Norway: First Blood, Part Two. Or, a learning experience.

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kard133

Full Member
Mar 20, 2010
775
161
Bath
In March 2013 a man, in a deep depression and desperate to get away from his life, went to Oslo on what was meant to be a six day adventure.
The details of this trip are chronicled here: http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=106209


Three years have passed, I have accepted the issues I had then, learnt to cope, there are still times when I feel down, but it is manageable.
The events of that trip have preyed on my mind, choice of equipment, logistics, and performance.
I have researched, planned, reviewed and then repeated ad nauseam. I have purchased, made or modified equipment for a possible return trip, then discarded or replaced said equipment as new information, or the occasional epiphany / ooh, shiny moment arose.

In January of 2016 a chance conversation at work led to me committing myself to a short trip in February, a long weekend in the area I had been obsessing over for the past three years. What followed was repeated checking of the projected weather for the area, more equipment modification, selection and review, research and impulse purchasing.
Even after all this, there were a few things that, in retrospect, I would have done differently.

However, at no time, in my consideration, did I take a cavalier attitude to my safety, nor the environment I was in.
I write this account in part to excise my demons, and to provide what I hope to be useful information for others hoping to visit the area, and on the equipment used, a summary of which will be posted at the end.
Now that waffle is out of the way, Ladies and Gentleman, boys and girls, gather round and let the story begin…..


A long Time Ago, In a Galaxy Far, Far Away…

Loading up the Land Rover at 01:00hrs on Friday 5th of February, I took a leisurely drive to Gatwick Airport, parking in the South Terminal Long stay car park, and taking the shuttle bus to the Terminal. I dropped my checked baggage and boarded a Norwegian Air Shuttle plane for an uneventful flight to Gardermoen.

After reclaiming my luggage, clearing customs and purchasing a train ticket, I arrived at Oslo Station. There I found the left luggage lockers, located near the Flytoget terminal. These are sign posted, but If you look towards the escalators leading to tracks 15-19, turn one hundred and eighty degrees and look for a staircase, go down these stairs and you are there. After paying the 60NOK fee, I left my Vulcan in a suitably sized locker and went hunting for my first target, a store called Gsport. During my research, I had looked for a place to get Rod Sprit, (meths, denatured alcohol, etc) near the station. After a lot of Googling I found they stocked a product called Fin Fyr (https://www.gsport.no/produkt/700469/arcus-fin-fyr-brennveske), equivalent to the Bio-Ethanol now stocked in places like Taunton Leisure and Gooutdoors in the UK. My research also turned up a Clas Ohlson next door to the station, but I will get to that in a minute.

I meandered my way up to the third floor, where the store had the Camping and Hunting section. One of the store assistants approached me, and after finding out he spoke excellent English, as everyone I encountered out there did, (I can just about say hello, goodbye and thanks without mangling the Norwegian language) he directed me to the Fin Fyr. I also spent a few minutes looking at the Helle knives, Gransfor Axes (not listed on the website) and Fjelldukens on display, with the original priced at 1140NOK, or £92 at the time of writing. I also saw a selection of plastic Kasa (also known as a kuksa) shaped like the one for the Swedish Army Trangia cookset, in a variety of colours, including a bright pink one for Mr Fenna.
After paying for the fuel, I went on to my second target, Clas Ohlson, located on the fourth floor of the shopping centre located between the station and the Gsport (write your smutty joke on a postcard, and send it to..) store. Before my trip, I had checked whether or not that particular store had any Rod Sprit in stock, using their website (http://www.clasohlson.com/no/Kemetyl-rødsprit/34-9841). The site said they were out of stock, so I only went in there to buy a cheap Mora 511 Basic to add to my collection, cheap at 49.90NOK. As I browsed I found out that they did have Rod Sprit in stock, priced at 49.90NOK, 40 NOK cheaper than the Fin Fyr I had just purchased:(.


Moving on.


