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I have very high sauna standards – I have been to a sauna festival (yes that’s a thing), worked, maintained, and used a very high-end one in Sweden, and often stay inside for hours at a time while nonstop adding water. I also use sauna as part of my business doing rentals, private sessions for clients, public events, etc. I abuse mine heavily.
Being a Swedish company, I expect lots from the Bast sauna.
Don’t forget to read my Best Sauna Tents guide to see what else is on the market!
Obviously I needed one in my life, but also craved to have one I could take to the beach, to the forest, to the mountains, etc so I could warm up after spearfishing, paragliding, or skiing, and of course, toast up in my own space without having to join a crowded sauna full of awkward randoms.
So, my search led me to Bast – a Swedish company started by a few guys from Lapland who are evidently sauna fanatics.
No more preamble, here’s my review of the Bast sauna.
Mine is the Björk model, the bigger brother to the Näver, but I will compare them since they are only different by the tent size.
Note: The Bast coupon code: NOMAD85 will save $85 on checkout
Table of Contents
Performance & comfort
What point is a portable and easy to use sauna if it doesn’t actually heat up all that well?
The stove is the powerhouse of any sauna, and a good one is crucial.
And, well, this one heats up very well! That and the tent does a very good job at retaining heat and preventing a draft with the double-skirts along the bottom of the tent. There are 2 ventilation slots and of course a chimney allowing you to fine-tune the amount of air coming into to feed the fire or cool down the system.
I’m not a guy who obsesses over exact heat, humidity, and all the others metrics but one: Does it make me sweat like a slippery pig in the Sahara? The answer is most definitely!
As with any sauna you need to give it some time to warm up, and after 20 minutes I’d say it’s ready to use, though a good 30-45 minute heat-soak to let those stones get up to speed is much better. Just add water and enjoy!
In terms of comfort, I opted for the larger Björk model as it’s significantly larger inside – so much so that I can lay down flat in it being 190cm tall – the Näver could technically also allow lay me down flat, but it would complicate the entire layout inside and it’d be too cumbersome.
On the webpages it says they fit 4-6 and 8-10 people, which I find is quite accurate. The larger Björk really surprised me as I was able to fit 12 Ikea Nammaro stools inside and it was comfortable for everyone. At most we put 15 people inside (2 standing) and that was of course too crowded. 12 is the absolute upper limit IMO.
You could in theory also have 3 full-sized benches which allow for people to lay flat. I was originally going for double-decker benches to of course raise people higher to get hotter, but found it more practical to have a dozen simple wooden stools.
If you’re on the fence and a person who likes to lay down in the sauna (who doesn’t..?), and especially if you’re tall, then the Björk is absolutely the one to get!
Note: The Bast coupon code: NOMAD85 will save $85 on checkout
Portability & specs
It’s not tiny, but not enormous. The main tent itself is the biggest bulk – weighs aprox. 20kg and is around 1.8m long. The Björk is too big to fit in a small car like a Fiat Punto, but a hatchback/SUV/wagon/truck can certainly transport it. The Näver will fit in pretty much any car.
I fit 12 stools (Ikea Nammaro) inside – in all it takes several trips to the car to bring it, but with a few helping hands it’s quite manageable. We found that with 3 of us it only takes 2 trips to the car to bring everything (tent, stove, chimney, stones, wood, accessories, seats). Alone it’d be a nightmare, but with friends totally managable.
The Näver model will of course be easier to bring around as it weighs a few kilos less and quite a bit shorter when folded down. Personally, I think the extra room inside the Björk is well worth the small portability penalty.
Näver
- 17kg
- Folded: 135 x 30 x 30 cm
- Deployed: 182 cm long sides, 81cm doorway
- Floor area = 2.39m2
Björk
- 20kg
- Folded: 180 x 40 x 40 cm
- Deployed: 225 cm long sides, 81cm doorway
- Floor area = 4.34m2
That’s about 81% more floor space, and the internal height will feel larger in the Björk as well.
The stove is also aprox. 20kg, and the stones another 20kg. Small accessories like the bucket and whatever benches you bring will of course add more weight to the mix so I would say it’s about 70kg in total. Certainly not nothing, but considering the fact you’re moving around an actual sauna, it’s pretty good.
You could get away with only bringing half the stones to cut down on weight as well, but please don’t use random rocks because water trapped inside random stones could expand and cause stones to violently explode – like a hand grenade! Example here!
