The History Of Fjallraven Tents

Fjällräven are one of the most iconic and well-known names in the outdoor industry. The Swedish brand are known for pioneering designs that are practical, stylish and sustainable with a commitment to making nature more accessible. Whilst they are renowned for their backpack design and wax-coated clothing, Fjällräven were also early pioneers in the development and advancement of tents.

Founded by Åke Nordin, Fjällräven was born out of his desire to make practical outdoor equipment. Åke’s passion for practical equipment came at the early age of 14. Surrounded by the beautiful rolling hills, forests and sheltered coastline of Sweden, his childhood was spent exploring the nature around him. He quickly wanted to create a backpack that held more equipment but stayed comfortable on his back. With nothing on the market, Åke took to his parent's basement armed with his father’s tools and mother’s sewing machine. He created a wooden-framed backpack that paved the path for the first Fjällräven pack to be produced 10 years later, in 1960, in the very same basement.

Åke quickly grew Fjällräven to become one of the most popular brands in Sweden expanding his range of equipment to include jackets, sleeping bags and more. Fjällräven’s first venture into tents came in 1965 with the Fjällräven Termo Tent.

As is a trend with Fjällräven, the Termo Tent came about as a result of Åke’s dissatisfaction with the existing tents on the market. Prior to the Termo, most tents were made from single-layer cotton fabric. They were heavy when dry and almost doubled in weight when wet. Synthetic tents were the alternative, however, technology at the time meant that they were either so thin that moisture could force itself through the fabric into the tent, or so waterproof that there was next to no breathability.

Åke’s solution has become the principle with which most modern-day tents continue to be designed around. He created a tent made from two layers. First, the inner tent, made from lightweight fabric that allowed moisture to pass through, hence ventilating the inside of the tent. Second, a waterproof outer. This prevented rain from entering the tent whilst allowing condensation to ventilate inside the flysheet.

For the Termo, the outer section was made from a strong waterproof polyester, with a thin and highly breathable inner made from Ripstop polyamide fabric. This led to a massive reduction in weight, with the tent coming in at 1.4kg. Backed up by excellent performance, the Termo enjoyed inevitable success.

Fjällräven subsequently went on to expand on the Termo, creating a larger expedition version of the tent to be used on the two-month-long Scandinavian Greenland Expedition in 1966 (pictured below). All members of the expedition spoke highly of the tent, solidifying the Termo as the must-have tent of the era.

Fast-forward to the modern-day, and Fjällräven continue to produce practical and high-performance tents, with the same reputation for quality. Each tent goes through a thorough development and testing regime, with the time from concept to final product spanning at least three years for each.

The Abisko range exemplifies Fjällräven's founding concept of making nature more accessible. The family of tents have been made for all types of outdoor life. They are built to withstand the harshest of weather yet come in at light weights and sacrifice as little as possible on durability. And as you would expect from Fjällräven, the range has all been made with sustainability in mind. There are no PVC plastics used and the durable water repellent coating applied is free from fluorocarbons.

So, for a tent that makes exploring the wildest of places easy, is consciously manufactured and will perform for years and years, look no further than Fjällräven.