Hiking in Finland

9 years old and a One Stop Shop Veteran, we make a visit at the trekking-lite-store.com!

Disclosure: This article has been supported financially from Trekking-Lite-Store.com. As you know: I’m keepin’ it real and tell you how it is - I maintain full editorial control of the content published on Hiking in Finland. Read the Transparency Disclaimer for more information on affiliate links & blogger transparency.

Henrik and the trekking-lite-store.com are one of my oldest partners - they have been supporting me since many, many years. I interviewed Henrik in 2010 as they just opened and the they were also along in the first One Stop Shop Series in 2014 - here’s their list from back then. Since the beginning they offered ultralight gear from the USA and big brands, and slowly more and more brands can be found at this fine shop, from Gregory to Sea to Summit to Vargo. What is also very nice is that it’s easy to sort products here, from lightest to heaviest item. So lets see what we find in this list that they sent us:

Total Weight: 4.212 g
Total Price: 2.084,09 €
Price per g: 0,49 €

My thoughts on the list:

• With a Baseweight of 2.351 g this is a really nice light list, with a good selection of garments and shoes which make it another really light list, which is at a tad over 2k also reasonably cheap. A price per gram of 0,49 € is also quite good!

• I like the choice of backpack, it’s made in Europe and packs quite a nice set of features. It’s also great to see both Cumulus and GramXpert in this list, both are small European cottages that make great gear.

• EOE makes some of the lightest gas stoves on the market, and this complete kitchen setup tips the scales at 264 g, which is great. There’s some affordable & light kit in this kitchen. like the Primus Spork and the Fold Cup!

• A classic set of UL garments there with exception of the shoes maybe, Patagonia, Rab, OMM and Montane all are great brands which make high-quality garments and that selection should suit one well. The Columbia shoes I know Carsten will value, as he’s a fan of these kind of shoes!

• And the accessories are also solid choice which are both light and also should be fairly durable.

• Overall a nice list that is easy to adapt to personal tastes or the trip at hand, be it with a larger or lighter backpack, another shelter or a different stove!

Keep in mind that these lists are suggestions! If you are already hiking & backpacking you do not need to buy everything in one go but can replace gear slowly, and this lists merely should show you that you can purchase a complete Ultralight Backpacking Setup from one store. Read Carsten’s take on this list in German at Fastpacking.de.

Disclosure: The One Stop Shop Series was Carsten’s idea back in the day. The 2019 Series we have created together and you can read his take on the different lists in German on his blog, and you can read my take over here in English. Furthermore, we have been remunerated for our time by the individual shops.

Enjoyed this article? Support me on Patreon and get some useful rewards (like hanging out on Discord with me, where you can pick my brains!) or buy me a coffee - I work Full-Time on Hiking in Finland to bring you inspiring trip reports, in-depth gear reviews and the latest news from the outdoors. You also could subscribe to the rarer-than-ever Newsletter and follow along on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Youtube for more outdoorsy updates!

Did someone say it is spring?

Mateusz aka Laufbursche not only has beat cancer, he also will re-open his cottage this summer! [German]

Humans are speeding Extinction and altering the Natural World at an ‘Unprecedented’ Pace.

Cicerone Press turns 50 this year, while I celebrated 10 Years of my Hiking in Finland blog!

Are Mountain Climbers Selfish?

Nigel is back, but now is sold out :/

Why we all take the same travel photos.

The stories behind the notebooks that documented Rob MacFarlane’s travels underground.

Listen to the Bikes or Death Podcast, Andrew Skurka on the Backpacker Radio Podcast or hear about Shit in the Woods.

The Modern Trap of Turning Hobbies into Hustles.

What I learned about self-doubt hiking the Te Araroa trail.

Ponderings about Antarctic solo records. [German]

View the Alpinetrek.co.uk Outlet to find

Meet the all-new Hyperlite Mountain Gear NorthRim Backpack!

I was going to suggest you try to win this climbing trip to Tre Cime, but really, I want to win this!

Woman-Power with Salomon and Bergzeit! Win a hiking outfit from Salomon in this Photo Contest.

Summer is here, that means hiking, travelling and backpacking! Win a 3-Pack Set from Gregory for any trip.

Ever wished you could attend the Red Bull X-Alps? Then tell Bergzeit why YOU should win this trip and with some luck you will be in Austria in June!

Everyone, pack your bikes and go bikepacking in Baja.

