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Campfire Dishes: BBQ Halloumi Burgers It's everyone's favourite time of year! The sun is out, the daylight hours are longer and the daffodils are blooming. With spring in full swing, it's only fair this week's Campfire Dishes incorporate everyone favourite spring/summer cooking tool – The Barbecue!1 min read
Destination Inspiration: Ruhpolding, Germany Learn more about Ruhpolding as the ideal ski resort destination. Located in the heart of Germany's Bavarian countryside and surrounded by snow topped mountains.4 min read
Campfire Dishes: Smoky Bean Breakfast Our great camp cookout continues this week with the Smoky Bean Breakfast. This is real old-world cowboy cookery, with tons of smoky flavours and plenty of protein-rich ingredients.1 min read
Running to Wellness - by Katie Myint #ThisIsMyWay ambassador, Katie Myint, gives her advice on how to improve wellbeing and mental health through an active lifestyle.3 min read
Hiking at Night – A Beginner’s Guide Thinking of attempting your first night hike? We wouldn’t blame you. Whether it’s spotting nocturnal wildlife or stargazing that interests you, there’s something magical about heading out under the light of the moon.3 min read
Cooler Runnings: A Winter Runner’s Survival Guide Get the best out of your cold-weather running. With the right kit and the right mindset you can gain the advantage over the cold-averse competition.5 min read
Review: BioLite CampStove 2 Our gear-fiend, Stuart Reid puts the new-and-improved version of the CampStove through its paces, to find out just how tasty it is4 min read
Don’t Hibernate: The Best British Winter Adventures At Blacks we are all about adventure 365 days a year. We don’t want you to miss out. So, we’ve put together a short list of alternative British winter activities to turn the colder days from a punishment to a prize.5 min read
Facing The Threat: Q&A with Sarah Roberts Sarah Roberts is an eco-journalist, author, campaigner and an expert in animal behaviour. She travelled the globe to work with some of the world’s most dangerous creatures. Now she's talking to us.6 min read
Review: Garmin Instinct GPS Watch Garmin's brand-new GPS smartwatch, the Instinct, promises sophisticated analytics in a lightweight design. What better way to test the watch’s running credentials than in Sunday’s Manchester Half Marathon?4 min read
The Power of Walking | BBC Countryfile Ramble Now in its 4th year, the BBC Countryfile Ramble is an opportunity for people to stretch their legs and their wallets to raise money for underprivileged children around the country. With 18,505 miles between us to walk it's time to grab your ramble hat and hit the trails. #HatsOn2 min read
Rowing for Gold | Inspiring DofE Expeditions The pupils of Chesterfield high school are going to be showing you that there are many ways that you can complete your Gold expedition, as we document the last leg of their 77-mile journey canoeing down the River Wye.2 min read
Top 5 Coastal Campsites Oh, I would love to live beside the seaside...Well now you can! For a few days at least. Here we pick 5 of our favourite coastal campsites from Cool Camping's new guide, Coast. We're also giving away 10 copies of the book. Read the blog to find out more.3 min read
MicroAdventure - The Snowdon Horse Shoe The climb to Crib Goch is a fairly surreal experience. You face the odd combination of gaining height and losing flat ground to stand on, before the route suddenly becomes almost vertical. Crib Goch is 3,028 ft above sea level and we all took a couple of minutes to...3 min read
DofE Food Ideas for Expeditions Whether it’s your Bronze, Silver or Gold expedition, meal planning for your expedition is vital. It’s important to think about what fuel you’re giving your body each day. Planning what food to take for your expedition requires some thought, it must be high in calories, low in weight and still...4 min read
National Walking Month | Our Top 10 Walks in the U.K. In the spirit of National Walking Month (May) we asked OS Champions from around the UK to share with us their favourite walks. And there are some real hidden gems...15 min read
The Duke of Edinburgh's Award: Team Tips Essential tips to get the most out of your team on your Duke of Edinburgh's Award Expedition.3 min read
Blacks Partners with The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Blacks and our wider outdoor family (Millets, Ultimate Outdoors, Go Outdoors & Tiso) are very pleased to announce our new partnership with The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award to become the Recommended Retailer Partner for Expedition Kit.1 min read
The Duke of Edinburgh's Award: What, Why & How? Blacks are proud to work with The Duke of Edinburgh's Award as the recommended retailer for expedition kit. For those people who don't really know much about the Award, or those who aren't sure where to start, we thought an introduction might be useful.4 min read
Testing the Berghaus GR20 Storm Jacket When Berghaus claimed that they had created the world’s most breathable 3-layer GORE-TEX® jacket, we couldn’t help but be excited. It’s a bold statement: the promise of lightness, waterproofing and breathability held in such fine balance. Over the course of two cold days we donned the GR20 Storm...3 min read
A Guide to Waterproof Technologies With Spring just around the corner and April showers a looming threat, good waterproof gear is a must. We’re here to guide you through the mystery of hydrostatic head, and give you a rundown of waterproofing technologies from our leading brands.7 min read
Field Test: Osprey hikelite - Upper Derwent Water, Peak District We visit Upper Derwent Water in the Peak District to test the new Osprey Hikelite on a 1-day circular route around the historic reservoir.4 min read
Review: Osprey Fairview 70 We recruited travelling guru and outdoor junkie, Joey from 'Cool of the Wild' to help us review the new, women-specific, Fairview 70 from Osprey. Join us as Joey 'unpacks' the best and worst features of this revelation in travel.5 min read
The Montane Lakeland 50 - 2017 Over a flattish section on the top jackets went on, the heavens opened just in time for the rocky descent I’d heard about so many times on the way around. I had by now blocked out all but a little of the pain in my toe but for the fear of taking out other runners I would have attacked this...6 min read