Bushcooker & instant coffee break.

As i got this Bushcooker,a genious little and light twig-burning device lying around i wanted to try it out for the very first time,and it prooved to be very efficient,and therefore somehow worth its price. Offcourse,its handbuilt too,and that itself costs and i totally understand that as well.

It fits like a glove inside Primus Litech Kettle,with one liter capacity,making it unbelievable easy to stuff in even the smallest packs and it forms,with pack of matches,a good,reliable small kitchen for the outdoorsmen. You dont have to worry about carrying enough gas cartridges,nor filling your liquid fuel bottles,since all the fule to this gadget can be found lying on the forest,trails and beaches. And it isnt so polluting either,that way.

You only have to pick up the part that acts as a pot supporting legs,inside the stove,turn it so the legs point to the sky,and drop in above the stove,Then fill the thingy with pieces of wood,and other burning materials found in the campsite,and set the fire going on. I only boiled some packed fresh snow into water and then added some great tasting instant Nescafe Cappucino-coffee by Nestle,and watched the flames till they ran out,enjoying this potfull of sweet warm drink. This particular stove,by the way,burns also the gas fumes of burning wood,making it more effective and i was actually bit astonished to notice that there wasnt even much of ash left inside the stove as i started to pack it again,inside the Primus kettle.

Alltogether,in my eyes this is a step into light backpacking,not into ultralight i think but on my scale this sure doesnt weight anything and yet it allows man to cook a decent hot meal during a hike.
Great little product,worth its price.

No,i did Not get it from manufacturer nor from any importer for free sample.

Outdoors Belt

As i got some time ago this US Army pistol belt,ive been trying to add some useful stuff into it,so i dont have to always carry everything in my normal trouser belt,nor in the packs on my back and pockets in my jacket. This set-up has started to serve me in a decent way and i think it will remain like this for this winter. I do own also a butt-pack and harmess for the belt, and im trying to discover the possibilities it has to offer since id like to carry my gear for dayhikes or over-nighters like that,without backpack at all.

Now my belt has been rigged with:
-T.K full-tang utility knife
-Victorinox Swiss Tool
-Fenix TK20 flashlight
-Possibles pouch,that contains utensils,matches,small first aid kit,sewing kit,and such.
-Carabiner for hanging my kuksa or Kupilka cup.
-Loop to hang my winter mittens.

-Whats missing is the surplus canteen pouch,with a canteen and its steel cup.

I have attached the gear in a very simple way,meaning pieces of paracord.Easy to remove and reliable.

And when i can ill be making one axe for this belt too,from an old Billnäs axe head,and a carrier for it. This way i can just grab my belt and step outside the door and do my things in the woods without stuffing everything again,time after time,to pockets and bags,nor do i have to take off my regular belt and slip in multitool sheaths,flashlight pouches etc. By adding that buttpack and harness,i can carry bit more and it will distribute the belts weight better. I already have tried to fill the buttpack and it easily takes gear like poncho,meal,canteen in it,and under it you can attach a blanket. Just about everything for a picknick :).

Its needless to say that i would change this belt into traditional sami /lapland belt but they cost like 10 times this belts value and i think there wouldnt be any real difference between the durability or anything.Style,thats another factor.

Independence day coffee moment , itsenäisyyspäivän kahvihetki.

Heres a quick shot from my latest trip,that ended up this morning with a cup of coffee made above fire. Today is our independence day and i honour,as always the older people who worked in homes and fought in trenches and woods to gain our freedom,to stop the russians from taking this beautiful land.

I am in not,in any way, interested in political turns during war,my honour and gratitude goes totally to the men that made it all happen,especially during harsh winter time war,in frontlines,in the backs of enemy,in the supporting squads and field medical tasks,i salute every person who defended us, by doing something  with their own hands...and also to the mothers and folks back in the home´s who had to raise the kids,feed the familymembers with what they had in hands,and it wasnt much.

Kiitos.

 

In modern Finland,thanks to war veterans and gone heroes,i can enjoy freedom to walk in to the woods,set up a fire and enjoy the silence,sounds of the campfire, let my hands warm in the glaze and carry my coffee pot and axe freely.

