Sauna tent experiences

Savotta’s small sauna tent is probably the most convenient choice for small groups. There is plenty of room for six average-size men (70-80 kg), if they use smallish stools. Even eight people can fit into it without butts disturbingly touching each other. The form of the tent is hexagon, so building and transporting sauna benches is maybe not as functional as small stools.


Sauna set up

Choosing a place

Tent saunas can be compared to camping and open fires. In Finland, you can set up a tent sauna without a special permission on a state-owned land if it is not a conservation area or some other special place. In recreational areas rules vary, and in some areas sauna bathing is forbidden. On private properties, you need a permission from the landowner.

Setting up a tent

In winter, shovel snow away from the tent place. Set up the tent near trees if the ground is frozen. Sauna tent pegs are rugged, but it is easier to use inelastic, durable cord instead of the tent sauna’s own shortish cords. It does not matter if attachment points were even several meters away if you take enough cord with you. If you do not find a good attachment point for a tent stake, you can create tension with two diagonal attachment points.

When it is dark, front lamps and a campfire make it easier to set up a tent sauna. In addition to a stove, a candle lantern is a great extra source of light in a sauna.


Campfire gives light and creates a pleasant atmosphere

Stove

In cold weather, keep the stove full. Small dry logs are the best for heating. Firelighters make it easier to light a fire in the stove if you do not have a mental barrier to use them. When it is max minus 10 degrees Celsius outside, it is still nice to bath in a sauna tent. But when the temperature falls below that, it may be difficult to keep the sauna hot enough. It pays to wear neoprene boots, or winter swimming boots, but even crocs are better than nothing. You can lift your feet on a stool in front of the stove or pile up some logs, because the air is cold on the floor level. A bucket and a scoop make good water throwing equipment. Do not place the stove too near to the wall, because it may burn a hole in the wall.

You pile up 40 kg of stones on top of the stove and inside the side racks. You can take stones from nature or buy cheap sauna stoves in an ironmonger’s. It is smart to put new stones in your own house sauna and the old ones in the tent sauna. If the journey is long, sledges make it easier to move stones and other things.

You should clean and dry the tent and the stove after use. Hang out the tent to dry because otherwise it may become mouldy.


Stove without stones on top

Campfire

It is nice to make a fire next to the sauna to lighten up the dark and warm you up, for sausage roasting and fish smoking. Make sure you have enough logs. Burn big logs in the campfire and smaller ones in the sauna stove.


There is some fish warming up in the smoking box

Ice swimming

Ice swimming is a nice addition in winter. The easiest way to make a hole in the ice is to do it with a chain saw. Turn off the oil feed to the chain so that you don’t have to take oil out of the water. If the saw does not have oil regulation, remove the oil from the saw. You can make an ice hole also with a drill and an ice saw. If you are not sure about the safety of the ice hole, make it in a place where the water is not very deep, up to your chest at most. You can study the water deepness by making a small hole first and then probing with a stick. Mark the ice hole and probing places well for example with branches so that other people on the ice can see them and won't fall into them.


You make an ice hole quickly with a chain saw


In winter, ice hole is almost a must

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