A deep valley between snow-covered peaks under a dark blue sky

We own the tent you would use twice a year, so you don’t have to.

Our kit goes up the fells most weekends and comes back muddy. Between hires every piece is washed, dried, tested seam by seam and fitted to the next person in the shop on Example Road.

How hire works

Everything in the kit room, by the night.

Six shelves and about four hundred pieces, sized, checked and ready to go. Hire one thing for a night or the whole lot for a fortnight.

Reserve kit
  1. A red dome tent pitched on open grass below a snowy ridge

    Tents

    One-person shelters to six-berth family tunnels, every one pitched and tested in our yard.

    From £12 a night

  2. A blue sleeping bag inside an open tent looking out over mountains

    Sleep

    Three-season and winter bags in two lengths, with inflatable or closed-cell mats.

    From £6 a night

  3. A walker carrying a large black and red backpack across green hills

    Packs

    Day packs to 70-litre trekking packs, adjusted to your back before you leave the shop.

    From £5 a night

  4. A small gas stove with a pan on a rock outdoors

    Cook

    Gas stoves, pans, mugs and a full canister, packed together in one bag.

    From £4 a night

  5. A pair of worn hiking boots standing on grass below a mountain

    Boots

    Leather and fabric boots in half sizes, already worn in and never straight out of the box.

    From £8 a night

  6. A walker in an orange waterproof jacket on a wet woodland path

    Shells

    Waterproof jackets and trousers, washed and reproofed after every single hire.

    From £7 a night

Ready packs, so you only choose the weekend.

Packed, checked and labelled on the shelf the night before you come. Swap anything in the shop when you collect.

Hire for

How hire works

Four steps between our shelf and your pitch, and none of them asks for money up front.

  1. Book

    Choose kit online or ring the shop. We hold it for your dates, and nothing is charged until you collect.

  2. Get fitted

    Twenty minutes in the fitting room: boots on the slope, packs loaded to weight, bags matched to your height.

  3. Go

    Every hire leaves with a route card for the valleys around us and a phone number answered until nine at night.

  4. Bring it back muddy

    Drop it at the counter or the after-hours locker. Cleaning is on us; we only charge for damage beyond a stitch.

A walker tying a leather boot on a rock above a valley
A man in a grey jumper checking a backpack among trees
A walker in a blue and orange hooded waterproof, seen from behind

Fitted, not handed over.

Kit that fits is kit you forget about on the hill. Every hire starts with twenty minutes in our fitting room, and it costs nothing.

  1. Boots on a slope

    We measure both feet, lace you in and walk you up and down our ramp until your heel stays put on the way down.

  2. Packs loaded to weight

    Your torso length sets the back system. We load the pack to what you will carry and settle the hip belt on your hips, not your waist.

  3. Shells over your layers

    Jackets are tried over the fleece you will wear, arms up, so the cuffs stay at your wrists and the hood turns with your head.

Between every hire, the same six checks.

Nothing goes back on the shelf until it passes all six. Each piece carries a card with the date and the initials of whoever checked it.

  1. Check 1 of 6

    Washed

    Tents rinsed, bags and shells washed with a technical cleaner, boots scrubbed and waxed.

    Muddy walking boots standing in a shallow stream

  2. Check 2 of 6

    Dried for two days

    Hung in the drying loft for forty-eight hours. Nothing is ever packed away damp.

    A tent glowing in low sunlight on a grassy field

  3. Check 3 of 6

    Seams tested

    Every tent is pitched in the yard, sprayed with a hose and checked from the inside for drips.

    A hand holding a hose that sprays a fan of water

  4. Check 4 of 6

    Zips run end to end

    Sliders cleaned, pulls replaced and stiff teeth fixed before they can fail on a ridge.

    A close view of a metal zip on blue and brown fabric

  5. Check 5 of 6

    Stoves fired

    Each stove is lit and its flame checked; seals and jets are replaced every season.

    A man crouching over a lit camping stove outdoors

  6. Check 6 of 6

    Repaired in the workroom

    Small tears are patched and re-taped the same week. Whatever we cannot trust, we retire.

    Hands guiding fabric through a sewing machine
A walker in an orange jacket on a narrow path along a steep grassy ridge

A route card with every hire.

Written by the people who rent you the kit and walked again every spring. Four favourites from the shop door:

RouteDistanceAscentTimeGrade
Loughrigg Fell circuit9 km335 m3 hoursEasy
Wansfell and Troutbeck10 km480 m4 hoursModerate
Langdale Pikes12 km750 m5 hoursHard
Fairfield Horseshoe17 km1,000 m7 hoursStrenuous

Where the kit went last month.

Photos and notes our customers sent back with the kit, muddy boots and all.

  • The view from inside a tent door across a range of mountains

  • “The tent had been pitched in their yard the day before. It didn’t leak once in two nights of Lakeland rain.”

    Hannah and Joe, wild camp for two
  • Friends in camping chairs round a fire at night beside a lit tent

  • “Twenty minutes on my boots in the shop, and I came back off Fairfield without a single blister.”

    Priya, Fairfield Horseshoe
  • A walker standing beside a small tent on a mountain top at dusk
  • Three walkers in waterproofs on a wet woodland track
  • A walker on a rocky ridge disappearing into fog

  • “We brought everything back soaked and nobody blinked. The family pack is booked again for August.”

    The Okafor family, family camp
  • Looking out of a tent onto a sandy shore and the sea

Questions people ask at the counter

Two people sitting on a hillside at sunrise beside their tent
Do I need to book?

For weekends from May to September, yes. Midweek we can usually kit you out on the day if you ring first.

What if it rains the whole time?

Bring it back wet. Drying and cleaning are part of every hire, and we would rather you didn’t try to dry a tent in a flat.

Is there a deposit?

We hold a card when you collect and release it when the kit is back. Nothing is charged before then.

What happens if something breaks?

Tell us. Normal wear is on us; we only charge for damage beyond a simple repair, and never more than the item is worth.

Can you deliver to a campsite?

Yes, to campsites and huts within twenty miles of the shop, for £15 each way.

Can I keep the kit longer?

Ring before your return day and we will extend the hire at the nightly rate, as long as nobody has booked it next.

A row of white cottages along a village road below golden mountains

Come and get fitted.

Shop
Example Mill, Example Road, Ambleside, Cumbria LA0 0AA
Open
Every day, 8:00 to 18:00. The returns locker is open all night.
Phone
015300 00000
Email
hello@kitfell.example
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