During war,and long after that i bet average joe couldnt afford a premium coffee,like we do in todays free Finland. I got mine from Paulig, and i can tell you its fine tasting indeed,this dark roast.

Even the pot i have,is traditional and back in the wardays there has been similar designs,that i know. Mine isnt old and beaten,its actually in its first use in that picture,and i thank OPA company for mine. Coffee pots like these fit needs more than well,and this one surely will last longer in camp-fire use,than any aluminium hiking model.

Ill be writing more about this trip later,both in Finnish and in English.

Quick update

I've been on phography class for few days now and will be for days more,and its very interesting and ive learned a lot,plus i've been missing my DSLR camera more and more.

Nothing new going on,but i'll be testing out Bushcooker that i received and i noticed already that it fits nicely n my Primus Litech one liter kettle,and those might end up to my girlfriends use,it seems like that :). And when i have some hours in daylight in my use again,im trying to set-up this Savotta Pena,sort of a mixed breed shelter combining shapes of A-frame basic tent and traditional laavu. Who knows,it might be good too,so far i've heard only good words about it.

PENA lean-to in manufacturers site.

Axe sheath,sort of How-To.

As i had cut my axe sheath pieces juts the other day,yesterday i started to make one. this is for my old Billnäs axe mentioned here already before.

1.
I made a pattern of sheath,into some piece of paper.Istarted it out my trying to draw the handle cross-section to paper,of the joint of the head and handle. After this is i transferred pictures of the blade on both sides of the previously drawn picture of the joint-area,or eye as we call it. There has to be two wedge shaped areas too,between the drawn sides of two sides of axe blade as the shape of axe head happens to be wedge like and the sheath will be far too thin and wrong shaped without adding these wedges,on bottom and on top of the sheath,with this method. If you would be doing sheath from two separate side pieces of eather by either sewing or riveting,you can do it without wedge parts,just remember to add good amount of extra material on both sizes so that the riveted leathers will have enough material to allow the blade slide between them. Then i started to think about the actual shape and funtion of the sheath. This was to be simple without any decorative cuts or extra pouches,or thoug i was tempted to make a hidden firesteel holder on the backside,and still i could do one if i wanted to add it later on. Well i drew a coarse flap to this now,and then i cut open the eye / joint part,so that i could fit the paper template over the axe to see how the flap would look and work. I had to make this opening bit bigger to allow the handle slide thru it snugly. Oh hey in this picture youll see my whole pattern in the actual leatherpiece,and if you look it you'll notice the two parts behind the axes butt,under the hammerhead,remember to add these to yours too. The smaller will turn up,under the bigger next to it,which again will be folded around the hammerhead,forming the closed end over the axe's butt. You can offcourse do this later from separate piece but i like to make these with as few parts as i can,without too many rivets and sewn seams. Less parts,less problems and less to repair. The bigger of these two small flaps under the hammerhead,can be on either side of the smaller. To be honest,it would look better if i too would have made it on the opposite side,this way the seam would be on backside of the sheath,not on front. But its matter of taste too...and luck,and....yep:). Think & draw before cut,i'd say.Well after the paper template starts to be in desired shape, copy it to leather and cut it,but remember to add some 15-20  millimeters,to the sharpened end of axe,so you can actually have it closed by sewing and/or riveting.If you dont remember,this is crusial,and forgetting this will easily make the whol project as waste of good leather and time and ruin your day.Its always better to leave some excess material at first than cut it too close to actual size.

Anyway,now it should look like this:

2.
Now you can do your decorations too if you want to,and use sandpaper already to trim the leathers edges carefully without scratching the smootht visible side. Both of these can be done after the leather has been put under hand-warm water for a while. Dont submerge it,just rinse it so that the water wets it throughly and then shut the water,if its too wet the patterns wont copy to leather so well. One good trick topour the water on the raw side only,and let the water suck in so the visible smooth side tourns out wet and dark,and immediately after this,its time to draw your fine goose,moose and spruce. You just remember to imagine the final shape of the sheath and fit the decorations to this image. I Only scraped off some quick,simple stuff into flap part. Don be afraid of hardcore enthusiast leathercraft topics saying that you have to have any hard to get expensive toolingg items,no sir,just about anything can be used for tooling,from teaspoon ends,to keys,as long as its not too sharp,so it wont cut through the surface,but presses the patterns in instead.

