Outdoors: Five summer essentials for this week

Published on 23/05/2012 18:00

GEAR up for summer with five essentials to keep your drinks cold, your food fresh and your skin safe

Deck chair

John Lewis are doing a fine line of light, portable deck chairs at the moment, including some Olympic 2012-inspired loungers. They stock a particularly handsome effort in the shape of the seaside-themed Punch and Judy deckchair by Hemingway Design, pictured above.

Recommended: Hemingway Design FSC Deckchair, Punch and Judy, £44 at John Lewis

Cool box

A quaint woven basket will only get you so far if you want to enjoy a picnic properly - for keeping cool drinks just so, a cool box is essential. Try Halford’s family-sized cooler bag, a steal at just over a tenner.

Recommended: Polar Gear Family Cooler Bag, £11.99 at Halfords

Sun lotion

Complacent souls might not consider buying a bottle of sun lotion until they check in at the airport, but you’d be well advised to carry a bottle if you intend on staying out most of the day; if not for the sake of your skin, at least think of how attractive a nose like century-old stucco would look.

Recommended: Nivea Sun Invisible Protection SPF30, 200ml, £7.34 at Boots

BBQ

Given the ‘temperemental’ nature of Scottish summers, big, unwieldy barbecues often seem overly-extravagant, particularly because, when the rain comes, they’re left outside to rust despondently in a corner of the garden. Nothing wrong with spending big on a good barbecue, particularly if you host regularly over the summer, but for small affairs a compact unit is usually best.

Recommended: Samba Trolley Charcoal Barbecue, £39.99 at B&Q

Sunglasses

Sunglasses: truly, an item to appeal to pragmatists and posers alike (some may prefer the term ‘stylish’, which does apply unless you choose to wear them indoors, in which case... )

Recommended: Ted Baker sunglasses for men, £65.00 at Vision Express; Ray-Ban print sunglasses for women, £135 at Sunglasses Hut