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17 Comments

  1. Love the Sauna, I spent a summer in British Columbia bush on a ranch. The only running water we had was a creek we pumped out of for irrigating the garden. Every afternoon we fired up the sauna next to the glacier fed creek and took a blazing hot sauna for about an hour. Then plunged into the ice cold creek. I have never felt healthier. I have an infrared heated sauna now, but still prefer the wood fired type. I doesn’t require much of a structure, pallets, or bent willow branches make a simple structure and can be covered with a tarp or blankets. Native Americans answer to the Sauna, The sweat lodge.

  2. In the late 1970’s and 1980’s while living in Alaska, I was responsible for design work on renovating and making additions to old BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) schools for native Alaskan villages. I would be flown in by bush plane and have to camp out for a week at a time to work on these designs with the elders, teachers, etc. It was a kind gesture that some of the village girls would bring me a fresh trout from the river ice holes. Taking a sweat bath or Sauna was a regular experience..very social and enjoyable after I overcame my reticence for getting naked with strangers of another culture (I guess that would have been me in reality). Typically a barrel stove set in a bed of river rocks. The men would go first , then the women..-30F, no problem. The villagers referred to me as “white meats”. Somewhat unnerving but humorous. I felt a lot of affection for my “clients”.

  3. Saunas are not for everyone. Having lived in the jungle for awhile I find he idea and practice of being over heated to be over rated. I feel like passing out after a few minutes in a sauna at extremely high heat and humidity and listening to my body telling me to get out of there. Lengthy exposure to very high heat can elevate ones body temperature and we freak out if our body temp goes up a couple of degrees above 98.6F Brain damage can begin around103-4F I think one should consult a doctor before exposing children to this type of high heat. Osha would have a cow if you were exposed to 180-230F without protective gear. Personally I will go with stocking up on a lot of soap. That being said I suggest that you try sauna bathing a number of times before you buy or expend a lot of energy building one.

  4. Try to use knot free cedar where your back or backside will touch. The denser the wood, the higher the heat capacity. Knots can get really hot compared to the clear wood. Also 10 – 15 minutes tops, then cool off before the second visit. Your body core takes a while to cool down. The hop into cool water is really invigorating. In winter we use Crocs or flip flops on our feet to keep from walking on the cold snow. When the pool is frozen we set out buckets of water with a dipper. My father in law was on a destroyer escorting convoys to Murmansk in WWll. While in Russia they tried the saunas. When he returned home he built is own. The first time I met my wife, she said “want to come home and try the sauna?” I was hooked.

  6. I have severe COPD. I go to my Pulmonary Dr. next week. I’m going to ask him if sauna would help me. I have difficulty breathing in humid conditions but would really be interested if this might help. Does anyone out there have experience with this helping with COPD?

  7. As I’ve grow older I have started speaking my mind more, but try to keep pure opinion quiet. For some reason I was bothered when the author jumped on the pronunciation of sauna as if it was the most important part of the article. An online dictionary with a pronunciation option will disagree with his finnish opinion.

    1. Take it up with the Finns not me. It’s not the most important part, it’s a funny fact to get people engaged in the article.

      And please spare me the “I have access to a search engine so your decade of research is invalid’ stuff.

    2. Yes, I don’t speak Finnish. Sawna works for me. If I ever move to Finland I will be sure to pronounce it correctly. I personally would never use a Sauna. I hate to be hot. The warm dry heat of a fire is all I want.

    3. Relax Daddy Bob. If the author wishes to instruct us on the proper pronunciation of “SOW-NUH”, I am happy to be educated. As a regular user of the sauna at my local gym, I much appreciate this information. [Some deleted, for politeness.]

  9. That was an outstanding article! It was clear to me that the author had done his/her homework.

    Living in the Northeast and having plenty of lake effect snow, a sauna might be a nice addition to my yard. Thanks for the inspiration:-)

  10. The timing of this article is rather good, as I have often thought of digging into what it would take to be an advertiser here. For the record, I’ve been a daily reader for over 10 years. I own a cedar company and have lots of “outs” that lumber yards won’t carry, due to space, money, time, lengths, etc. Many of these items are shorts ie. 2′-6′ and are absolutley perfect for sauna use (among other things). My own is made of this material. Because of the lengths, we are learning that the “Amazon” model of shipping is actually very reasonable. Ie. Don’t have to be a millionaire to afford good cedar, unlike the popular notion. Would love to hear if the readership would find a direct cedar source valuable?
    Thanks in advance.

  11. Please be careful about taking the advice about the sauna being a sterilizer. It may get hot enough to kill some or even many bacteria, but many will be resistant and the temperature may not be consistent enough to take that to the bank. And viruses will just laugh and enjoy it. It’s fine in a “belt and suspenders” approach, but is no substitute for good sterile procedures.

  12. I found out, quite accidentally, that taking sauna rids one of …hangover… Adak, AK; I drank too much on 4th of July. I felt like I had been run over by a tank. I went to the gym and took a sauna, drinking copious amounts of water whilst therein. I came out feeling right as rain; honest injun!

    …Just a little “sailor wisdom…”

    A little “retired sailor wisdom;” don’t get drunk in the first place! Your body will thank you down the line!

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