SAUNAAB

An anonymous reader writes "This groups combined some people from CERN, an old SAAB 900 Classic 5-door and a common desire to have a sauna."

Comments

We'll Only If you could drive it.

[fozzy(pro)]

Well that great Saunas are coll and all, but it would be much more impressive if it was tricked out with some ground effects, a large spoiler, and of course wifi. Not to mention if it had an engine in it so you coul saun in fornt of the Arc De Triumph, the Whitehouse, Stone Henge

"I'f a brick didn't know hoow to sit on a wall no more; What would you aks it?" -ODB

Re:We'll Only If you could drive it.

[Anonymous Coward]

There are even smaller ones, and you can drive those:
http://www.halavatunpapat.com/english.php
(take a look at the second picture, it's a bad photo, but anyways) It's a sauna on a moped.

"The jolly club [Halavatun Papat] soon caught the attention of the media, with stunts like setting the unofficial world record - 29,5 hours - for bathing in a moped sauna. Welding a small cart into the shortened chassis of a moped created the basis of the moped sauna with a one-person sauna built on the cart."

Hmmm....

[Gary Franczyk]

This is what you get when you have a high-unemployment rate in the tech business...

3 or 4 years ago, this would have had several million dollars of venture capital behind it!

Heh

[nizcolas]

This looks like something you would see at the state fair. At least in Oklahoma anyway ;D

Re:Heh

[Zork the Almighty]

This looks like something you would see at the state fair. At least in Oklahoma anyway ;D

Yeah, where you'd have all these people standing around asking "What the fuck is a SAAB ??"

Scandinavian people ... ?

[kruetz]

From the article:

On this page you will find a little story about some (crazy?) nordic people, an old SAAB 900 Classic 5-door and a common desire to have a sauna. This is not the first sauna in a SAAB, I know of at least one SAAB 96 made into a sauna in Finland. However, this is probably the only sauna built into a Classic 900...

This combines almost everything the stereotypical Scandinavian is known for ... SAAB, sauna ... they're missing a Volvo, but who wants a square, boxy sauna?

Not to mention the "bouncing Swedish funbags" (whatever they are!)

Seriously, though, in an icy-cold climate this takes car-heating to the MAX - kinda like case-modding with l33t h4x0rs. What next from the crazy Nordic fold? I'm almost scared to find out (but I think it'll involve rally-driving saunas)

When the SAYNAAB is a'rockin . . .

[dannyweb]

. . . Don't Come a'knockin!

Re:When the SAYNAAB is a'rockin . . .

[NiceGeek]

Hmmm..car full of sweaty geeks...don't worry I won't come a knockin' :)

Karma whoring...

[TheAngryArmadillo]

Get yer mirror here.

Re:Karma whoring...

[BobbyK]

As www came from cern I'm pretty sure they can take a slashdotting :)

Re:Karma whoring...

[Kynde]

Get yer mirror here [nowhere.nu].

That really _is_ Karma whoring. I'm inclined to think that the CERN web server could handle that part of the /. crowd that might be interested in saabs and/or sauna, e.g. none of the USians. :)

Re:This brings a few questions to mind...

[caferace]

What the heck is Lapin Kulta?

It may not be free, but, Lapin Kulta is beer

Dude. Google is pretty cool.

just what I always wanted

[Sophrosyne]

Ive always wanted to be able to sit around naked with a bunch of my best male friends and cook big sauasages.. If only I could drive around in my Sauna-mobile too.. wow I'd be the coolest kid in the universe *sarcasam*

Re:just what I always wanted

[mni12]

You clearly have never been in Finland (or Sweden). This is what we do for fun.

C'mon...it is dark and miserably 6 months a year. What would be better than go to sauna and take some beer.

Re:just what I always wanted

[joe52]

What would be better than go to sauna and take some beer.

Going to the sauna with a woman?

wait, wait, its NOT the first!?!?!?