I returned to the station, retrieved and repacked my bag, storing the Osprey Airporter inside it, strapping my snowshoes, roll mat and Crazy Carpet toboggan to the appropriate points on the bag, and caught the metro to Sognsvann. By this point, I had considered leaving the snow shoes, toboggan and modified Sabre 30 in the lockers, because I had seen little to no snow on the trip from the airport, and would have lightened my load by around 3.5-4kg, but dismissed it, after all, last time I wished I had the foresight to bring at least the snowshoes.

Arriving at the lake, I saw my decision to bring these extra items had been correct, although the snow was only a few inches deep, it would be sufficient for my plans.

20160205_124330.jpg



Pulling on my ice grippers, as the path was icy; I began marching along the path to the west of the lake, retracing the path of my previous escape. I passed several huge stacks of felled trees, pines with lots of needle laden branches still attached, perfect shelter material if needed, but I wondered at the legality of using any of it.

20160205_130238.jpg


After half a mile the time was around 14:00hrs, with sunset being due before 16:00hrs, my having been awake for thirty hours, hunger, and needing to process drinking water to supplement the Nalgene I had filled at Gatwick, I decided to make camp in a quite spot on a hillock overlooking a fast flowing stream.

20160206_085624.jpg


At this point, as I set up my tarp, bivy and sleeping bag, feeling a little cold as I stood there (the temp, according to the little Silva keychain thermometer, was around minus 3-4c) I had a mild panic attack.

I couldn’t think of a way to tie down my tarp in the icy snow, this simple task making me buggy, question what was I doing this for, the general feeling of not being up to the task, every doubt about my ability coming to the fore.
I took a grip of myself. I had all the equipment, and more importantly, the skillset to do this simple thing. First things first, I told myself. I grabbed the Fjellduken original from my bag and put it on.
At first I was sceptical about this bit of kit; after all, it was a lot of money for a very simple thing, why would it be any better than a cheap survival blanket/bag or a boothy?
I was wrong.
This is a survival blanket on steroids, a boothy belted with gamma rays before being slapped whilst its mother is insulted. Within a few minutes I felt as comfortable as if I was in a heated room, even as it began to snow, I had a drink and ate some dried fruit, sitting in the bag on a small foam mat, then tied the tarp down on some partially buried sticks that were frozen to the ground. Unlike a boothy bag, you can work whilst wearing the Fjellduken, it is easier if you tie a belt or something around your waist to keep the fabric under control. The zips allow you to vent or seal yourself in, and the fabric is tough, and completely impervious to water, allowing it to be used as a shelter, a groundsheet, or as a poncho. Another benefit of the Fjellduken over a Mylar/PET blanket is that it drapes, and it doesn't sound like a chrisp packet.

Then I took the snow shovel and dug around to level out the surface I was to sleep on (unfortunately I didn’t do a very good job, so I had to dig a little more and drag myself and the sleeping gear back under the tarp later that night, with the foot of my bivy bag covered in snow) set up my sleeping gear, a space blanket as a ground sheet, a Multimat Summit foam mat a Therm-a-rest Neoair X-therm, then my USGI bivy and Carinthia Defence 4 sleeping bag (did I mention that I am a cold sleeper?).
After that I dug a small pit in the snow near the corner of my tarp, put on my snow shoes and wandered down in the fine drifting snow to the stream to fill a still unused Nalgene, intended as a pee bottle, with water to boil. This was the first time I had used snow shoes, and while not absolutely necessary at this location, I thought I should try them before I really needed them. The toothed struts on the underside were very useful for going downhill in the icy snow.
Returning to my camp, I pulled out the Evernew burner, titanium windshield, the Fin Fyr and the Alkpit 1.3l MyTi pot. Two trips later, water boiled, I filled the steel canteen, popped it back into its cover and put it into the sleeping bag as a hot water bottle.
The excess water, as the canteen is 1.3 litres, I used to make instant mash and dehydrated Spam with bacon, a meal I can only described as intensely satisfying. This was done in the canteen cup. The time was now around 15:00hrs so I snacked on more dried fruit and read a little, sitting in my Fjellduken and letting the world pass me by.
A little later, with the sun now down, I lit the candle lantern, texted home to let my family know I was okay and changed into my sleeping clothes. These were some Helly Hanson thermals from Screwfix, and some Dutch Army wool pile tent socks, the same material as the infamous Helly Hanson fleece jacket. My day clothes were placed into a plastic bag and stashed next to me, my valuables (passport, cash, phone, knife, etc.) inside my sleeping bag. Into my boots I place some hand warmers, placed them on top of the foam sit mat and placed my Fjellduken over them, no frozen boots for me this time.
Getting into the bag, warmed by the canteen, was decadent. The snow was now falling quite fast, and I had to occasionally shake it off of the tarp. Awaking several times during the night, driven by some atavistic instinct, this was repeated, as well as dragging me and my sleeping gear back up the hill and digging in.

