GETTING KITTED OUT 40 YEARS AGO WAS QUITE DIFFERENT FROM TODAY, WRITES OUR GEAR GURU DAVID CHANDLER …

One of the rich joys of birding is that there are birds everywhere, including gardens and parks. Just get out and walk around, there’s no need to be quiet or furtive. Become familiar with your feather

Are you getting started outdoors, gearing up for a Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, or just need to save a few quid? We all need to get out, even in this economy. Here’s the lowdown on the best, more budget-friendly backpacking kit our team have reviewed over the last year or so, in one place for the first time

Short, fast, apochromatic refractors with a flat image field that don’t cost a king’s ransom are perhaps the Holy Grail of telescope design. Altair Astro’s 60EDQ f/5 quad astrograph with dual-ED optic

More stuff to spend your hard-earned cash on

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