[CableModemSniper]

To quote:

This is not the first sauna in a SAAB, I know of at least one SAAB 96 made into a sauna in Finland.

Re:wait, wait, its NOT the first!?!?!?

[mni12]

This is definitely not the first mobile sauna.
I used one some 20 years ago while I was a student in the Helsinki University of Technology.

There are lot of these in Finland.

I'd rather have a jacuzi in my car

[Tuxinatorium]

Who wants a sauna, honestly? You might as well just get a car without air conditioning.

Re:I'd rather have a jacuzi in my car

[4ntifa]

Weather today...

Southern Finland: -6 to -2 Centigrades, sunny (as soon as the sun comes up... only to disappear in a couple of hours... now, at 8AM, it's still pitch black out there)
Northern Finland: -23 to -7 Centigrades, half-cloudy (and there's no such thing as the sun, people expect to catch a glimpse of it somewhere around March).
(source: Finnish Meteorology Institute / http://www.fmi.fi)

I consider the weather nice and warm. Just last week it was frequently below -20 Centigrades, here in _southern_ Finland. No wonder Hell of the Nordic tales ("Ragnaroek") does freeze over! (not that the Norse mythology was a Finnish thing, we've cooked our own mythos, "Kalevala", which is highly recommendable reading to every Tolkien fan)

heh..

[Suppafly]

I did the same thing with a dodge aries, except it was a lot cheaper as all i had to do was drive it around during the summer.

Re:heh..

[Entropy248]

Yours probably had such niceties as a functional combustion engine, a steering wheel and brakes. Apparently, this one only has a parking brake.

Yes. It really IS a sauna... Note the Valmet sauna thermometer and the working handbrake on the left side of the stove.
I hope they at least remembered to turn the wheels in towards the curb if they're parked on a hill! It would definately ruin the party if the sauna started rolling down the block (pretty hard to explain too!).

Re:heh..

[Zork the Almighty]

Actually it would be easy to explain. The explaination would go something like : "You see, we're a bunch of dumb-asses..."

Re:This brings a few questions to mind...

[mni12]

Lapin Kulta

Pretty darn good beer from Finland.

They Should put this on

[Gorilla_Man]

MONSTER GARAGE!!

Re:This brings a few questions to mind...

[SamTheButcher]

My response to #3, 'cause it's a sweet hack! There have been stories about building a skyline of Manhattan outside of a kitchen, a Saab sauna is easily just as sweet.

Maybe not as visually pleasing or computer-related, but when you add the grill (and beer, natch), it's pretty great.

Another one

[jonman_d]

http://www.eskimo.com/~juha/mobile.html - These things seem to be pretty common, actually...ok, maybe not. But more common than one would most likely expect.

Under the Hot Rocks is their Webserver

[cyber_rigger]

This Sauna Heated by the Slashdot Effect

It is obviously...

[deglr6328]

..only a matter of time until an ANTI-SAUNABB is built in order to be smashed into the SAUNABB.

wierd but nice

[presearch]

It's wierd and all but the woodwork is very nice.
I especially like the roof. For most of us writing
software all day, it's nice to see things crafted
out of steel and wood. Something real, not made
from bits that are on the road to being obsolete
and forgotten as soon as it's built.

I don't think I'd have carpentry skills but I'm considering
getting out of programming and doing something with
atoms. Glassblowing seems like it would be fun and
rewarding. Certainly more fun than declaring my two
millionth variable....

Nice work guys.

Re:wierd but nice

[ediron2]

I especially like the roof. For most of us writing software all day, it's nice to see things crafted out of steel and wood. Something real, not made from bits that are on the road to being obsolete and forgotten as soon as it's built. I don't think I'd have carpentry skills but I'm considering getting out of programming and doing something with atoms. Glassblowing seems like it would be fun and rewarding. Certainly more fun than declaring my two millionth variable...

Jesus. Yes, get out of this business. You have no business being here.

Get a grip, man.