20160205_154540.jpg



The following morning, I emptied my now cool canteen into the Nalgene cantene, a collapsible one and a half litre bottle, before collecting and boiling more water from the stream, this time in my pan and canteen cup. This was the plan from the start, as after last time I vowed never to be without at least a litre in reserve at all times. By this point, the pee bottle was “unsuitable” for drinking water collection.
The temperature had now risen to around 3-4c, my tarp was wet, my sleeping bag and the surface of my sleeping mats damp, the mats from snow melt and dew, the bag from condensation. The bivy bag, in this instance, was probably more of a hindrance than a help. The wet part of the bag was the foot, I ad kicked the snow off of it during the night, but even with the hot water bottle down there, or perhaps because of it, the sweat condensed on the interior of the bivy. However, the interior of the sleeping bag was dry. If any can comment on this, I would be grateful, as I am now redesigning my sleep system.

The snow of the previous night had turned to a cold fog,

20160206_113520.jpg

and the weather report I had looked at before leaving home said to expect rain over the next two days. My next priority then was to dry my equipment off, as moisture transfer, and from the now damp environment, would make things uncomfortable, possibly dangerous if temperatures were to unexpectedly plummet. Returning to the road, heading towards Ullsvetter, in my snow shoes, I tested out the Crazy Carpet toboggan I had made.

20160207_090128.jpg

A simple thing, a cheap roll up toboggan and some plastic gromits. The tow ropes were whoopee slings from my hammock, attached to the waist belt of the Sabre 30 with carabiners, hooking into the loops of webbing I had attached to it. This made toting the Vulcan, once again ensconced in the Airporter, a lot easier on the upward slope. After half a mile I took what appeared to be a less travelled path to the right, and spotted a nice level area, several dead standing trees (bark falling off, fallen against other trees and leafless) with flowing water a short walk away, and decided that here is where I would stop.

20160207_085024.jpg



Tarp set up once again, more securely this time as with the deeper snow I was using the snow anchors I had made, I set about harvesting some wood for a fire. Initially I intended to use the Ikea Hobo, taking small branches and splitting a four inch by fifteen foot dead standing pine for fuel. After twenty minutes of sawing with a bahco and splitting with a Fallkniven F1, as the wood was damp, I realised I was getting very little heat in return for so much effort. Definitely insufficient for drying off gear in a damp environment. Originally my intention was to avoid open fires, the scars on the ground and the larger amount of fuel required making me uneasy. Enlarging the area I had dug for the hobo, I scrapped at the frozen detritus until I got to bare soil then prepared another dead tree, this time a birch that I didn’t even have to cut down, I pushed it and the four inch base snapped. Finding two trees that were close together I used the as a fulcrum to break the birch into fourteen inch sections. I then took the remains of the twigs and the first tree, along with some wet fallen branches I had uncovered during my digging, to build a platform, on top of which I added the coals from the hobo stove, and then some split sections of wood until I had a reasonably hot fire. The rest of the afternoon was spent drying out my gear, with the aid of some lines and a Mylar blanket reflector and gathering some more wood. The wood gathering, as nearly everything was damp, and preparation would have been a lot faster with an axe or hatchet, something I had neglected to bring as I was trying to cut down on my carried weight, and did not think I would be using a fire in this manner. The fire I kept as small as possible without it dying out, no more than fourteen by eight inches, pushing longer sections in as they burned, with extra wood arranged around it to dry.