Then i scrupped on some leather dye,this was a mix of leftover red,brown and hint of black. the dye spreads pretty nicely when the leather is still moist,and wont leave obvious stains as easy as on dry leather.

Now,it was like this:

                                      Dye it allover,that is:)

3.

At this point i left the leather to dry for a while and made a belt loop. Nothing fancy,just a robust loop,about 50mm /2" wide and it will fit over duty belts too,as well as traditional sami-style belt too. The straplike un-dyed piece is there just to keep show you better the horisontal cut i made. Its made because i wanted to try out how it would work,as on some finnish packs,atleast on Savotta's pack theres this place for axe,between sidepocket and the main compartement,where you can slide your axe in and above this theres a square shaped leather stitched on,for attching something,but it has the strap holes cut horisontally. So maybe this way i can attach the axe sheath into the backpack,with a strap that will run throug both,and by doing this,i can just open the axe sheath flap,remove the axe and use it,without having to carry the sheath too,and it also secures the sheath from droppin to snow and such.

Oh hey the upper side of the loop,overlaps the underlying,making it just a bit cleaner looking. Just a Bit.

4.

Now it was time to start to do some fitting again and marking and punching holes for rivets and seams. Theres not much to tell about,just keep the parts in place,so they face each other like they will in the final result and youll do just fine. Keep the stitches tight too. In making you will,time after time,learn to think about in which order you can make the joints the easiest way. I like to start from the hammerhead side,as it forms then a sturdy place to jam the axe head and therefore its easy to see the other ends places for seams easily.

                                              I added a blade protective piece too.

5.
More stitching and riveting...its starting to look like something. I would have used more sewing but i ran out of thread. It would have looked a LOT better with stitches,but rivets do make it easy and sturdy too,as you wont cut rivets loos elike you would maybe do to sewn seams. But for looks,seams are way to go in my opinion. But this is intended for actual carry and work so the rivets arent a big sin.

After youve done your fitting and careful tight joints,you can still cut of excess material,and trim the edges like you want to. I removed a small piece of leather under the flap,to have better grip on the blade to remove the axe easier. The last thing i suggest to do,is to add the desired flap closing stuff,from buckles to buttons. this way it will fold and lock snugly.

  6.
     Its pretty much ready,and only needs to be oiled & waxed,or whatever you want to use for finishing,i preferred heavy cover of beeswax-oil that nourishes the leather and helps it survive from rain and minus temperatures. I try to avoid any synthetic stuff on these jobs always,they give you nice shine and all but they arent as friendly to the leather as are the natural oils and waxes.

                                       

Thats all,i hope somebody might find this useful.

Lazy day's checklist.

Today turned out to be lazy with nothing to do since my plans about  going to repair that old cabin im prepping for winter,vanished cause my girlfreind had to take our car for a day to take care of few horses...


So ive been just playing around..

-few axe & knife sheath leathers are now cut
-My single shot TOZ 22. rifles stock has losed its cracked old painting and is waiting for new see-thru od green colour.
-All blades are cleaned,sharpened and oiled
-Winter clothes dragged from attic
-Found one old Fjällräven Gyro pack with aluminium tube frame,from fleamarket,now i have two of these actually :)


And except for those i've been only drinking coffee and reading book ,"Ihmismetsästäjiä ja erämiehiä",printed first at 1933,from K.M Wallenius,a great outdoors person ,soldier and officer,and a writer who had some adventures with Mosku too.

Campfire coffee test ahead.

Ive contacted a several coffee shops and asked if theyre willing to participate in my idea,of running a small test,about instant coffees and coffee done in pots and pans over fire,as its done here in Finland on about every outdoor occasion / event.

