The Fjallraven story began in 1950. Okacy, wait…. What?.... How do you pronounce that name? Unless you can speak Swedish, I wouldn't even attempt to try. I can give you one hint though, and it's that you aren't pronouncing it correctly now. Sorry if you're Swedish and have no problem pronouncing Fjallraven. We love our Swedish friends, especially Swedish mimes. You know who you are.

Sorry for jumping off topic there. Fjallraven started with a boy and a love for the outdoors. At 14 years of age, Åke Nordin, would spend most of his time trekking in the mountains of Northern Sweden. He didn't much care for the backpacks that were available at the time, as they were uncomfortable to carry. Like any great magician, he decided to make his own packs instead, starting out with a wooden frame.

The wooden frame helped to improve the distribution of weight across the back. The frame also made hauling the backpack more comfortable and allowed more weight to be carried. Other people began to take notice of how nice the packs were with the frames, and wanted to have backpacks like Åke's. This created a demand, and Åke decided to form the company Fjallraven in 1960. The name Fjallraven, means Arctic Fox in Swedish, and is in attribute to the Arctic Foxes that live in the Swedish mountains, which are some of the Earth's toughest climates.

From a small basement in Sweden, Fjallraven can now be seen all around the globe. Making backpack, jackets, tents, and other gear, Fjallraven still holds true to their original ideas and goals, to be innovative, improve materials, decrease weight, and increase freedom of movement.

You won't see Fjallraven trying to follow trends. Fjallraven is the trend. Don't believe me, check out the Fjallraven Expedition Down Jackets. Built to withstand the world's harshest conditions, the Fjallraven Expedition Down Jackest has been copied by many. So much so that the Swedish Supreme Court ruled that Fjallraven deserved copyright protection and should even be classified as a work of art. I think that's pretty neat.

The most popular of all Fjallraven products has to be the Kanken backpack. Intended to be used for school children, the Fjallraven Kanken pack is made in a huge variety of colors, for all personal styles. The Fjallraven Kanken also uses Vinylon F, which is a material made from synthetic fibers that help the backpack to be more waterproof than other synthetic packs.