How We Test Kit

Unbiased, authentic, honest — and lovers of the Great British outdoors. That’s who we are at the GBAC: Passionate outdoor experts with decades of experience — both industry-side and in adventuring itself. And we test, report on and review outdoor gear in order to educate, encourage and empower; so you can maximise your next big great British adventure through better know-how and even better kit.

We are here to give you the most well-rounded and informed take on various types of camping gear, trail running kit and hiking equipment. But, unlike most gear review websites out there, we don’t believe this can be delivered by one person alone. Instead, we lean on our network of Great British Adventure Club members to provide a spectrum of opinions on specific pieces of gear, based on a cross-section of different adventures, locations and weather challenges. We then turn this input into long-form reviews that are informative and insightful, yet still enjoyable to read — all while being 100% unbiased, authentic and honest. 

So, who are these Great British Adventure Club members? Right now, the GBAC comprises product designers, mountain leaders, guides, coaches, athletes, cartographers and other outdoor industry professionals. And we ensure that an item is used by at least 3 different club members before penning our review and publishing our opinion. 

How do we get products for review?

In general, the products that we review at the Great British Adventure Club are items that we think deserve coverage — be it for good or bad reasons! In general, we will review kit sourced in 3 distinct ways: 

  1. A club member already owns and uses an item that they purchased themself.

  2. A brand or PR agency representing a brand connects with the GBAC to offer a sample of an item for testing.

  3. A brand or PR agency connects with a specific club member to offer a sample of an item for testing. 

Irrespective of how these products fall into our hands, however, we never accept payment for reviews, nor do we ever pander to brands purely because they’ve sent us a sample of a product. No matter how it gets here, the end review will always be unbiased, authentic and honest, as the only people we hold ourselves accountable to are you — our readers.