As I settled in for the night, candle again burning for light, fire burning down, it began to rain as I repeated my water and food prep from the previous evening. The days were getting wetter and I came to the realisation that however careful I was, my equipment would still get wet. My sleeping bag was again wet; the bivy bag saturated the following morning, despite being very careful to breath outside of the bag and bivy. The bag itself is supposed to a have a water resistant outer, which I should have trusted to negate the need for the bivy, it definitely would have improved the breathability of the sleep system.
Thinking ahead to my return flight, and spending most of the day moving in slush and drying my gear again, I decided to use my fall-back plan. Whipping out the phone, I booked a hotel room back in Oslo, packed my gear and walked back to Sognsvann to catch the Metro.

Walking down a steep incline covered in a sheet of ice was an interesting experience. There was a good 150 meters of surface like this:

20160207_092228.jpg


It was here I lost a bolt on my snowshoes, and had to make a field expedient repair:

20160207_174320.jpg


Messy, but it held up back on the walk back.

If I didn’t have the snowshoes with claws, or some form of shoe spikes, I could easily have slid over the edge of the road to a twenty foot drop.

20160207_090658.jpg


As it was, I unclipped the toboggan and held the reins in my hand, so if I lost my footing, or control of it, I could easily let go and not have to worry about the awkward mass dragging me.

Once I reached what I can only assume was some kind of volley ball court, the paths were heavily gritted.

20160207_100115.jpg


I dragged the toboggan as far as the snack shack near the entrance, keeping to the ice where possible, before reconfiguring my gear as a rucksack. The toboggan had held up well, the last hundred or so metres on the grit causing deep scoring to the underside. Prior to this the snow and ice had caused no damage.

My last night was spent in a Citybox hotel room a short walk from the central station, having a shower, drying gear in the shower room, catching up on emails and planning a visit to XXL, a sports store a short walk away for the following day. It seems that with the exception of the ubiquitous 7 eleven stores and fast food outlets, shops are closed on Sundays, and open at 10:00hrs during weekdays. I finished of the ready to eat food I had packed, with the exception of Monday's breakfast, pre-cooked Smoked Turkey rashers, oat and treacle bars and some home made trail mix.

On Monday, after eating breakfast, I visited the Tourist information centre, next door to the entrance of the Station, and asked how to dispose of the unused Fin Fyr. The Lady at the desk suggested returning it to the store I purchased it from, as they at least should be able to tell me how to dispose of it. Walking into the Gsport (stop sniggering) I went to the front desk and asked, after a short conversation the Chap agreed to take it, either a member of staff would use it or the store would dispose of it.
While there I saw this poster, and thought that while they had Glampers bang to rights, it probably isn't a brand that would take off in the UK or USA.
20160208_092746.jpg


Seriously though, please check out their website, I think the name is intentionally humorous, just look at some of the product titles and stories.
(if this offensive, please let me know and I will remove it)

Resisting the temptation to buy anything, I made my way over to XXL, and went to the top floor where the Camping and Hunting goods were. If you ever go to Oslo, make sure you have either lots of money, or an understanding partner, you could be very easily bitten by the "ooh, Shiney, need" bug.

After that sweat inducing exercise in self control, I returned to the hotel, got my gear, checked out and walked in the rain back to the station. catching the train back to the airport and checking in. The time was now 13:20 or so hours, and my flight was due at 18:10. I had decided to get to the airport early, since the checkout time for the hotel was 12:00hrs, and if I had to wait it might as well be somewhere warm. So I waited, caught up with the news via the airport wifi, and the waited again, giving in to temptation and buying a tasty but very expensive sandwich, and a packet of overpriced crisps, at least this time the water fountains were working, as the flight was delayed by Storm Imogen. Finally, at 19:30hs the flight took off, and by 21:00hrs I was back in the UK.