I think you'd be surprised how many computer professionals feel an air of intangibility about what we write or maintain, and I've written five times more worthless on-demand code than stuff I treasure.

The lead developer in my last job had a PhD in applied math, was leading the charge in a full J2EE implementation so we WOULD have a stronger likelihood of writing useful reusable code elegantly... and his true love was woodworking.

His words: "it's nice to make something that is tangible and that will still be around and usable twenty or a hundred years from now".

Me, if I could do it all over again, I swore midway through grad school, I'd be a chef. I'm a positively brilliant cook, there's pretty good pay, less schooling, great relocatability to let me live/move anywhere I want, and it has a great immediate feedback system: In all my years, nobody's ever walked up to me and said "Ya know, that is one incredible integral equation you've worked out there."

But that's just one physics/computer geek talking...

Re:wierd but nice

[presearch]

Jesus. Yes, get out of this business. You have no business being here.
Why? Because I don't have a positive attitude towards
software development and I might put something out that isn't
up to the standards of the programming guild? Woah. Heaven
forbid that there's some software out there that isn't like it's from
God's own hand. Hey, M$ has turned sub-standard coding
into an art.

Being here... And where exactly is that? In the Linux Open Source
community? A bunch of programmers working for free trying to play
catch-up with a homemade version of a 30 year old OS? In the IT
industry, where it's turning into a 21st century combination of ditch digging,
janitorial services and baby sitting?

Sure, there's occasions where the work rises to the level of Art. But for the
most part, we're as boring as accountants and insurance salesmen,
in more comfortable clothes. Hey, I've been doing this for a long time. I wrote
my first hello.c in 1978. I've tried to keep things at the highest level, writing
code like poetry, embracing the Zen. Guess what? For the most part, almost
nobody cares. They gripe about the length of time it took to do things "right"
(and don't want to pay for it), wouldn't know quality if it bit 'em on the nose
(witness the huge growth of M$, Wal-Mart and H1-B seat fillers), or the
beauty is buried beneath the surface - what an elegant hashing routine
you've written!

So yes, maybe it's time to get out. But not because "here" doesn't
think I'm up to standards and not contributing to the wide, wonderful world
of computers. I just look back at the things I've written and 98% of it is gone,
delete, obsolete, served it's purpose, and terribly outdated.

In the world of Glass, Metal, Wood, and Stone, there's a chance of
something having some lasting value, at least from an aesthetic point of view.
I know that if I took up wood carving tomorrow that the world wouldn't be
beating a path to my door. The majority would be griping about the time
it took, wouldn't want to pay for it, or wouldn't appreciate the beauty beneath.
But at least it would have a bit more staying power. Even just a little. The
shelf life of most programming work is next to nothing.

Yes, it's made money, I've been able to build a life, raise great kids and for
that I'm grateful. Maybe that's legacy enough. It's just feeling a bit empty.

Steam shuttle

[zerocircle]

we should have a sauna in the space shuttle

Space sauna? Think: a big, hot, wobbly sphere of water. No, wait, that's a space hot tub -- a space sauna would be a zero-g steam cloud. Oh, man, those cockpit windows are gonna fog like a bitch.

Re:This brings a few questions to mind...

[4ntifa]

Lapin Kulta is something I, as a Finn, am quite embarassed of.

It's a nearly tasteless lager which teenagers prefer because it doesn't taste like real beer. Lapin Kulta (translates to "Lappland's Gold") is the most popular Finnish beer. I think that's proof enough that most people's taste (not to mention intelligence) never really matures past teenage.

Personally, I'd recommend Olvi CXX. Much better. Even Karhu ("Bear") will do.

Anyway... any beer, any place and in any circumstances... IS GOOD!!! (especially after sauna)

Culture Shock

[istartedi]

In Sweden they sit around in artificial steamy heat indoors then plunge into the Winter cold. In Washington DC we walk around in steamy Summer heat and then plunge into artificial cold.