Note: The Bast coupon code: NOMAD85 will save $85 on checkout
Build quality/materials
Saunas go under lots of wear and tear – extremely high temperatures paired with high humidity causes a lot of stress onto any system. Add into the factor minerals in the water, salt content in the air (I live by the beach) – it’s imperative that things are well built, and most importantly – not hazardous to health.
The tent is a durable 3-layer, 300D thick, cotton insulated, Oxford fabric with TPU windows – important that the windows are TPU and not a different plastic like PVC as melting/off-gassing from the high temperatures can be extremely toxic.
Likewise with the stove – now, a ~2-hr burn-off is required before first use to help rid any lingering manufacturing oils/contaminants, which was certainly needed since the smell was notable on that burn off.
The body is clearly of steel and a good balance between lightweight and hardy. I can’t say much for long term durability yet as I’ve only just received and used it, so I’ll have to update that. However, I did notice some warping of the heat shields quite quickly and the black coating on the stove and bolts quickly scratches off.
These are evidently only cosmetic disturbances, but I do wonder if rusting may occur from these scratches, or if the coating is simply visual. I’ll have to update in due time.
Overall the build quality and materials is a good balance between durability, longevity, and most importantly – safety.
Update after 9 months: Everything is still going strong – one oven door broke when I lent it to someone but they replaced it. I’ve probably folded & packed and unpacked everything around 30 times by now – no problem with the tent. The stove has some rust and warping on the top since I ditched the rock baskets bottom plate and the mass of the rocks + heat caused warping. Hasn’t impacted the function of it yet.
Note: The Bast coupon code: NOMAD85 will save $85 on checkout
Ease of use
Can a single person carry it and set it up?
And the answer is yes – mostly!
The stove and tent have their own carrying bags, and the rest of the accessories will need a bag of sorts.
For reference, I’m 190cm, 85kg, and athletic, so carrying all the gear in a few trips isn’t really so hard for me. Setting up the tent is certainly do-able for someone my size, though I have a feeling a smaller person may have a tough time setting it up alone.
Regardless, I was able to set it up within a few minutes of unpacking and then able to use it after approx. 20 minutes of heating before use.
My partner at ~55kg and 160cm was able to do the entire setup/teardown herself, only having trouble with popping open the first top part of the tent, but getting it after some tries.
It did require a bit of time to setup the stove as it comes partially assembled – that took about an hour of time. Now with the whole kit in front of me I can put it together in about 10 minutes all by myself. Pretty ideal!
Overall in terms of ease of use it’s quite simple for an individual person, though I’d definitely say it’s better off as a 2-person job to move and setup the gear.
To bring to the beach it’s around 120kg (20kg stove, 20kg stones, 20kg tent, 20kg seating, 20kg wood, 20kg water & accessories. It takes the 2 of us around 2-3 trips to the car. Manageable for sure, but a good workout!
Note: The Bast coupon code: NOMAD85 will save $85 on checkout
Overall
Pretty darned excellent! I get sweaty as a brined pickle and with good fire-building skills I can have it hot and ready within 30 minutes, 60 minutes for proper hot sauna temperatures.
The complete package works great – simple to setup and tear down, practical, and not too much a hassle to move around.
It’s not what anyone would consider cheap, ranging between 1,859-2,739 eur for the Näver models, and 2,119-3,149 eur for the Björk. That again – saunas are pretty expensive in the first place and in terms of sauna price, it’s far, far less than a conventional fixed sauna.
My philosophy has always been this: You get what you pay for.
And in this case I believe it’s true. You certainly can buy cheaper models from Amazon or scrape together a similar kit from budget manufacturers online and save some cash, but at best you’ll save a few hundred dollars, and at worst you’ll expose yourself (and others) to dangerous fumes and toxic offgassing.
To me it’s a no-brainer to opt for the larger model for 81% more internal space.
So for me it’s a good investment – some portable sauna tents in the market are cheaper, some are more expensive. I think the Bast saunas hit a good middle ground by providing you an excellent experience which is well-rounded.
I will have to see how long term reliability is as I use and abuse this unit for myself, friends, and clients. If it can stand up to the stuff I subject my gear to, then it’s a gold star from me. So far though, quite good!
Of course, check out my Bast Sauna video review for more thoughts and opinions there.
Thanks for reading, and any questions please drop them below! Peace 🙂
Note: The Bast coupon code: NOMAD85 will save $85 on checkout