Kit list and breakdown to follow:
 

John Fenna

Lifetime Member & Maker
Oct 7, 2006
23,106
2,833
66
Pembrokeshire
That sounds like quite a trip - if you ever fancy a visit to West Wales give me a shout ... I have a nice little woods that you might enjoy!
 

GGTBod

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 28, 2014
3,209
26
1
Great report proper enjoyed reading that and of course now i really want a douchebag
 

marra33

Tenderfoot
Feb 13, 2016
53
0
Cumbria lake district
Ha ha, although I don't think it was intended to be funny, I found myself smiling quite a bit of the time reading through it, I work out in Norway yself so I am on,y far to aware of the second mortgage for a pint !!, and eatin out, on proper food is the stuff of dreams.
I often have the thought to go out into the hills and actually enjoy Norway, but I am always, off one flight onto another, or straight into the office / work site, bergen area is where I normally go, and I would highly recommend people to visit the country, it is a place of outstanding natural beauty, and the people there are extremely friendly, but as Kard says, you need to take everything you need with you, or be prepared to spend a LOT of money, seriously, every taxi has a card machine in it ! But do go.
 

Imagedude

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Feb 24, 2011
2,004
45
Gwynedd
The temperature had now risen to around 3-4c, my tarp was wet, my sleeping bag and the surface of my sleeping mats damp, the mats from snow melt and dew, the bag from condensation. The bivy bag, in this instance, was probably more of a hindrance than a help. The wet part of the bag was the foot, I ad kicked the snow off of it during the night, but even with the hot water bottle down there, or perhaps because of it, the sweat condensed on the interior of the bivy. However, the interior of the sleeping bag was dry. If any can comment on this, I would be grateful, as I am now redesigning my sleep system.

Not an easy problem to solve I'm afraid. After recently spending 9 nights in a warm Canadian forest I'm now firmly of the opinion that a double skinned tent is the best option. With correct temperature and moisture management you should be able to get most of the moisture to condense on the underside of the flysheet.
The problem with using a warm sleeping bag is that moisture escaping from your body may well freeze inside the bag i.e. the bag is so thick it can maintain body temperature on the inside while the outer is at a temp below zero. A thinner bag may initially feel colder but as the heat escaping from your body is able to keep the whole of the thinner bag above freezing, the moisture should now freeze outside of the bag rather than inside. A thinner bag may be colder than a thick bag on the first few nights but overall it will be warmer as it will not fill up with ice so quickly. In your scenario with the bivi bag, you were managing to get the moisture out of the bag but not generating enough energy to push it through the 'breathable' bivi bag.
As a user of down bags I have to be careful to keep them as dry as possible. I often use a Rab Survival Lite bivi which is not waterproof but it does keep the snow off the bag. As it has no membrane it is very breathable. The amount of snow kept off the bag outweighs the issue of reduced breathability when using a bivi bag. How do the serious explorers deal with moisture? They are usually sponsored so they can carry multiple sleeping bags which they discard when they get moisture laden.
 

kard133

Full Member
Mar 20, 2010
775
161
Bath
Thanks for the comments, John, I may take you up on that one day.
I was trying for a tongue in cheek tone for the report, so if it made you laugh, great.
Bob, thanks for the info, is you Rab bivi the older model? The one I have seen listed now is Pertex Endurance with some kind of PU coating, and according to reports is not as breathable as the old one. I am thinking of making a plain uncoated Pertex or equivalent bivi if I can track down some in the right colour.