So far,i have to thank legendary Finnish brand OPA,that fabricates,distributes and sells, famous coffee pots,along with other traditional outdoor cooking supplies,that have a wellknown reputation among outdoors people here,from hunters to hikers,just about everyone around here,knows their coffee pots and frying pans.

Update 1-11-2010:

Hey,im glad to see that even a huge company,Gustav Paulig Ltd. is willing to help me out to get several different coffee's by offering me few of their own roasts.

Thanks a Lot ! 

Luck..

Im pretty happy for my buddy whos already graduated as a wilderness guide,and my personal friend too. He went and got this small piece of land for hire,and he doesnt have to apy in money at all,instead he only has to keep the area in order by cleaning the bushes and branches and similar task like that. Hes going to build a small birdwatch tower and kota there,among other essentials like a loo,and a woodshelter and a firepit with pothanger.

How great is that.Theres no neighbours or roads nearby either.What else can you ask for ?

I myself...i might get a small kick of luck too,as my friend offered this small cabin at shore of a lake that has also a river running thru it,for similar deal. Its located very far away from my home,in real lapland. The cabin would be small having bunks for six persons,and a woodstove,few stools,bench and a log-table and a porch,plus separate sauna made from logs,big enough for some 4 persons to bath.You cant drive to its yard,in fron of the door no,and thats one thing i like about.When you drive to the cabin,in front of the door,you usually also haul way too much gear there with you.With this cabin,its not gonna happen. Theres supposed to be great woods to hunt,paths to hike,and especially,that lake and that river from it,to be paddled with my canoes.

I hope this thing turns out as a deal in a week.

Kupilka, you say ?

Today the kind postman ringed my doorbell as he couldnt yank the rather big envelope thru the mailbox opening in my door. There was a few propaganda leaflets,one very interesting booklet about making food over campfire and most of all,two pieces of spanking new Kupilka cups,one bigger reacting to modelname 21 and his smaller tiny brother,model 5. The modelnames also tells us the capacity of these cups in centiliters. So i think that the small cup will be tested out with a whiskey shot as it takes the regular 4cl portion just like that,and the bigger takes 2 deciliters without spilling the hot brew over the sides.

I think that i will use these modern day kuksa alternatives during next weekends hike,snap a few pictures and then tell you more about how i feel about these gadgets. So far ive only had one cup of coffee from "21" and my first plus-mark came from the nice grip it offers,due to its nicely designed handle,and another one just for the nice looks of it,as its more wooden-like than i expected it to be.

Meanwhile,you can check Kupilka products from their homepage:

Click!

And my fellow in lightweight class,famous Mr.Morkel,who runs his blog,made his rewiev about Kupilka products already,go and read his opinions,please:
Click!

Thanks for the cups goes out for Michael N,at Kupilka company.

Boredom turned to cooking.

Today i thought i had a good chance to get my butt to this small shooting range,and i waited for the call for two hours with my rifle cleaned and gear packed but it went and blew and i lost my chance.

So i had more time to do other things to kill boredom,and i had this almost kilo weighting piece of moose beef in cold and i took it out,sliced it and cut it in small dice-sized cubes.  Then i made a marinade out of half can of Karhu beer, few corks of cheap whiskey,half desiliter of food oil,ground coarse pepper,chili powder,salt,drip of honey and ground dried mushrooms. I hope it turns out as good as it tastes already in the bowl,all mixed together. So tomorrow im making some better food out of it,by chopping unboiled potato slices,into cast iron pot,and thrown in also few sliced carrots,few dried cranberries,crowberries,can of some tasty cider and then cover the rest that remains with water,throw it in for several hours in oven with lid on pot and just wait, wait till i get my jobs done and till i can just eat it all in good company.

Mondays,not to be hated on every occasion.

I have a hunch of tomorrow. I dont have any real tasks so i will stop by at Vi-He's "factory shop",receive maybe a few things from post office,and then continue my way to the small lake,or should i say,a pond,near by,with filled thermor bottles,something to munch and box of matches. Oh and hey,our new dog comes with us too.