Agnieszka just started her PCT thru-hike! [Polish]

Alex hikes 113 miles along the Haute Route Pyrenees.

Better than the Mediterranean: Derrynane Beach in Ireland.

Ode to the Kokopelli – A Fun Overnight Bikepacking Adventure.

Gerald enjoy the West Coast Trail. [German]

Seasonal gyrations.

Trespassing across America.

Over the mountains to the river in Albania.

An overnight adventure hiking around Mt Buller.

Erika goes for the final skitour of the year. [German]

Take the Bergsteigerbus from Lenggries to the mountains! [German]

Bikepacking on the Inca Trail.

Sweet Pea and Beardoh are hiking on the Mogollon Rim Trail.

Rick hikes south on the PCT to meet as many thru-hikers as possible!

Watch this Double Wall Open-Jet Alcohol Stove Tutorial.

Read Carsten’s take on the Walk on the Wild Side One Stop Shop list! [German]

There is a new way to Rent Premium Outdoor Gear in the USA.

Enjoyed this article? Support me on Patreon and get some useful rewards (like hanging out on Discord with me, where you can pick my brains!) or buy me a coffee - I work Full-Time on Hiking in Finland to bring you inspiring trip reports, in-depth gear reviews and the latest news from the outdoors. You also could subscribe to the rarer-than-ever Newsletter and follow along on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Youtube for more outdoorsy updates!

Ten years on and I am still blogging, photographing and enjoying the outdoors. A look back at a decade of outdoor blogging.

Ten years ago, at the beginning of April 2009, I opened up my blog at the hikinginfinland.com domain (actually, back then I was still at Blogspot, but that changed soon). Why did I start my blog? Well, I’ll need to start a few years earlier for that story.

In 2008 I hiked with my best friend Martin on the Karhunkierros Trail in Lapland. Back then I was far from hiking ultralight, and both Martin and me hiked with well over 20 kg on our backs this popular trail in Finland. On the the last day, motivated by the thought of a nice warm Sauna at home, cold beers and Pizza, we hiked as fast as possible to reach the early bus from Kuusamo to Oulu. This is where things went wrong: Sitting in our sweaty and smoke-smelling clothes in the bus, a fire alarm went on in the bus toilet - NOT caused by us 😊. The Bus pulled over, and a few minutes later it was burning with meter high flames flickering in the sky. Not only did we miss our connecting train to Tampere, but also lost all our backpacking gear which burned to ash in the luggage compartment of the bus.

I still loved hiking, and so decided to buy with the insurance money new backpacking gear. But I remembered that carrying 20+ kg on my back didn’t add to a pleasurable experience, and so, little by little, I found out that ultralight backpacking was a thing. So why the blog?

Back then the Summit & Valley blog, Chris Townsend and a few others were a huge inspiration for me to start blogging. I enjoyed the accounts of Bristish backpackers going out into the hills and documenting their trips, and as I felt there was no blog documenting the hiking and backpacking possibilities in Finland I registered the Hiking in Finland domain without much thought for a brand name or such. I published trip reports, gear reviews, and even made videos back in 2009 already, though they were quite different from what I produce nowadays. Together with Roger, Joe, Jörgen, Martin and Gustav we founded Nordic Lightpacking and even got together to go backpacking in Vålådalen in 2010.

Things took off for me well and magazines and companies started to ask if I could write and photograph for them. As the financial crisis from 2008 still made my work as an environmental management consultant quite hard, I decided to switch careers and have been working in this content creation, photography and outdoor business since 2011 full-time. Without this blog that wouldn’t have happened, and the amazing readers and friends I made during the last ten years helped me a lot so that I can work on my own with amazing outdoor brands, creating inspiring content from Northern Europe and across the globe. So thank you to the millions of readers who have read my articles over the last decade - it’s because of you that I am able to live this life!

… as well as Packrafting, bikepacking and trailrunning are what I do mostly nowadays. Quickly I realized that limiting myself to only hiking would mean I’d sit six months a year inside, so on came the XC skis in winter, and since four years I also go ski touring in Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the Alps. With over 180.000 Lakes in Finland the addition of a packraft was a logical first step, and also bikepacking felt like a good way to explore my surroundings.

