I am Sven.
I am a telemark skier who likes skiing with a big stick, I am a landscape photographer and time-lapser when the equipment’s weight isn’t too much, an alpine climber trying to be more of an alpine climber and someone who just loves little, intricate details in everything I can see.
I love being outside and I love gear and so that is what the majority of the posts on this site will be - but not just gear. I love tinkering with my stuff and exploring little improvements I can make. From making my own Dyneema zipper pulls and spending months researching and testing what combination of materials yields the best “feel” to just wanting to write down what I do when I go out and take some astro photos - I have some things I want to share.
More than anything, I would like this entire site to be a marriage between the technical specifications and hard numbers of something and this idea of feel - the things that you can’t find online about a piece you want to buy or a material you can’t buy locally. If you read something here, I want you to be able to leave the site knowing at least one thing you didn’t - even if it is subjective.
I heard about this weird splicing tape that people use on their ice tools, but what does it feel like? What is like to put it on the aluminum shaft? What does it feel like when its frozen and is it even worth it?
I have done my own research for weeks and think I have found the perfect bag for me. Websites tell me the exact weight, and dimensions but does it actually hold 35 liters? How does the face fabric wear over time? Does the color start to fade? Do the seams have fly-aways?
It is these sorts of obscure questions I would love to try and answer. If I can give people a better idea of what it will feel like to have a piece of gear and where it might let them down - because lets face it, gear will let us down somewhere but where it might do that is far more valuable in our purchasing process.
So, like I have said, I am not qualified enough for you to take my word completely and there is no reason for you assume what I am saying - especially about subjective stuff - will be the same for you. However, I think not enough people do this and the world of lightweight, detailed text-based information about stuff is coming back. So, these posts are for those of you like me - the gearheads, the obsessive researchers and the endless hunters for the latest and greatest methods, gear, and techniques.
Feel free to email me any thoughts on anything you read here. I am always happy to chat: sventalk.monument320@aleeas.com
