The Mad Genius Behind Sweden’s #1 Winter Jacket.

Summary

Michael tells the story of Ake Nordin, the “mad genius” founder of Fjallraven who at age 14 started selling wooden-framed backpacks to reindeer herdsmen. When Nordin didn’t know how to sew a down jacket, he flew to the United States to meet with Eddie Bauer himself - considered the godfather of down jackets - and George Lamb of Camp 7 to learn the craft.

The video explores Fjallraven’s Expedition Down Parka and Polar Expedition Parka in detail, explaining their unique features including offset baffle construction (essentially two down jackets sewn together), synthetic insulation in the shoulders to prevent compression under backpack straps, hockey laces used as drawcords (a nod to the original when Nordin didn’t have proper cords), and the famous G1000 waxed canvas fabric. Michael interviews Donna Bruns (Fjallraven’s Global Product Director) and Carl Hord (Global Events Senior Manager) to understand why Fjallraven uses “600-year-old technology” (wax) instead of modern Gore-Tex alternatives.

Highlights

”He flew to the US to meet with Eddie Bauer”

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“Ake didn’t really know how to sew a down jacket, so he flew to the US to meet with Eddie Bauer. And I almost spit my drink out - I was like, not the brand, the man, Edward Bauer.” — Michael, 5:18

”Why are you using 600-year-old technology?”

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“I asked Donna and Carl - there’s all these outdoor brands that are doing a lot of very techno-forward stuff that you guys are not. Why is that? They’re still using wax bars, which was first started being used in the 1400s.” — Michael, 3:08

”Hockey laces because he didn’t have proper cords”

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“When Ake was in the lab sewing up this jacket for the first time, he needed cords so he could cinch the hood and the hem tight. But he didn’t have cords. Instead what he did have was hockey laces.” — Michael, 0:51

”By chasing this crazy technical route, you lose people”

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“By chasing this crazy technical route and going absolutely insane, you lose people in the process. And when you lose people, they don’t want to go outside, they don’t care about preserving nature.” — Carl, 16:05

”Push us - ask people what they want to see improved”

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“Donna basically forcefully said to me like four or five times ‘push us - ask people watching this video what they want to see improved, what can we change, what are they thinking about.’” — Michael, 17:05

”I’m carrying three global powers behind me kicking and screaming”

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“Donna said ‘I’m carrying three global powers behind me kicking and screaming’ when she’s talking about trying to get zipper manufacturers on board with removing harmful chemicals.” — Michael, 14:37

Key Points

• The Mad Genius Origin (0:00) - Ake Nordin started his company at age 14 selling wooden-framed backpacks to reindeer herdsmen he met while hiking
• Space Race Innovation (0:36) - When the Space Race happened, Nordin switched to aluminum frames because “that’s what people in space are doing”
• Hockey Lace Drawcords (0:51) - When sewing the first jacket, Nordin used hockey laces because he didn’t have proper cords; they resemble the Swedish flag on blue jackets
• Synthetic Shoulder Padding (1:17) - Synthetic insulation in shoulders/placket/hood keeps you warmer under backpack straps because it compresses less than down
• 50th Anniversary Jacket (1:47) - Michael requested the cobalt blue anniversary edition but got sent the green one; “some hot TikToker probably got it”
• Donna Bruns Interview (2:36) - Global Product Director of Fjallraven; anything you see at Fjallraven is because Donna approved it
• Why Use 600-Year-Old Technology (3:28) - Asked why Fjallraven uses wax bars from the 1400s instead of modern tech; received compelling answers
• Eddie Bauer Meeting (5:18) - Nordin flew to the US to meet with Eddie Bauer himself to learn how to sew a down jacket
• The Outdoor Founding Fathers (5:48) - Eddie Bauer, Clinton Filson, Charles Danner, Leon Leonwood Bean are the OGs; Nordin is next generation (30 years later)
• George Lamb of Camp 7 (7:31) - Nordin met with George Lamb who taught him jacket construction before selling his business to own a farm
• Collaborative Spirit (7:59) - Nordin published catalogs asking for feedback: “how can I make this better? Have any ideas? Please let me know”
• Three Types of Down Construction (8:19) - Sewn through (has cold spots), box construction (walls prevent compression), offset baffle (two layers offset)
• Offset Baffle Explained (9:15) - Essentially two sewn-through jackets layered with seams offset; removes cold pockets, one of warmest constructions
• Base Camp Design Philosophy (9:50) - Jacket meant to be so warm you can throw it over all your day clothes at base camp; designed as “a tank”
• Synthetic Shoulder Reasoning (10:52) - Donna confirmed the reason: synthetic compresses less under backpack straps in the short-term, keeping shoulders warmer
• Polar Expedition Features (12:05) - Snow skirt, neck baffle, giant leather pulls, massive dump pockets, synthetic fur hood, G1000 heavy duty fabric
• G1000 Origin Story (13:29) - G1000 was a failed tent fabric (too heavy); Nordin saw skiers rubbing ski wax on their pants and had an idea
• Wax Flexibility Advantage (15:18) - Unlike Gore-Tex which is all-or-nothing, you can wax only the front of a jacket and keep the back breathable
• Why Not Chase Tech (16:05) - Using thinnest nylon increases barrier for entry and margin for error; if jacket rips, people stop going outdoors
• Push Us Philosophy (17:05) - Donna said “push us” four or five times; wants viewers to ask what can be improved, continuing Nordin’s feedback tradition
• CEO Book Gift (17:43) - Fjallraven CEO Martin Axelhed sent a book signed “a little nerdy detail to have fun with”

