About us
Quick and dirty version
Gramjakt and Skalmo gear
Our mission.
To design and build high quality outdoor gear with a focus on minimalism. Using high tech materials and techniques we can create some of the lightest gear on the planet, yet robust and durable enough for even the wilds of Northern Sweden. Our gear is built to be used and abused, both by you the hiker, and by nature. All our gear is designed and built in Umeå, Sweden, and tested in both the local woodlands, as well as mountain regions above the arctic circle.
Who we are.
Skalmo formally Sarek gear, is founded by gear head Kenneth Shaw in 2017. Kenneth is lead designer behind Skalmo gear. The main focus of Skalmo was and will always be high quality outdoor gear for use in the wilds of Sarek national park in northern Sweden. Skalmo gear produces it's gear mainly in Northern sweden in our own cottage factory in Umeå Sweden with some help from similar cottage firms in Poland.
Marcus Falck came to Skalmo 2021 as co-ceo and owner. Marcus has a long history in business ownership, and the great outdoors. Growing up and spending most his life in the mountains of Northern Sweden, Marcus has an eye on gear development and how to make gear even better. Together, Ken and Marcus design, prototype and test all their gear in Northern Sweden in all kinds of conditions.
Skalmo gear.
Our sewing shop and prototyping is done in Västerslätt in Umeå, a small little town in the north of Sweden. All our gear is designed and manufactured so far here in our shop here in Umeå. Though as demands has increased we are working with different partners in Europe to see if we can meet demand by outsourcing to other factories. As of right now our gear is sold exclusively through Backpackinglight.se / .dk. Though plans for direct sales are in the works.
Gramjakt came along in 2022 as a compliment to Skalmo. Where Skalmos main focus is on ultralight, high quality gear locally produced. Gramjakts focus is on high quality gear at a reasonable price. Gramjakt uses some local production, and production in Sweden, as well as ethical sourcing in Asia.
Kenneth Shaw
Owner/CEO Backpackpackinglight AB and lead designer Skalmo and Gramjakt
Kenneth Shaw has walked all over the world covering thousands of kilometers on his feet in all kinds of conditions since he was a toddler in the United States. Since 2011, he has run a blog that has become one of the world's most popular lightweight hiking at Ulcomfort.com and has written a book on lightweight hiking called “Ultralight and Comfortable”. Ken is an entrepreneur who has run several companies over the years and also has many years of experience as CEO and Manager in the private and public sector.
Marcus Falck
Marketing manager/owner Backpackpackinglight AB
Marcus has extensive experience in the media industry, where he was, among other things, CEO and owner of Reklamlandslaget and owner/project manager of Grit Media. Marcus has a solid interest in fishing and has spent countless days along rivers, streams and lakes in the Lapland mountains.
Skalmo
We're obsessed with ultralight gear. So we got the brilliant idea to manufacture our own here in Umeå. We didn't just want to take cheap equipment made in Asia and stick a logo on it. We wanted to develop old sacred designs and also produce completely new ones. So in 2018 we started Sweden's only manufacturer of ultralight equipment. Designed, tested and manufactured in Umeå. Read more about Skalmo here