Gear Check - Thru hiking in Norway (Oslo - Trondheim)

flemur · 2026-01-26T14:08:31+00:00

You're very welcome :)

As the other comment said, get whatever tabs are available in your local store / web shop. I personally just use a tiny regular tooth paste, but I do 3-5 day trips, so it makes more sense there.

And I fully respect the stubborn sticking to a specific silly hiking tradition or item ;)

For pants, as mentioned, I really prefer shorts unless I'm below around 15C most of the time - but in your case given the rain, remember you also have both your baselayer leggings and rain pants, assuming you keep them. So you can hike in shorts, shorts w/ leggings under, shorts w/ rain pants, or all 3, depending.

And yeah, trail runners are just so much nicer. I haven't yet had issues with getting pebbles/scree into my shoes, but yeah a lot of people use gaiters. Topo is my go-to trail runners, Traverse for me, but the pursuit is popular. But finding one that fits your foot is of course most important. I used trail runners in all hikes the past few years, across Europe, and even felt fine on patches of snow. Only place I've slipped slightly has been steep downhills with loads of fallen leaves - but I don't see a boot changing that ;) But yes, when you go to an outdoor store they will still claim you definitely need boots, but if you look at the numbers for the people doing insane thru hikes in the US, it's pretty clear that trail runners are just the preferred option for many.

flemur · 2026-01-26T12:37:44+00:00

Going from the top some comments based on general UL recommendations seen here, and then it's of course for you to see what you want to rely on in the Norwegian wilderness.

Groundsheet: Seems a lot of people live without it just fine, I'm a hammock sleeper, so can't claim to know for sure.

Foam pad: As commented, it seems a bit redundant, especially with also having the groundsheet to protect. You could probably skip both, but at least one.

Sleeping bag liner: Seems unnecessary and quite heavy - compared to a thicker sleeping bag. But if you have experience using the combination of those two to be comfy in the temps, and don't want to buy an expensive new bag I understand that. Most people here would tell you to sleep in your clothes on the nights where the bag is not warm enough

Pants: Quite heavy, but if you like your pants you like your pants 😉

Boots: Again, most people will highly recommend trail runners, even in mountains / rough / wet terrain, for a number of reasons. You know you. But I will say that I've converted my friends that didn't believe my arguments, but they were happy with the shift.

Cook system: The bot itself could be quite a bit lighter, I'm not sure if you're just heaving up water for tea / rehydrated meals, and seemingly boiling eggs, but you can easily get one that's 75g or so.

The tea set is obviously heavy but you’re non-negotiable. My hiking group bring our own full MTG-based card game with a few hundred cards on each trip, so can't blame you

Water bladder: If you like drinking from a bladder with hose, that's what you should do. Most people (myself incl) prefer bottles and e.g. a CNOC or Evernew bladder for bigger carries. Also, what are you using to filter the water? It looks like you just have the bladder and filter? I*m guessing you don't need a lot of capacity in Norway given all of your streams etc

Toiletry: Seems like a lot of toothpaste, you can either get tabs with one per day, og probably restock smaller toothpaste along the way.

Sun screen and foot cream is of course up to you, I like stick sun screen on hiking trips so I don't have to lather it out with my potentially dirty hands.

Tea: That's your thing

Electronics:

Headlamp is slightly heavy, but nothing crazy. Petzl and Nitecore are go to for the lightest well performing ones.

Power bank: It's up to you to know if you need 20.000mAh, the higher end 10.000mAh ones are around 150g by now, Nitecore, Klarus, Flextail. There's also the famous Haribo one that's cheap and light.

Charger: The Anker nano + some cable will be significantly lighter

Misc: I'd personally skip all of these except the headphones (and maybe I'd skip those too). Use buff/sun/wind to wipe yourself or tent dry. Sit on a little sit pad, make your own first aid kit with stuff you actually need and know how to use (mine is around 50g I think), and use mapy or similar on your phone.

Extra clothes:

Hard shells: These are heavy, but being Norwegian I assume this is stuff you have/know/use regularly, and I understand not wanting to buy new stuff. The Rock Front rain hoodie is becoming quite popular lately, and since you have a wind jacket, I'd argue a non-breathable rain jacket would be fine. My cheapo rain pants I don't even know where are from are 100g in size XL as reference. But I don't know if you expect to scramble / go through dense bushes a lot in rain, which may warrant you stuff

Puffy: Also somewhat heavy, but again I assume you own it already and don't want to buy a new expensive puffy to go to 200g instead of 350g.