I was dabbling for some years in climbing but because of having small kids I never was able to train as much as I wanted, so lately I haven’t been climbing on ice or rocks that much, but with the kids growing fast I hope to get back into that activity at some point. I did pick up trailrunning to stay fit as I can easily go run from the front of my house, and it is an activity which also gives me a good fitness for backpacking. Yes, backpacking, the activity of hiking and camping in nature, is still one of the best things in life. Even better, I am fortunate enough to call this work, mainly because I carry a camera, tripod and notepad with me when I go out, and am able to create compelling stories, photos and videos about my trips. It is something I truly love, because not only do I know that spending time is nature is healthy in many ways, it also inspires people to protect our planet better.

What is next? you might think, and it is a good question. Ten years ago I already started to write and talk about the negative effects of climate change, but society was not ready for it. Now, in 2019, thanks to a 16-year old girl and the movement she has inspired, old politicians finally start to listen up and ponder the future of the human species and the planet (though I feel these old politicians simply will continue business-as-usual). I feel the time is right now for me to again start talking about how we outdoor enthusiasts can do small things which can make this planet better - from picking up other people’s trash which we find on the trail to cycling more, eating healthier and flying less.

As you might have seen on Youtube I enjoy making videos again, and most of my reviews and trips will feature a video. I love the creativity video allows me, both in shooting and editing, and it is something that I feel better communicates what I want to say. Don’t worry, this blog will not go away. I see this blog as my home base, a sustainable and lasting place for the content I create, from the much-loved The Week In Review to trip reports and other content series. As I hate Instagram and equally despise Facebook I will spend less time on these necessary evils, but you will still be able to find me on Twitter and engage with me there. I also plan to give this blog an visual overhaul. The last one is too long ago, and I hope to find the time in 2019 to give this blog the look I wish it had. Don’t worry, it will not look like every other cookie-cutter blog out there but retain it’s quirkiness, although in a slightly less 90s-internet look 😂

Finally, I have to thank you, my readers, for returning for so long to read Hiking in Finland. It always makes me happy when I receive tweets, comments, Emails and messages from people who went to hike somewhere because of my trip reports, bought an item because of my review or decided to make a change because one of my ponderings. It is because of you that I create content, and it means so much to me to hear that it matters to you and that you enjoy it. Thank you for reading and following me ❤️

If you feel like you’d like to support me and say Thanks” my content, the best way to do so is via Patreon. It’s a monthly subscription and you can give as little as $3 per month to enable me to do what I do. As a reward you get to hang out with me on a chat server and can pick my brains on where to go hiking in Finland, what to pack and which shoes to wear, or we can discuss the latest Game of Thrones Episode! In that sense, Happy trails!

All photos in this article are from 2009 and 2010.

Enjoyed this article? Support me on Patreon and get some useful rewards (like hanging out on Discord with me, where you can pick my brains!) or buy me a coffee - I work Full-Time on Hiking in Finland to bring you inspiring trip reports, in-depth gear reviews and the latest news from the outdoors. You also could subscribe to the rarer-than-ever Newsletter and follow along on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Youtube for more outdoorsy updates!

The One Stop Shop Series continues with a list from the Northern-most Ultralight Shop, Backpackinglight.dk!

Disclosure: This article has been supported financially from BackpackingLight.dk. As you know: I’m keepin’ it real and tell you how it is - I maintain full editorial control of the content published on Hiking in Finland. Read the Transparency Disclaimer for more information on affiliate links & blogger transparency.

Backpackinglight.dk and Backpackinglight.se are owned by ultralight backpacker Kenneth Shaw which you might know from his Ultralight and Comfortable blog. Kenneth bought the Backpackinglight.dk domain and shop from Niels and made the range of the shop quite a bit larger over the last few years, and also nowadays offers the possibility for German and Scandinavian customers to pay via invoice at a later date. Overall I think BPL.se has a great range of brands, including many US cottages, and competitive prices. Lets take a look at the list which Kenneth has sent us:

Total Weight: 5.866 g
Total Price: 3.531,00 €
Price per g: 0,60 €

My thoughts on the list:

• The Windrider is also almost ten years later still a great backpack. and my 7 year old XLite is still going strong. The Sierra Designs Cloud 800 35F sleeping bag looks comfy and is pretty light for a sleeping bag, and The One from Gossamer Gear is a classic design which GG has brought back a few years ago, and is very popular. The Big 3 weight together 2.570 g which is really good.