Mentions

Companies

• Fjallraven (0:12) - Swedish outdoor company founded by Ake Nordin; makes Expedition Down Parka and Kanken backpack
• Eddie Bauer (5:20) - True OG of down jackets; popularized them in the US after WWII; Nordin flew to meet him
• Camp 7 (7:31) - Early outdoor recreational gear company; founder George Lamb taught Nordin jacket construction
• Filson (5:50) - Clinton Filson’s company, one of the American outdoor recreational brand founding fathers
• Danner (5:52) - Charles Danner’s boot company, another founding father of American outdoor gear
• L.L. Bean (5:54) - Leon Leonwood Bean’s company, one of the outdoor industry pillars
• The North Face (8:24) - Uses sewn-through construction on some down jackets
• Gore-Tex (14:59) - Waterproof membrane technology; Fjallraven prefers wax for sustainability and flexibility
• HelloFresh (3:37) - Video sponsor; America’s number one meal kit
• Future Proof (14:20) - Video series about Fjallraven by Levi and Leah

Products & Technologies

• Expedition Down Parka (0:15) - Fjallraven’s core expedition jacket; uses offset baffle construction
• Polar Expedition Parka (2:17) - Feature-packed version with G1000 heavy duty fabric, snow skirt, fur hood
• G1000 Fabric (13:01) - Waxable canvas fabric; originally failed tent fabric that was too heavy
• G1000 Heavy Duty (13:05) - Heavier version used on Polar Expedition Parka; important that it’s a blend
• Kanken Backpack ([video description]) - Fjallraven’s famous bright, small backpack
• Offset Baffle Construction (9:15) - Two layers of sewn-through with seams offset; eliminates cold spots
• Petzl Croll ([not in transcript but referenced]) - Rope ascending tool that enabled modern caving

People

• Ake Nordin (0:18) - Founder of Fjallraven; started at 14 selling wooden-framed backpacks to reindeer herdsmen
• Donna Bruns (2:36) - Global Product Director of Fjallraven; trained under Ake Nordin
• Carl Hord (2:46) - Global Events Senior Manager at Fjallraven; gave the answer about why Fjallraven doesn’t chase tech
• Eddie Bauer (5:20) - Popularized down jackets in the US; Nordin flew to meet him to learn jacket construction
• George Lamb (7:31) - Founder of Camp 7; taught Nordin how to sew jackets before selling business to own a farm
• Clinton Filson (5:50) - One of the outdoor industry founding fathers
• Charles Danner (5:52) - Boot maker, one of the outdoor industry founding fathers
• Leon Leonwood Bean (5:54) - L.L. Bean founder, one of the outdoor industry pillars
• Martin Axelhed (18:06) - CEO of Fjallraven; signed the book they sent Michael
• Holly (4:49) - Michael’s new video editor
• Levi and Leah (14:20) - Creators of Future Proof video series about Fjallraven