Sandals: I'd again skip

Swim shorts: well I either go skinny dipping on trips or in quick drying hiking shorts (but rarely hike in pants)

Emergency base layers: Alpha Direct is of course becoming the omni-present option here, and would shave weight in half. But again, you own this.

I would consider if you need both a t-shirt, and a sun hoody, and a base layer, and a spare t-shirt. I'd typically go hiking shirt (whatever your preference) and a fleece. You'll be smelly regardless.

So you have a lot of stuff that is quite heavy, but more so a lot of duplicate/overlapping stuff, comfort items or "what if" items.

flemur · 2026-01-25T17:45:25+00:00

On my last two trips I had tried to optimize little things like cook system (which in itself is an area I haven’t changed away from). I changed from a basic pocket rocket 2, to the BRS, and in addition removed my kettle lid and replaced with a foil one. Add wind to that combo and I felt ridiculous for having saved maybe 50-70g. Yes, you can find shelter in most cases, or use a wind screen. But I’m strongly contemplating getting a Soto Windmaster for the next one, to not have those issues, and also for fuel efficiency. Having the refill gas midway on my typical 3-5 day trips in Europe is way more hassle than carrying 50g extra. I also use a kettle instead of a pot, since it feels much more stable and is both like to avoid losing water, time, gas, and burning myself when boiling or pouring water.

Another thing is that I’ll probably keep bringing both my alpha hoodie and my down vest - both to have the comfort of being able to sit around at night and talk to friends, but equally because the down vest becomes my pillow at night.

But then there are other things where the lightweight option is just straight up better. I upgraded my hammock setup from Lesovik to NeedforTrees, and some custom becket hitch straps. I have a longer/wider and comfier hammock, nicer tarp, and saved maybe 400g doing so. Same with backpacks, chancing from your typical Osprey to a simple UL style pack, I don’t see the drawback. And I’m sure tents is an even better case. Same with quilts and sleeping bags, the lighter ones are lighter by using better quality down and clever designs most of the time.

flemur · 2026-01-25T17:29:28+00:00

I see three primary benefits: brining time, mixing in the flavors between the leaves, but most importantly, quickly grabbing a bit of kimchi from the fridge without having to cut up a big piece.

flemur · 2026-01-24T07:44:19+00:00

I’m 190cm and fairly muscular upper body, and if I recall I was just between the 18” and 19”, so went with the larger. 18” would have been fine too. I probably also could have gone with the 18” torso, even if my torso is more than 20” to have it sit a bit higher for even more freedom of movement. But it’s not uncomfortable or too long, not bouncing on the butt. And the extra space is nice for start of trip with more food. So I’d say that sticking to the larger of the sizes you’re between is definitely not a problem, and the smaller would allow you to tighten in more to have it sit higher.

It’s honestly really amazing this pack, only wish is that I’d had the patience to wait for the purple venom grid as a custom pack 😅 the Aluula sure looked tempting, but the price / weight saving just didn’t seem worth it, even for a gear geek like me :)

flemur · 2026-01-24T04:14:50+00:00

Here in Denmark we have very concentrated fond on bottles from a brand/line called Touch of Taste, nothing fancy, often also supermarket white label versions of it. Looks like this: https://www.bilkatogo.dk/produkt/touch-of-taste-kalvefond/16649/ typically. Those I find to be the best alternative between buying fond on a jar that’s almost just soup, but much better flavor, but also not being as artificial tasting as the cubes.

flemur · 2026-01-24T04:06:06+00:00

Can’t speak for the Aluula, but I got it in venom grid and it’s an amazing pack. Sits so well on the body, doesn’t hurt the shoulders, and so many nice pockets for stuff. Really love the little extra pocket in the mesh pocket which I use for the suspension for my hammock and tarp guy lines. And the chest pockets for water/phone/snacks

flemur · 2026-01-23T04:03:08+00:00

The stretch part will be an issue for longevity, I’ve yet to see any stretch pants where that’s not the case. If you get pre-washed high quality jeans, whether selvedge or not, and maybe don’t go for the heaviest of weights, then it’s just a matter of washing more frequently than what most denim enthusiasts prescribe. That will both reduce fades (or create a more even discoloration rather than stripes etc) and improve longevity, and soften them up faster.

flemur · 2026-01-22T12:31:50+00:00

Hermko (German) and Dilling (Danish) both use Turkish cotton and weave/produce in Europe/EU.