• The Soto Windmaster seems to work well without a windscreen, even at a high altitude and low temperatures. Together with the Vargo Bot 700 ml it makes for a compact stove & pot setup, and as usual we see a Kupilka cup and a long-handled Ti Spoon. The Sawyer Micro is a well-liked waterfilter, and that Leatherman knife is seriously light!

• I love to see well-establish Scandinavian brands like Aclima and Lundhags in lists! They make fantastic garments which are long-lasting and environmentally friendly, which always is a plus in my book. It’s also great to see garments from The OMM in this list - 175 g for a rain jacket and pants is amazing, plus they are also pretty affordable!

• The Black Diamond Iota is used far and wide by alpinists, trailrunners and ultralight backpackers alike, and the Locus Gear Poles are some of the lightest telescope poles on the market. It’s good to see a phone on the list for navigation, this shows how far we have come in the last five years! Nowadays you can rely on your phone for navigation, photography and everything else while in the fjell, a true multi-use item thus.

Keep in mind that these lists are suggestions! If you rather use your iPhone or a map and compass for navigation - that’s just fine! Read Carsten’s take on this list in German at Fastpacking.de.

Disclosure: The One Stop Shop Series was Carsten’s idea back in the day. The 2019 Series we have created together and you can read his take on the different lists in German on his blog, and you can read my take over here in English. Furthermore, we have been remunerated for our time by the individual shops.

Enjoyed this article? Support me on Patreon and get some useful rewards (like hanging out on Discord with me, where you can pick my brains!) or buy me a coffee - I work Full-Time on Hiking in Finland to bring you inspiring trip reports, in-depth gear reviews and the latest news from the outdoors. You also could subscribe to the rarer-than-ever Newsletter and follow along on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Youtube for more outdoorsy updates!

The One Stop Shop Series kicks off with a list from Alpinetrek.co.uk!

Disclosure: This article has been supported financially from Bergfreunde. As you know: I’m keepin’ it real and tell you how it is - I maintain full editorial control of the content published on Hiking in Finland. Read the Transparency Disclaimer for more information on affiliate links & blogger transparency.

Alpinetrek.co.uk is the British site of the well-established German online shop Bergfreunde. I have been working together since many years with Alpinetrek and was very happy that they agreed to come on board for this series. Alpinetrek carries a wide assortment of brands, from Houdini to Patagonia, Salomon, Ortovox and Rab and also smaller brands which aren’t that well known yet. Their benefit definitely is that wide assortment, and while you won’t find many cottage brands in their shop, you still can put together a solid ultralight list. Another of their benefits is in my opinion that they carry such a large range of garments - this is great and allows you to get your hiking socks and boxershorts at the same time that you are ordering your shelter and sleeping bag! But without much further ado, here is the list which they sent us:

Total Weight: 6.002 g
Total Price: £2.437,58 (in today’s exchange rate that’s 2.822,26 €)
Price per g: £0,40 (0,46 €)

My thoughts on the list:

• Very nice mix of brands for the Big 3. The Levity is a solid pack for beginners and experienced hikers alike, as is the sleeping setup (I expect we will see the Uberlite in a lot of lists this time around!). It’s nice to see the choice of a tarp for sleeping, it’s still one of my favourite ways to sleep outside. With a weight of 2.722 g for these four items the Big 3 are also well under 3 kg.

• A very nice lightweight stove and kitchen Setup. The Esbit CS985 Set can use both solid fuel and alcohol to boil water, with the StS Long Spork you can eat directly from the bag, the Eldris is a solid knife which is good for all camp tasks and while the BeFree Waterfilter has some issues with the flask it’s a solid waterfilter which is really easy to use.

• The whole clothing setup is 2.094 g, if you subtract the rain garments which are hopefully most of the time in your pack, and some of the insulation pieces you get a worn weight of 1.311 g including the shoes! That’s really good, and as I have used some of these garments myself I can tell you also that they are really durable!

• The eLite is still a good choice for summer, though I personally would like something slightly heavier and with more Lumen for spring and autumn. The trekking poles are good and as I myself also use the Spartan Ultra I can not find a fault in having it in this list - except it really is quite pricey.

• Overall a very good lightweight list with a nice choice of gear. Maybe a bit pricey because of the inclusion of the Spartan Ultra, but other than that I find that a very good list which gets you lightweight on the trail in one go!

Keep in mind that these lists are suggestions! If you for example rather spend a bit less and get a bit more heavy backpack like the Osprey Exos or Gregory Optic - then it is easy to get those packs at Alpinetrek. Similarly, if you feel that you are happy with your hiking shoes or headlamp - just leave these out.