Surprising Quotes

“Ake didn’t really know how to sew a down jacket, so he flew to the US to meet with Eddie Bauer. And I almost spit my drink out - I was like, not the brand, the man, Edward Bauer.” — 5:20

“Flying to the US to meet with Eddie Bauer is like you’re going to see The Godfather. You’re going to meet with Steve Jobs to talk about technology or something like that. It’s a big deal.” — 6:04

“Donna said ‘I’m carrying three global powers behind me kicking and screaming’ when she’s talking about trying to get zipper manufacturers on board with removing harmful chemicals.” — 14:49

“By chasing this crazy technical route and going absolutely insane, you lose people in the process. And when you lose people, they don’t want to go outside, they don’t care about preserving nature.” — 16:41

“Donna basically forcefully said to me like four or five times ‘push us - ask people watching this video what they want to see improved, what can we change, what are they thinking about.’” — 17:20

Transcript

0:00 This is what you get when a mad genius decides that he no longer wants to be cold. It’s more like this - you get this. And this is - I’m not clickbaiting you - actually a mad genius. Hello everyone, it’s Michael, welcome back to The Iron Snail.

0:15 First version of this jacket was actually two down jackets sewn together by a man named Ake Nordin. Sorry if you’re Swedish, I’m going to massacre your language for about 10 minutes, but I am giving it my absolute best.

0:26 If you couldn’t guess it already, Ake is the mad genius that we’re talking about today. A man who at 14 years old, when he was just a boy, started his company by selling wooden-framed backpacks to reindeer herdsmen he met while hiking. And then the Space Race happened and he was like “I’ll make the frames out of aluminum instead, because that’s what people in space are doing.” And he did, and started a really successful company that makes this jacket - one of the warmest parkas in the world.

0:49 Also it’s full of little details. Such as this - let me show you. When Ake was in the lab sewing up this jacket for the first time, he needed cords so he could cinch the hood and the hem tight. But he didn’t have cords. Instead what he did have was hockey laces. So he put those in the hood, he put those in the hem, he put those in the jacket locker loop thing.

1:05 One more thing about these cords - when this cord is on the blue jacket, it resembles the Swedish flag. Very symbolic, very beautiful. This obviously does not resemble the Swedish flag - maybe inspired by Brazil.

1:15 And also Mr. Nordin had another trick up his sleeve, which was to layer synthetic padding along this placket, along your shoulders, and along the brim of the hood. The rest of this jacket is filled with goose down, but not here.

1:26 Why, you may ask? I knew that would bring a little bit of controversy into this video, which I’m always after. The reason it’s there - which is not what I expected - is to keep your shoulders warmer when you’re wearing a backpack. Which I’d never heard that before, so… suspicious.

1:45 So here’s the skinny. Fjallraven emailed me and they said “hey Michael, can we send you our 50th anniversary edition Expedition Down Jacket in a beautiful cobalt blue?” And I said “yeah, absolutely, that’d be sick.” And then they didn’t.

1:58 I totally got shafted. I got the green one. Whatever - some hot TikToker probably got it and danced in it. Little old me - actually didn’t matter because that’s not what I was after. I was after knowledge.

2:07 So when I had Fjallraven’s phone number, I called them a lot. I went undercover and pretended that I was a nice young man with nothing but a passion for jackets and outdoors wear, when in reality I really wanted to get that jacket - the Polar Expedition Parka. Boy oh boy, did I get it.

2:21 Fjallraven sent it to me. I was like “you fools, got it!” They were a little bit immune to my charm though, and they’re making me send that jacket back. That’s why it’s not outside with us today. But either way, I got what I wanted. And also I got to speak to the big wigs at Fjallraven, which was actually a big surprise - did not think that was going to happen.

2:36 I spoke to Donna Bruns, who - I looked her title up after we spoke - she’s the Global Product Director of Fjallraven. AKA anything that you see at Fjallraven is because Donna said it’s good to go.