I have few books waiting for me to pick-up on our local library,tales about this interesting figure called "Mosku",and few books about general hiking,nature medicins and food resources.

I hope it doesnt rain water,i'd prefer permanent snow already.

Firesteel tip

I dont know how fascinating tip this is but anyway.

Firesteels tend to be noisy,and whats the worst,they get bad from moist,sweat and from the air,as time gos by. Immediately when youve scraped off the new firesteel and the protective paint / such,is worn off,the underlying steel alloy starts to oxide.
This can be stopped by keeping yur steel dry and by putting something to the scraped surface,may it be fast drying paint that chips when dry,or some tape,some again use nail polish. My solution this time was a piece of this plastic tube that shrinks from heat,used in electrical joints.This is now made to Light My Fire's new,improved firesteel "2.0" which also has a far better scraper,better handles and also,a small safety whistle built in another handle. I added the heat shrinking tube to totally new,un used firesteel as it will be held in my car for long perioids and used just in case of real need,so it has to be protected well.

All you need is something to heat up the tube and some cutting device,even pair of sharp teeth will do the trick,no need for expensive knives at all :). Cut the tube in desired lenght plus add a bit,as the tube will shrink also in length. Slip it over the steel. Then just push the tube towards the firesteels handle as you heat it,so the steel wont shrink from that end and it will cover the whole firesteel. Let the tube then cool down and cut the excess material off,and thats it.

And now IT has a sheath it seems.

What do you think of this,its the sheath for my new knife i wrote about just afew days ago.

It has all the things i asked for:

-heavy duty leather with brass enforcing

-firesteel holder on the backside

-accessory pouch on the front,for a few essentials,or somethin.Its sized so that most of the 5" multitools will fit too,but i was thinking of sharpening stone.

-Dangler carry

-the knife rides deep in the sheath.

-All details based on longlasting and durability,over fine looks and detailed decorations,although T.Kotavuopio added those few spruce decorations,just as i wished for,as theyre one of his personal marks,most of the knives he makes,bears the same marks.

Im pretty astonished,i say.

Check it out. The knife i hope to replace all others.

This is the knife T.Kotavuopio has been making to me for some time,when has had time,according to my ideas and drawings,tips,comparisons to other knives that i like,needs and suggestions. This is in its own way,part of me getting rid of gear hoarding and knife fever. I ve been carrying two fixed blades for quite along time now,changed them occasionally,from Brisas Enzo 07 steel trapper,with 95mm blade,to Fallknivens F1,and i havent ever got into clear decision of which of these two is better,and i  like to carry always just one knife and this should be it.

Its not ready yet,the sheath is still in progress,but the knife itself is starting to look ready indeed. I just received this picture and im astonished by the looks of it as i havent seen,a single picture before this one as i asked him to keep it kind of a surprise,the final form and all.

Its made out of K460 carbon steel.

-12.3 cm handle length.
-14 cm blade length.
-5 mm spine thickness.
-unidendified hard-as-arock wood handle scales,oiled and waxed.
-Brass pins from Brisa.
-Tube for lanyard made from .270 Win. cartridge.

This is all i know right now,and as x-mas comes,it should be totally ready with its complex ( as said by maker himself ) sheath.

                                Hamon included ;)

P.S.

If you are interested to get one of Kotavuopios custom knives,i can help you to get one.Blacksmith himself has very limited english skills but i have helped few foreign fellows to get theirs allready,by acting just as an translator between customer and maker.His knives are priced from around 200 euros to 250 euros,usually not higher,a slong as you dont want a quarter inch 20" machete or similar.

For example here's one combo made by order,and shipped overseas.Its based on my own chopper knife but has also a sidekick puukko with it,as well as a sturdy sheath with firesteel holder.

Falls gone,winter ahead. Thoughts and M-65 jacket mod 's.