Kit list and breakdown to follow:
 

sgtoutback

Nomad
Jun 29, 2010
312
10
Near the fundy
nice and funny report. the snow shoe breaking is an interesting experience I had a similar issue last week, but due to the design a zip tie was sufficient to fix it. your break looks more akward to fix. also I appreciate you linking to the old report I read them in order and appreciated both thanks.
 

kard133

Full Member
Mar 20, 2010
775
161
Bath
Thanks Bob, that's all I needed to know, sgtoutback, it might look bad, but the shoe isn't really broken, somehow the nut came off the bolt holding the blade to the outside frame of the shoe, all I need to do is replace the nut and bolt, and straighten out the metal near the rivet and it will be good as new. The mystery is how a nylock nut came off?
 

kard133

Full Member
Mar 20, 2010
775
161
Bath
Kit List:

Carry:
An old Berghaus Vulcan that had gone with me on my first trip, although this time, I had rebuilt the shoulder straps with new padding, and spaced them a little further apart, which drastically improved the comfort. Additionally, some time was spent bending the internal stays to match my back. This was transported on the plane and the toboggan in a medium sized Osprey Airporter.
Also carried, as a carry-on bag, and as the survival gear tote and harness for the toboggan, was an old Karrimor Sabre 30, with webbing loops added to the waist belt.

Shelter:
Alpkit Rig 7 Tarp
Jerven Fjellduken Original
2 X titanium tent stakes
4 X MYOG snow anchors, ten inch squares of orange ripstop nylon with a strip of 10mm grosgrain sewn along each of two edges in a large loop.
Assorted cordage, mostly dyneema and throwline, some paracord thrown in for good measure.
USGI bivi.
Carinthia Defence 4 sleeping bag.
AMK heatsheets survival blanket, used as groundsheet on the first night, all the text rubbed off on the snow as I slid down hill, got a few holes as well. The following night it was used as a reflector behind the fire.
1 X poundland foam kneeling mat, approx. 30 x 40 x 2cm of eva foam, perfect as a sit mat.
Multimat Summit XL foam mat.
Therm-a-rest Neoair Xtherm large mat, very toasty and comfortable, with the added benefit that if it punctures there is no down filling to leak out or get damp.

Hydration and Cooking:
Pathfinder canteen set sans the stove, worked well, kept in a molle pouch.
Nalgene Cantene 1.5l, used to store cool water.
Evernew meths stove and Backpackinglight universal trivet, a 60ml fill boiled approximately 2 litres, including sustaining a rolling boil for three minutes.
Alpkit long handled foon.
Alpkit 1.3 litre Titanium pan set, the older discontinued one, lid doubles as a fry pan.
Homemade Ikea hobo stove.
Titanium windshield

Illumination / Electronics:

Olight S15r flashlight.
Petzl e+lite, first generation.
Cheap copy of the UCO lantern, about eight pounds on ebay, + three 9 hour candles. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181739191...l?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=181739191369&_rdc=1
3 X 12hr snaplights, 2 green and 1 red, for emergency use, not used this time.
USB powerbank for recharging of my phone, along with a USB led chip as a backup light.
Samsung Galaxy S4, navigation, camera and entertainment all in one.
2 X pre-charged AA Eneloop batteries for the Olight, just in case.


Tools:
Fallkniven F1, a capable little knife, I wish I had taken either a larger knife, or an axe because of the second day need to process fuel.
Bahco Laplander saw, arguably not as good as a Silky, but adequate for my needs.
Witco Norwegian made / issued snow shovel, brought on a whim after I saw it sitting forlornly in a box at Endicotts, proved its worth on this trip, worth the 600g weight.
British Army issue bearpaw snowshoes, around 1.8kg, good on snow and ice, due to the teeth attached to the underside.
Victorinox Spirit multitool.
1 X orange handled dish brush as a snow brush, not really used due to the conditions.
Several utility straps.


Toiletries:
2 X packs tissues.
1 X pack unscented antibacterial wet wipes.
4 X bog in a bag bags, plus an extra thick plastic bag, to be used for collection and packing out of “human waste”, not used this time.
Nalgene classic wide mouth HDPE bottle in bright green as a pee bottle.
Toothpaste, toothbrush.

Firelighting:
1 X Ray Mears Fireflash
1 X Fire Maple FMP-709 ferro rod, attached to the F1 Sheath with some bicycle inner tube.
1 X unbranded peanut type lighter, no problems at Gatwick with it, but the security screening at Oslo airport had to inspect it, it was passed around between four personnel before being handed back, I think that they hadn’t seen one before.
4 X fatwood sticks.
10 X cotton wool pads.
20 X Tinder Quik tabs, in my backup pocket survival kit, along with an SOL Sparklite fire starter.