2:46 And I also spoke to Carl Hord of Seerad - which I’m sorry again - he’s the Global Events Senior Manager at Fjallraven. And the only reason I’m telling you that is because I triple-checked all this information and I got it from the source, so hopefully it’s as accurate as possible.

2:59 Also disclaimer on the screen just really saying Fjallraven didn’t pay me, they have no say over what I say, this video does not have to go through them before I publish it, blah blah blah.

3:08 Also, a little controversial - wanted to get the hot goss. I asked Carl: out of North Face, Patagonia, Arc’teryx, all these crazy brands, Fjallraven… I asked Donna and Carl - there’s all these outdoor brands that are doing a lot of very techno-forward stuff that you guys are not. Why is that?

3:27 They’re still using wax bars, which was first started being used in the 1400s. So why are you guys still using that? And they actually had an answer for it that was really cool. I like that answer a lot. So that’s kind of the finale - we have to go through a lot of things first.

3:37 But let us begin. Zest your lemons and dice your cucumbers - it’s a HelloFresh sponsorship!

3:44 [HelloFresh Sponsorship] Michael, what is HelloFresh? I’m very glad you asked. Please take a seat right here. HelloFresh is America’s number one meal kit. We’re not microwaving our food, we’re cooking it ourselves. We’re not going to the grocery store, we’re talking with our local UPS man to get our food. All you got to do is go online and pick something that sounds good to you - whether you’re a vegetarian, pescatarian, a health nut, or have a picky eater, HelloFresh has something for you with over 50 scrumptious weekly recipes.

4:38 Thank you very much HelloFresh for sponsoring this video. You can click the link in the description or use my code and get 10 free meals and a free kids meal in every box for 2 months if you’re in the US. Outside of the US, the local discount will apply.

4:46 Okay bye! It’s Michael. Happy New Year, hope you’re all doing well. My New Year’s resolution is to make it so I post a video more than once a month. So to get that done, I started working with an editor. Her name is Holly. Holly, do something crazy right now on the screen so people see how skilled you are. She’s flexing in front of us - wow, isn’t she the greatest?

4:58 Okay either way, nice to see you. Let’s get started.

5:02 We live in 2025 now, and down jackets have been around for many many years - so they’re not as crazy. Almost 100 years, 90-something years down jackets have been popular. Either way, they’re not that crazy anymore, so it sucks that we can’t have the same awe-inspiring [feeling] that people way back when did.

5:18 But on the phone, Donna told me “oh yeah, Ake didn’t really know how to sew a down jacket, so he flew to the US to meet with Eddie Bauer.” And I almost spit my drink out. I was like “not the brand - the man, Edward Bauer.”

5:28 So to set the scene here - Eddie Bauer is like the true OG of down jackets. He didn’t invent them - they were invented hundreds of years before he was even alive - but he popularized them in the US. After World War II, everybody was like “hey, that one jacket I wore while I was fighting a war - amazing, love that.” Eddie Bauer made it. He popularized the down jacket.

5:46 And he is one of the American outdoor recreational brand founding fathers. There is Eddie Bauer, there is Clinton Filson, there is Charles Danner, there is Leon Leonwood Bean. These are kind of the OGs, the pillars. And Ake is kind of the next generation - he’s about 30 years after that. But those are a big big deal.

6:02 So flying to the US to meet with Eddie Bauer is like you’re going to see The Godfather. You’re going to meet with Steve Jobs to talk about technology or something like that. It’s a big deal.

6:10 A ton of amazing things happened at the same time. World War II ends, everybody’s like “oh great, that really sucked.” So now they’re at home, outdoor recreational activities explode. Also nylon, which was invented before World War II but was really rationed to civilians, is now not rationed.

6:27 So there is a magic material that is incredibly light, dries really fast, and is super super strong. And on top of all that, our good man Eddie stuffed down inside - well, was cotton at the time, but stuffed down inside of cotton and made these incredibly light jackets. That all of a sudden, you go outside and you’re not bogged down by really heavy wool jackets. Even though I do love wool - I love wool.

6:44 If we look at Fjallraven and Ake and everything like that, his big thing was a dual-layered tent. I think it was polyester on the outside, nylon on the inside - might be flipped. The big feature of his tent was finally, when you were laying in a tent it could be raining and the tent wouldn’t get wet, but also the condensation from your breath wouldn’t gather in the tent and get really gross and damp. When you woke up, it would be dry.