Ive been going to my friends freetime cabin site,in Kuru,chopping firewood,smoking fish,hunting small game and such and cleaning up his piece of land,as he 's building his own cabin there. A real old time cabin,without electric current plugged in,although he 'll be adding solar power panel to the roof to have some lightning and fridge inside,as his family aint so in to un-electrified lifestyle...at least yet.

I spent just some two days in a row again,chasing birds and rabbits and i got a few too,thats just great,as ive been hearing so much nonsense tales about rifle not being a good hunting method for birds specially,and the only right one would be shotgun.Well i 've got some with bullets now and im happy,more than if i would have got my game with fistful of lead balls flying from shotgun.

We woke up one night and almost started to put on our outdoor clothings as there was a real storm outside,and i got bit worried about trees fallin on top of our trailer,which is there as a cabin,till the right one is ready. And at morning the same frigging wind and snow kept coming,with a finger biting speed. That didnt stop us,and we packed up our packs and guns and drove to the place where we wanted to hunt. And almost immediately after some 5 minutes after landing from my friends 4x4,i stumbled up on bird,tasty birds,and snapped one. All day long we hiked in this area which is pretty much rocky hills or moist swamps. It felt pretty good just walkin there,i wasnt goin to disappoint if i would have gotten witout any catch anyway. We found two old huts and lit up small fires in them,fried some sausage ( our national food,hahaa... ),boiled some coffee and such. The sun was shining,wind was freesing and everything was like it ought to be,good for the soul.

During next weekend i am propably heading back there,to make some fire wood,and just to bathe in sauna,etc. The bird hunting season is gone for me for this year now,and then ill be concentrating on (ice) fishing and rabbit hunting.

And IF i somehow can arrange time and everything,i cave a tiny chance at end of the next week,to head up to Kuusamo area 's,to hunt small game,mostly birds,but thats to see then. I wouldnt mind a small trip up north at all :)

Ive been sewing and stitching a bit,to make a better winter jacket. I got a O.D green Tru-Spe 's M-65 Field Coat,again from Varusteleka and i can tell you that it actually is pretty rugged and nicely done clone of the legendary U.S Army jacket.My girlfriend has an issued,genuide M65,and i compared these two and its pretty acurate. Although...my jacket is missing buttons that attach the hood,into the collar.There are the button holes but no sign of the buttons. And one difference is that originals seem to have waist adjustment with a shoelace type of material,and Tru-Specs have this shocord,flexible stuff. I replaced the flexible cord with Paracord,and sewed on the missing buttons.All the seams in the jacket,including ends of seams are done better than well,and the material seems rugged and authentic too.Overall it feels definetely good product for outdoors activities,as it also comes with removable warm liner so its suits for warm and colder weathers as well. Anyway,i also stitched on two paracord loops,near the wrists of jacket so i can attach my gloves to them,so they wont drop immediately to the pile of snow,if i have to remove gloves,or mittens,to use knife,compass,or to release some bodily fluids. Another small addition was to stitch up this piece of sleeping mattress,about 5 millimeters thick and in about size of 30 x 20 centimeters. I made a waterproof cloth cover for the mattress piece,sewed it in to the lowest seam in the back of the jacket,from its upper side,and this way i have a dry insulated waterproof pad to sit on anywhere.It flips like hinged,inside the jacket,and attaches in to buttons that i stitched inside the jacket. So you can release the buttons and the pad drops down,and hangs there. I saw few years ago a jacket with similar sitting pad, i dont remember the brand or anything but it made sense to me. The last mod this far was to attach a small hidden pocketabove left hip,insid ethe jacket,its sewed from all sides,to prevent it from opening accidentally. So it has to be cut open to reveal the firesteel that i also triple coated with nailpolish to prevent it from getting bad. Along with the firesteel theres a single bladed Wenger folding knife and a button compass. This might be over-reacting i know but what the heck,its still better to carry those than to miss those in after loosing your pack and other gear.