Emergency pocket kit:
water resistant pouch.
Opinel no7 carbon.
Fresnel Lense.
1 litre plastic bag.
6 X chlorine dioxide tablets.
10 metres throwline.
Small tin of Vasaline.
Small bar of Kendall mint cake.
Button Compass.

Navigation:
Recta DS 50 compass.
Ortlieb A4 pouch and printed maps of the area and main hiking routes, along with a sheet of useful Norwegian phrases.

Clothing list and food to follow.
 
Last edited:

Totumpole

Native
Jan 16, 2011
1,066
9
Cairns, Australia
Excellent write up! Even with little in the way of pictures I could picture the scene. It is definitely making me crave a trip in the snow - for which I should definitely invest in a Fjellduken (and maybe some douchebags). Thanks for sharing that with everyone.
 

kard133

Full Member
Mar 20, 2010
775
161
Bath
Cheers guys. Anyway, here is the clothing list:

Upper body, worn:
Craghoppers 1/4 zip Merino base layer.
Endicott's Lightweight Wool shirt, sadly now discontinued.
Paramo Fuera Smock, I was sceptical about this, but in combination with an insulation layer it does make a difference. Not water proof, nor very water resistant, it will shrug of very light drizzle or fine snow for a while, and it dries ridiculously fast.
Merino wool cap from Costco.
EDZ merino liner gloves, were to be used in combination with some ex Army Gore-tex outer mittens if it got bad.
Merino Buff, hat, neck warmer, nose cover in the sleeping bag, headband, etc. Very versatile.
Montane Extreme smock, with a buffalo hood as I didn't get one with the smock (2nd hand on ebay). I had modified this smock by adding zips from the cuff to just above the elbow, this greatly improved the venting of the smock, allowing far more control of my temperature. This was worn once on my return to Oslo, and was primarily taken if it became either very cold, or very wet when I needed to be active, as I was still not certain about the Fjellduken, not really needed this time.
Jerven Fjellduken, so good I mention it twice.

Upper body, not worn:
Snugpak Sleeka, I don't leave home without it.
Leather S95 gloves.
Army Gore-tex outer mittens

Lower body:
Decathalon running boxers, plus a spare pair in my pack.
Aldi merino leggings.
Craghoppers BG adventure trousers. Light, fast drying, comfortable, let down by poor construction, lost one button, and a few seams had started coming apart.
Bridgedale coolmax liner socks, plus a spare pair in my pack.
British army Arctic socks, plus a spare pair in my pack.
Altberg Defender boots. comfortable, but useless on ice, so backed up by some cheap ice grippers or the snowshoes.
Highlander Gaiters, cheap and simple, worked well.
British Army MTP Paclite trousers, taken because I expected slush and rain, not really needed with the Fjelllduken and gaiters.

Sleeping gear:
Helly Hansen Krupp base layer top and leggings, brought cheap from screwfix when on offer.
Dutch Army wool (80%) tent socks, made of the same material as the woollen Dutch Army fleece, very warm and comfortable, and they breath a lot better than the likes of Nanok tent socks or Montane Fireball booties.


Food breakdown to follow:
 

Arya

Settler
May 15, 2013
796
59
39
Norway
I just read both your post, and enjoyed them a lot! You write very well, and I laughed, felt sympathy and admiration at the same time. So stubborn, walking around in the rotten snow with shoes only, from point to point! One has to admire that spirit!
I am happy that this trip was more successful for you, and I totally agree with you about XXL :D
I want to live in their shops, haha! Many times I have considered just sleeping over in the shop, rolling around in all the goodies after closing time, in one of their demo tents. I wonder if they would have discovered me?
 

BCUK Shop

We have a a number of knives, T-Shirts and other items for sale.

SHOP HERE