7:04 Which is massive if you want to go outside just for fun. You’re not on some crazy expedition - you want to be cozy the whole time. And nylon and polyester were allowing the masses to do that affordably and easily.

7:14 The interesting thing though is the outdoor pioneers - the guys that were making the tents and jackets and backpacks and stuff out of this new material - no idea how it worked. It was a very experimental time. And what I really like about it is it seemed like everybody was on board to help each other out. Which I feel like, what are the odds of that actually happening?

7:31 When Ake flew to the United States, he met with George Lamb of Camp 7, who is a very big deal in the early world of outdoor recreational gear. And was just like “hey George Lamb, how do I sew a jacket together?” And George was like “well, I’m actually going to sell my business really soon and own a farm, but before that, this is how you do it and this is why.”

7:47 And then Ake would post things in his catalog - well, post things, he would publish catalogs and say “hey, this is how my tent works, this is how the jacket works. Do you have any feedback? How can I make this better? Have any ideas? Please let me know.”

7:59 A very collaborative-driven, “let’s make the best product we possibly can because we all just want to go outside” mentality. And I love that - I think that’s the most amazing thing in the world.

8:06 So what did Mr. Nordin do when he got on his plane and flew back to Sweden? He made the Down Expedition Parka - the last down jacket you’ll ever need in the cold.

8:19 Quick strawberry break before we dive into the crazy part. There’s a few different ways you can make a down jacket. The first way is utilized by The North Face on this down jacket. See, I was wearing it for a reason - I wanted to show it to you. This is going to be in the next video. But you can do sewn-through construction, which is just picture this as a big fat pillow - you just sew right through it. This baffle right here, this line, matches up perfectly to the line on the inside.

8:42 You can also do box construction, which is - that’s why I was eating strawberries to show you this example. Obviously that’s sewn-through construction. Box construction - picture this container this way as a baffle on your jacket, like this section right here. So the down is in here - the down is the strawberries. But on the side we have walls instead of things that are straight sewn through.

9:05 So there’s not a point right here where there is no down - it’s just two layers of nylon. That’s a cold spot. You don’t get that as much with box construction.

9:11 But you can also do offset channel construction, which is what Fjallraven does. Fjallraven offset baffle construction is cool because Fjallraven always says it’s essentially two down jackets sewn together, cuz that is essentially what it is.

9:24 But what’s happening is this is sewn through, but if you have two down jackets one over one another, what you can essentially do is pull one up a little bit so this thread doesn’t match that thread. So hold on - offset is two layers of jackets like that. So those seams, they still exist, they’re still there, but two layers of sewn through basically removes all of the cold pockets that you can have on your jacket.

9:43 It is one of the warmest ways to sew a down jacket. It’s very effective. And the reason this jacket is so massive is because you never - no matter what you’re doing, if you’re doing anything physical, like strenuous, you’re not going to wear a jacket this big. You’ll totally overheat.

9:57 But the reason it is so big is because the jacket is meant to be so warm that when you go to base camp and you have all of your other clothes on from the day, you should be able to just throw this jacket on over whatever you’re wearing. You could have a whole another jacket under this jacket. It’s supposed to be a tank.

10:11 The first feature - which yes, I was a little suspicious about in the beginning, but I believe you, Fjallraven, I think they’re right - but obviously this came on the first version of the jacket as well, so I believe Ake and his entire company.

10:20 The Expedition Down Parka is a layer of synthetic and down put together. I think the Expedition Light is just synthetic on these areas, but it is synthetic. Why why why is that?

10:32 The original reason that I said to Donna was just because it dries faster. Synthetic insulation dries much faster. Your shoulders get wet a lot, your hood gets wet a lot, the plackets and stuff like that - you want to have them be as weather resistant as possible.

10:42 Donna said “that is a pleasant bonus.” And I was like “what?! A pleasant bonus, are you kidding me Donna?” Something like that - I don’t remember exactly what I said. But what was - let me get closer for this one.