Along with the jacket came a Swiss Army 's surplus canteen with a metal cup.
It holds about one liter,or bit less,has a good seal,and its kind of flat,which it makes it easy to carry in just about any pocket you find.The cup has well made folding wire handles and the bottle fits very snugly in the cup with out any clanking or other irritating noise while carried. This small,lightweight,and dirt cheap piece of gear is something thats very useful,as it offers a good way to collect,purify and carry water,in compact size. I ve encountered some suspicious thoughts about surplus gear,every now and then,and whining about that surplus aint really for hiking,and should be avoided. this sounds only ridicilous in my ears,really. Army gear is in most cases made to last,and and serve you well in the woods,and in surplus shop you wont pay looks and trends and such.Offcourse,surplus is used and sometimes worn a bit but its also pretty cheap at that case.It might be heavier compared to average joes outdoor & sports shop stuff,yes,but its usually the materials,that weight,as its made to last longer in harder enviroments where low weight isnt only goal.Usually (IMO) the lighter it is-more likely ill break it some day.But its just me and my thoughts. I my self wont pay extra for lightweight ever.For bright "happy" colours,i wont open my wallet either.If its compact in size,i might consider it yes indeed. But i just like to melt in the surrounding woods,to camouflage and trust that my gear is built to last. And this always makes someone to see me,and most of my friends as some warcrazy,home Rambo 's,as surplus obviously makes their users look militaristic. And some people just wont accept this,and i just dont get it. Everyone should have freedom to choose,may it be Ultralight packpacking or heavy duty old school rubberboot-guerilla,tubular-frame pack dragging,as long as theyre happy doing it,and there is nothing wrong about doing it this or that way. I try to keep my eyes and ears open,and learn from other hikers,and its nice to argue in relaxed way,about different styles of hiking but hey,if it goes too narrow minded its soooooo much waste of time and oxygen. Some like to go fast,and are taking it as one challenge,againt heart-rate and time spent. Some like to take it slow,enjoy the nice views and carry their favourite heavy books out there,along with cast iron pans and pots.Some like to chew their energy gels in the light of keychain Led-light,some like to chop the fire wood with their own axe,and stare it,while munching their favourite kalakukko. Whats wrong in these different ways....? Nothing,i think,but ive seen this annoying "my UL group sits here,your Heavy gear group sits there,and we keep casting judging looks from group to another" thing happening time after time and kept wondering it. Every man out there,is,still a hiker and outdoorsman,and in my opinion they should try to unite,if not melt into one family,but still,to be bit more open minded and concentrate on our common enemies as companies that waste the land,rape the soil and make out paths shorter day after day,by cutting down every tree they can,to produce profit,at any cost without any worry about our woods,streams,lakes,flora and fauna.

Theyre something to judge and investigate,not that man in different outfit & gear.

This leads my thoughts to this one thing......I 've understood that theres speeches and plans made,to put up a payment,that you should,or must pay,to use our every-mans-right cabins. This far ive used them quite a lot,and i think theyre already maintained well,by taxing this nation. Theres whole lot of discussion and fight,among hikers,offending this future plan. I understand that as theyre always been free for our use,its pretty bad to pay for the service. Nonetheless, i still,would pay for the 20 Euros payment,to have access and legal right to use the cabins. Government 's stopping the maintenance,gas bottle exchange,firewood service,already,from the cabins that are getting older and/or those that arent so popular,mainly the ones that are really far,where the main public arent visiting often. By paying this fee,i hope the cabins could still be kept somewhat like now,and they would serve the next generation(s) too.

There are loads of "wild" cabins,that arent served in any way,by goverment money,some are now only ruins and memories,few mossy logs crossed in river banks,next to old,througly rusted cast iron stove hiding in bush,but there are also many cabins kept well,and used by determined hikers,that ski uncounted kilometers in waist high snow,with intention to stop a leak,in some age old cabins roof,just to have this simple place to sleep and stay,for next summers fishing trip.All this just for the cause,with no expectation of ever getting rewarded or paid. Its something to admire and appreciate.

So hats up for every man or woman that takes care,even in modest methods,of these traditional hide-outs,with their own wallets,own hands,own tools and their own time.

Heres a link to the greatest website ive seen,about the cabins,their locations,history,pics and everything.Ive stared this for days,for many years:

Patikka.Net