluminium tubing but they will be in very short lengths and expensive.

I tend to buy most of my metal stock at B&Q Warehouses. In engineering terms the qualitiy varies hugely but for the type of projects shown on this website the stuff is adequate.

If you are working with metal it's probably worth buying yourself 1/2 Flat Files and 1/2 round files of various grades and sizes. It's not worth buying cheap stuff - they tend to bend and wear flat.

A good source of aluminum tubing is actually an archery store. It's probably best to pay them a visit. Arrow-shafts are often the same grade of tubing as used to make tent poles - you just have to find the right sizes. The two archery suppliers that I know of are Quicks and Wales Archery

UK Based Suppliers - Carbon Fibre

Your best best (and often the cheapest) is to go and find a kite shop and look at their spars. Carbon is much stiffer than Aluminium for a given weight. The construction method for tubing - Pultruded or rolled or whatever has a big impact on material performance.

I have bought some stuff from Carbonology but they took several weeks to deliver and are not the cheapest of places. They are more engineering-based in outlook and so things like tube dimensions are accurate.

UK Based Suppliers - Titanium

If you are looking to work in titanium then good luck with that! It's a specialist material and tough to work

Non-UK Suppliers

Anywhere outside of the EU will be subject to import duty AND either an £8 or £12 (expedited) handling charge!!!!!

With the current exchange rate it is cost-effective to buy from the US for some items even with the tax grab....

The supplier that I know of is Quest Outfitters. I've never ordered anything from them but they are well known within the BPL community and stock just about everything you need in fabric terms to kit yourself out - including Cuben Fiber. Allow 2+ weeks for delivery for customs clearence.