At the end of the series I will compare all lists which each other, so definitely make sure you subscribe and follow along to not miss out.

Disclosure: The One Stop Shop Series was Carsten’s idea back in the day. The 2019 Series we have created together and you can read his take on the different lists in German on his blog, and you can read my take over here in English. Furthermore, we have been remunerated for our time by the individual shops.

Enjoyed this article? Support me on Patreon and get some useful rewards (like hanging out on Discord with me, where you can pick my brains!) or buy me a coffee - I work Full-Time on Hiking in Finland to bring you inspiring trip reports, in-depth gear reviews and the latest news from the outdoors. You also could subscribe to the rarer-than-ever Newsletter and follow along on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Youtube for more outdoorsy updates!

Do you remember the One Stop Shop Series from 2014 where Carsten and me reached out to a bunch of Shops and asked if they’d like to participate in creating a complete ultralight kitlist from their sortiment? Yes? Great! Then you’d be delighted to know that the series is back this year and we look forward to share some exciting lists with you!

Five years have passed since Carsten and me did our One Stop Shop Series, and much has changed since then. Ultralight gear has become mainstream and pretty much every manufacturer offers now lightweight and ultralight alternatives of their equipment. This is great for consumers - where previously you needed to buy your quilt here, the sleeping mat there, and the backpack elsewhere nowadays you can even walk into a brick & mortar store and find the lightweight gear you’re searching for. This has the benefit that with some critical items like backpacks and garments you’re able to try them on before buying them, which makes returns much less likely.

But also the ultralight cottages haven’t been sleeping and resting on their UL Laurels - they have realized that people like to purchase their gear from a few sources instead of a dozen or more shops, and so especially we Europeans are quite lucky to have a handful of Shops which sell ultralight cottage gear all under one roof. It are these, but also more broad shops with more widely known brands, which we will showcase in this series, and I at least am very curious to see which new items will be on these lists, and which classic items we will meet again.

The reason for trying to purchase from one shop instead of six or more different ones is simple: You minimize shipping costs and the possibility for things to go wrong, like lost packages, long waiting times and different currencies + paying methods are all adding up to frustration when you want to buy ultralight gear in one go. Imagine you’d be able to buy all of the lightweight trekking gear you want from just one shop - actually, don’t imagine it - just read our articles to see that it is possible! What we do in this series is to challenge a dozen or so outdoor stores (online, brick & mortar and online shops with a brick & mortar shop) to send us their ideal and functional UL gear list of lightweight & ultralight gear, which one can buy normally (no special orders) in their store. To make these lists easy to compare with each other and that they stay within the same boundaries, this are our Guidelines:

1. Creat a 3-Season gear list (Day temperature of 10 to 20°C, Night temperature of 0 to 5°C)
2. Rain is possible every day and night
3. Mosquitos and other insects are not an issue
4. Tours are 5 to 7 days long

These are the outlines of many classic 3-season backpacking trips, and with this one list you should be able to go hiking from spring till autumn, in Scotland, Scandinavia, China, Colorado or elsewhere. The resulting list should give you the possibility to go backpacking in warmer or colder regions with just a few little adaptations, and we are asking for suggestions for the following items:

• Backpack
• Sleeping bag or quilt
• Mattress
• Shelter
• Pot
• Stove
• Cutlery
• Knife
• Lamp
• Trekking poles
• Shoes
• Fleece jacket
• Insulation jacket
• Rain pants
• Rain jacket
• Baselayer (Boxers and T-Shirt)
• Longsleeve

The first four items are the big three (sleep system, backpack and shelter) which weigh the most and where one can save the most weight when lightening up. I will translate the first entry from the Trekking-Lite-Store.com this week, with the others to follow, and also have contacted a few international and European shops to send me their suggestions. Stay tuned, tell your friends, and be prepared for surprises!

Disclosure: The One Stop Shop Series was Carsten’s idea back in the day. The 2019 Series we have created together in order to bring you this series, and you can read his take on the different lists in German on his blog, and you can read my take over here in English. Furthermore, we have been remunerated for our time by the individual shops, though as you know - that had no influence on the articles as I maintain full editorial control of the content published on Hiking in Finland. Read the Transparency Disclaimer for more information on blogger transparency and affiliate links. *