What to bring for Fjällräven Polar

It’s Wednesday night and my mind is just flying away to a faraway adventure. To be exact, my mind is in Signaldalen Norway and lucky me, because that’s where my body will end up too in less than a week during the Fjällräven Polar 2017.

In situations like this you have to trust your equipment

I must have the greatest job ever, to join the Fjällräven Polar team with the mission to follow and document the participant’s way through the northern landscape.

This is me preparing for a 300-km long journey from a sledge behind a snow mobile chasing 30 individuals and 250 dogs. It’s going to be great! I get really excited about this, just by packing my gear for next week. Most of the items, I don’t really have much use for at home in Stockholm, so when an opportunity like this appear, a chance to once again bring out the big Polar Parka into the light I get all worked up and happy.

A smile can be as warming as the thickest down jacket 🙂

My favourite state of mind when I’m outdoor, is that calm and safe feeling when you are properly dressed but you can still feel the rough weather in the face. This is one of the reasons why I love winter adventures so much!

The Aclima Warmwool Overall is a real favorite!

Ok, but what are the essentials for making a winter adventure like this enjoyable? First of all, I think the most important questions you have to answer yourself is how you plan to move, eat and sleep. That will definitely decide how much gear you need to bring and will probably also bring you to the “what” to bring. So, for this journey, I have put together a packing list that you can find further down on this page. Spending time outdoors in the winter is actually not that more difficult than during the summer, but the big difference is that the margins for turning safety to unsafety is much smaller when its cold compared to when its warm.

Some of the equipment used during Fjällräven Polar

So at all times, knowing your equipment and how to use it is vital. Keeping the body dry is super important not to get cold. During a dog sledge journey the body work differs greatly over the day. Sometimes standing still for hours on the sledge and sometimes working super hard kicking up speed upwards steep hills. So yes, it is important with a warm parka, big gloves and high boots but equally important to regulate the temperature and taking some of the layers of while working hard.

The redesigned Fjällräven Polar-logo

Another item that I would not leave at home, is the wind sack. This is great for safety if you should need a quick shelter, but also perfect to bring out for the lunch or coffee break on a windy day. To protect yourself from the wind, does not only prevent the cooling effect it also saves you from dehydration.

Spending time in the cold is all about staying safe and saving your recourses!