10:52 The reason Ake did it is because of backpacks. Obviously Fjallraven started as a backpack company, so big tribute to backpacks, and that’s also what you take whenever you go on hikes. But synthetic insulation compresses less under weight in the short immediate term. So your shoulders - everything under your straps - stays warmer.

11:08 Because if you don’t know, the common thing about synthetic insulation is that while it’s great and it dries really fast, it compresses and it stays compressed, and you lose loft and your jacket becomes less warm over time.

11:18 What I found really interesting about this is obviously that it’s talked about a ton in the nerdy small consumer community where people buy the jackets and are wearing them. But the woman that is designing the jackets and trained under Ake - who also added synthetic insulation in the shoulders from the start - said this to me when I asked her, because I was nervous.

11:36 I double-checked. I emailed her right before this video because I was like “I just want to make sure I got this right. Does Fjallraven worry about synthetic padding compressing over time and losing loft?” Her response: “Not really. Holds its loft quite a long time if you have the right padding.”

11:50 I’m going to believe the Global Product Director of Fjallraven, especially because this jacket has been around for 50 years. And if it was an issue, I’m assuming they would have fixed it if people were complaining about it for that long. So cool - very cool to know.

12:01 While this is a very warm jacket, very big jacket, it’s not very feature-packed. That’s about it. So we immediately have to jump over to the Polar Expedition Parka, which IS feature-packed - the bad mamma jamma. And once again, I am also the bad mamma jamma.

12:17 I was not given permission to take that jacket outside, cuz you know, no one knows what crazy things I’ll be up to in it. So permission denied. But either way, here are the cool features of it:

12:24 Number one - there’s a snow skirt, which is made to stop wind from going up your hypothetical skirt.

12:29 Number two - this one’s quite neat - there’s a neck baffle inside of the jacket, which is like a folding collar inside of your jacket. Again, to make sure that your hot air doesn’t go out or cold air come in.

12:37 Number three - there are giant leather pulls, because you’ll be wearing mittens or gloves when you have this jacket on, so you need to get it easier.

12:43 Number four - there are massive side-entry chest pockets and huge dump pockets with side-entry access to slip your hands into. Sorry, I thought that would be funny.

12:51 Five - you obviously have a fur hood, synthetic fur, to create a pocket of air in front of your face so the condensation of your breath doesn’t freeze onto your skin.

12:58 Number six - my favorite thing, because a little blast from the past - is G1000, and G1000 Heavy Duty. Very significant, and a blend - very important to be a blend.

13:07 But this is why I asked Donna and Carl: why are you using 600-year-old technology when everybody else is doing - which in all fairness Fjallraven does on certain things - everybody’s doing adhesive and Gore-Tex or waterproof linings and stuff like that on jackets. Not having people buy bars of wax and put it on their jackets.

13:24 And this is the conclusion of the video, cuz this is the coolest part.

13:29 The G1000 fabric is actually a failed fabric, because it was originally supposed to be on tents but it was too heavy. Nobody wanted to take it around with them, so it kind of just hung out for a while. Until Ake saw it, and specifically - well, he didn’t see it, he saw people skiing.

13:43 And what they were doing is they had wax that was going on the bottom of their skis, but they were rubbing it on the back of their pants. So that way, when they sat down in the snow, their pants didn’t get wet - well, they got wet, but the actual water didn’t soak through and soak their pants. And he said “ooh!”

13:56 The first thing - if you didn’t know - is Fjallraven is a very sustainability-focused brand. And to be frank, a lot of the waterproof membranes - most of them - that now they’re removing all the harmful chemicals, or some of the harmful chemicals, but a lot of them still do have them.

14:09 So why not use something without it that can also be water resistant, and can be re-proofed over time, and reused, and you can reapply the wax and stuff like that?

14:17 Also fascinating thing - there’s this great video series from Future Proof about Fjallraven that’s very fascinating. Great job Levi and Leah - I don’t know if she’s working on it too.

14:25 Either way, he was talking about how waterproof zippers typically still have harmful chemicals in them, even if the rest of the proof jacket does not. I’m kind of paraphrasing the rest of it here, but essentially it was like - why, why are zippers so hard to do?

