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Comment by originalvichy | Hacker News Reader

The author quickly glosses over a fact that should have been investigated deeply.

The fact that many of these shiny nordic ideals are still limited to people with limited resources. Good rainproof gear costs a lot even though it is a good investment. Cabins are usually inherited which means that if your (grand)parents were not wealthy enough to build a cabin you will likely not want to get into extra debt for a recreational building that you won't be able to visit that often. A lakeside cabin can cost about as much as a normal apartment in a city.

You could compare it to someone having a place in a popular skiing town in the US. It's not a viable thing for millenials.

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A fleece jacket or something similar plus a basic rain overcoat and rain pants can be had for not very much, even discount supermarkets will usually have something on sale.

Similarly a backpack doesn't have to be fancy, I know people who go camping with old laptop backpacks (preferable the beefy ones that can fit a 15.6" mobile workstation) or similar not very outdoorsy gear. Of course something along the lines of a $450 Savotta Patrol Pack would be superior in every way, but that's nice to have, not need to have.

Perfectly adequate tents, sleeping bags and mats are widely available for not a lot of money. Will they eventually break, sooner than high-quality gear? That's almost for certain, but the point is to get out there and do something, not to have the fanciest possible gear.

The one area where I would prioritize getting something a little nicer would be boots. A good pair of boots will greatly increase your comfort levels and protect your feet and ankles from damage. Again, I know people who go camping in sneakers, but actual hiking boots will be infinitely superior in rain and mud.

I would highly recommend subscribing to Steve Wallis on Youtube. He's a very down-to-earth guy who goes camping just about everywhere, with just basic gear and a positive attitude.

https://www.youtube.com/c/thestevewallis/

I absolutely agree with all that. (For "three-season"; winter/snow hiking and, especially, camping definitely takes more.) But so long as you don't care how it looks, are fine with coated nylon rather than something like Gore-tex, and are OK with somewhat heavier gear, you can get started for very little money between thrift stores/eBay, Walmart, cast-offs from friends, military surplus, etc. Even hiking boots, you could probably at least consider work boots from a discount store.

Yeah, no.

Start doing outdoor stuff in mild weather (probably summer). Buy a used tent, decent shoes and any jacket on craigslist or shady sports outlet or whatever. Get into it. See if you want to go mushroom foraging, hiking, camping, boating, shooting wildlife, skiing, climbing or whatever. Then you can start spending disposable income on the stuff you fancy (or not).

It does not surprise me to find the notion that you best start with an electric Ford truck, a second house with all amenities and thousand dollar Patagonia gear, but that's really not required to incorporate some friluftsliv in your life.

I don’t think starting slow is a foreign concept to any of us. I was already taking that into account. Even if you like the outdoors you’re still going to pay a decent amount of money not to get soaked by rain. It’s worth it since you’re not limited by the weather, but it’s gonna sting.

Whilst you'll find that in Norway many people have all the best available equipment, many also don't and are just out and about in what they have. On the metro to the forest you'll find skiers with amazingly expensive skis & performance clothes as well as those with borrowed skis and clothes they'd normally wear outside. The higher & more balanced wealth of the population definitely help, but Norway is no utopia and there are many people with low incomes who borrow equipment from organisations set up to do so. There is also a very big and cheap secondhand market that most people use.

Cabins tend to be owned by the older & richer generations, but that's not really the point of friluftsliv as that concept is much bigger. It means people are outside more, even if it's just in the city, the park, or for a walk in the local woods.

I don't know about the other Nordic countries, but in Denmark we have a lot of shelters around the country, typically in forests, which anyone can book and use for a night or two. A typical price for booking a shelter is 25-30 dkk/night/person, which amounts to 4-5 usd.

Wilderness cabins are common, but I was referring to privately owned cabins since in Sweden and Finland spending time at your cabin is common.

If your aim is to have shelter and a place to get food then public/trekking association cabins are quite a good choice. The vacationing at your cabin is separate.

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