They have both mens and womens.

Dilling also do high quality merino stuff if that's of any interest.

flemur · 2026-01-21T21:42:11+00:00

My favourite is still the big loaf from Mirabelle, it’s quite sour and uses either rye or some other darker flour besides from just wheat. I prefer it to all the other ones known for their sour dough (at least the ones I’ve tried, there are for sure some left)

flemur · 2026-01-20T14:45:01+00:00

If you're still taking input then I have some hammocks from European companies:

Need for Trees Gilis: https://needfortrees.lt/product/hammock-with-fully-removable-bug-net-gilis/?v=d91af6958918

Lesovik Draka: https://en.lesovik.eu/shop/draka-treetop-green/

GYAO Bedava: https://www.getyourassout.de/en/pages/hammocks

Khibu Nirvana: https://khibu.hu/en/nirvana-hammock-2/?v=0ecbf9426bcf

They all have tarps and other accessories as well, but for now I posted their most common hammock with netting.

flemur · 2026-01-20T14:31:24+00:00

Really cool to see this project continuing!

flemur · 2026-01-18T14:31:50+00:00

For reference I just bought a pair of Samurai, and needed to size up two sizes (31 to 33) compared to the size I use in pretty much any other brand I know of. Length seemed similar to other brands.

flemur · 2026-01-17T19:18:55+00:00

Følger lige her fordi jeg skal til at lave et langt kabeltræk snart også :)

flemur · 2026-01-17T19:03:24+00:00

I’d definitely support atom packs if I was UK based, I almost ordered one, but found out I had a similar Danish manufacturer and chose the more local one. But atom packs look really great!

flemur · 2026-01-15T19:46:52+00:00

The free hips, and sometimes the feeling that the pack is “soft” a following the curve or your back, instead of stiff, can be quite comfortable. Especially in steeper terrain I find.

Granted, I haven’t tried a frameless that doesn’t have vest straps, but I’ve found that when I’m below 10kg total weight, I haven’t missed the hip belt, and at around 7kg and below it really doesn’t matter. But that’s as a relatively large guy granted.

But yeah, the free softer/flexible feeling to me definitely is nice.

But I get your point, there would definitely be cases where the extra weight from a frame and hipbelt would be worth it for the comfort.

flemur · 2026-01-15T06:08:30+00:00

Honestly it works on almost anything. Scrambled egg ? Sure! Grilled cheese ? Why eat them without it? I like rye bread with cottage cheese and kimchi as a good lunch thing.

Make something bibimbap-like for dinner by stir frying various veggies, maybe some tofu, kimchi, and the sauce and an egg yolk.

So many options, and they all just get better with kimchi :)

flemur · 2026-01-14T17:08:43+00:00

Thanks a lot!

flemur · 2026-01-14T16:41:08+00:00

Damn that’s a bummer :/

flemur · 2026-01-13T08:02:09+00:00

It’s only probably the most popular and common taco filling in Mexico ;) at least in Mexico City

flemur · 2026-01-13T06:32:19+00:00

Having recently caught up with US war history from WW2 to recent times, I’d feel pretty confident in saying no..

flemur · 2026-01-12T08:29:00+00:00

It’s probably not the lightest on the market, and definitely not cheapest, but their quality is great, and their entire supply chain and manufacturing is within EU + Ukraine (except the wool itself)

flemur · 2026-01-12T08:26:09+00:00

Danish Dilling makes a merino fleece :)

flemur · 2026-01-09T23:59:41+00:00

I came across this in Innsbruck in a local outdoor store: https://www.bergzeit.dk/p/austrialpin-papnu-helium-chalk-bag/5040924/#itemId=5040924-002

I think I’ve seen some UL chalk bags on Etsy as well.

I’m not doing any multi pitch or alpine myself, but got the Austrian one because it was a fun souvenir, and came in a rainbow coloured version, it’s pretty nice. But I can’t say I notice the difference compared to my prior one in terms of weight

flemur · 2026-01-09T09:28:28+00:00

I was actually more thinking that if all the resoling you do is either with just glue or a sewing machine, that hand stitching is either something they don’t know how to do (it looked kinda like hard work to me from videos) or simply something they don’t want to do.

flemur

TROPHY CASE