14:37 And I found out they’re not so hard to do, but a lot of brands don’t really care. The manufacturers of the zippers don’t really care, cuz it’s waterproof and printing money still. So why change anything?

14:46 And I know that now because I brought this up to Donna, and this was her quote. She said: “I’m carrying three global powers behind me kicking and screaming” - when she’s talking about like zippers and stuff like that, trying to get them on board with removing harmful chemicals from waterproof zippers and stuff like that.

14:59 Waterproof membranes like Gore-Tex are very very cool because they are waterproof and breathable - although not at the same time. But G1000 is much much simpler than that.

15:08 And the great part about it is it’s not either on or off - you can do both. So if you have a Gore-Tex jacket and you’re thinking “all the snow, what am I going to do? All the snow is going to hit me in the front and not the back, so I want the back of my jacket to be breathable” - you can’t remove a layer of Gore-Tex.

15:20 But with G1000, you could wax the front of the jacket and not the back and have breathability. Or you can not wax the underpart of the arms, or you know, whatever it may be. You can pick where you want your water resistance and extra wind resistance to be while keeping your jacket or your piece more breathable. That’s really cool. I like that a lot.

15:39 Hello! You too! Hey, but didn’t you say that Gore-Tex is also breathable when it’s not wet? Yes I did. The big thing here is the level of breathability. But also the Gore-Tex versus not Gore-Tex thing is a whole can of worms that we’re going to dive into on the next video about how to pick the perfect winter jacket for you. So we’ll get into that more, but I just wanted to address this real quick. Okay.

15:56 And then finally, my favorite answer for G1000 rounded out the entire brand and answered the question: why does Fjallraven not always chase the most technologically advanced thing?

16:05 And it was all Carl. You absolutely nailed this answer. You said - that I was like “whoo!” Everybody on the call was like “whoo, Carl, that was great!”

16:12 You could easily make the lightest down jacket - as in like lightest weight - using the thinnest technical nylon. A lot of companies do that and they’re really amazing. When you do that, you do two things:

16:20 One, you increase the barrier for entry. So things are more expensive, you have to upkeep them more, you have to worry about them more on the trail.

16:26 But two, you increase the margin for error. And if you increase the margin for error, and all of a sudden your jacket rips on a hike because it’s so thin, you’re cold, your hike sucks, you don’t want to go outside after that.

16:37 You might not want to go outdoors as much, which is the entire thing that Ake was trying to fix in the beginning. By chasing this crazy technical route and going absolutely insane, you lose people in the process.

16:47 And when you lose people, they don’t want to go outside, they don’t care about preserving nature. If Fjallraven, from a business perspective, can’t sell to people that don’t want to go outside, and everything in this process kind of collapses and crumbles.

16:55 Thought that was a fantastic answer. I’m going to go in the car and tell you one more thing, because everybody’s looking at me on the trail today.

17:02 Donna - very cool, very nice person. But also, I’m like, yeah, you’re clearly a top dog, you know business. But she kept saying “push us.” I kept writing it down - “likes to be pushed.” And then I said a few other things, and then again I said “would love someone to really push them.” And then a few notes later I said “really wants to be challenged.”

17:18 And then the last note I took on the Donna section of the call is “push us.” Donna basically forcefully said to me like four or five times “push us. Ask people watching this video what they want to see improved. What can we change? What are they thinking about?”

17:30 Which makes total sense with the brand, because Ake founded it off feedback and sharing ideas and being collaborative. And they kept that spirit alive till today.

17:37 And I said to Donna - and I always say this when I’m on calls with people - I want nerdy details. We have to go deeper. Why is it this blend? Why is it this percentage? I want nerdy details.

17:46 And then what comes in the mail like a week after our call? A book. I opened the book. Inside the book it says it’s for The Iron Snail, and it’s signed “Donna.” And it says “a little nerdy detail to have fun with” - signed Donna.

17:57 And then I thought that said “Carl” for a while, and then yesterday when I was looking over it again and reading the book, I realized it said “Martin.” And I was like “who’s Martin?”

18:05 And I realized it was signed “Hello, my name is Martin Axelhed. I am Mr. Martin Axelhed, the CEO of Fjallraven.”