Actually, there is no reason for most Americans (in the South anyway) to have a complex about not being as tech savvy as Swedes because we already have the artificial cold built into the car, and we can drive them.

If the AC isn't cold enough to give small children headaches and fog up your glasses, it's not cold enough, d#$@% it.

Actually, I'm poking good-natured fun at both cultures here. Frankly, the Summer ice-box mentality here in the US is something that I've come to dislike. Not only does it waste a lot of energy, but I've heard some theories that kidney disease has increased because we don't sweat as much as we used to--all the stuff that used to get sweated out gets taken care of by the kidneys and puts more stress on them. I haven't seen any studies to back that up though.

The hot to cold transition that Swedes practice is something I don't think I could tolerate. I've tried turning the shower nozzle to cold, and I could just feel myself starting to go into shock. I guess if I had been doing it from the time I was a little boy that wouldn't happen.

Do most Swedes dunk in ice-cold water after a sauna, or are there some people who can't tolerate it? I think if I went there, I could handle the nudity part, but then I'd have to pass on the cold water which might actually be more embarrassing if everybody else is doing it.

Re:Culture Shock

[mni12]

Not all people jump into ice-cold water after sauna. But there is a small minority who practise that every day. They claim that it is good for your health and in general they tend to avoid flu and cold better compared to folks who don't do it.
There is some information about "avantounti" in here. "Avantouinti" is the Finnish word for swimming in ice-cold water (through a hole in the ice).

Re:Culture Shock

[Anonymous Coward]

As a finn I must comment before 99% of Slashdot readers think that Sauna is from Sweden and swedish are the "sauna people" of scandinavia.

Sauna is originally from Finland and the sauna density in Finland is the highest in the whole universe. (not sure but maybe 1 sauna for every 3 habitants?)

Also in most saunas outside of Finland (in which I've been) the temperature is too low (under 80 degrees C) with some pleasant exceptions of course. In some saunas abroad it's not even allowed to throw water on the stow (thats löyly).

The Sauna culture is really a bit more than just "lets heat up this room and get swetty".

you can read more from http://www.sauna.fi/pages/traditi.htm

Re:Culture Shock

[tuoppi]

Actually, swedes don't know much about Sauna. I've seen horrible examples of this when visiting sweden. Some "saunas" in there are only mildly warm, like +40C only - and people just sit there and read newspapers.
Some swe-saunas have air exchange ventilation into room next door, which whill definately cause problems with moisture if the sauna is used properly.
Generally it seems, that in those houses that have sauna in sweden, they use it for drying clothes. Drainage has seldom taken care of.

In Finland, we have long traditions of using sauna as a place to sweat the dirt and stress out and wash up.
The idea is not to punish and abuse ones body, just to sweat, relax and get clean.

THE SAUNA-HOWTO:

1. Heat up the sauna up to +70C..+100C (up to you)
2. Undress, wash up
3. Climb up to the seats on the sauna (feet above the level of stones in stove)
4. Toss some clean, warm water onto stones. Control the amount of steam up to your liking by tossing more or less water into stove. Keep the moisture up!
5. Sweat for a while, if you feel too hot, step down from the seats and wash the sweat off. Chill down for a while. (Don't go into cold water or snow straight away. Might be bad if you have a heart condition hiding.)
6. When you feel like it, repeat steps 3-5.
7. When you feel that you are ready, wash up well.
8. Dry yourself, take some time relaxing and cooling down before dressing up.

Remember to drink alot of water to replace the water you lost by sweating!

And for you who live in hot climate: after sauna, that heat outside doesn't feel that hot anymore.

Re:Culture Shock

[mijok]

More about that: "Sauna" is the only Finnish word that has become a common loan word in other languages. The Swedish word for it, "bastu", makes more sense though since it's derived from "bad-stuga" (in ancient Nordic-speak), which translates roughly to "bath cabin". And about saunas in cars: I know two more of these in Finland and they can be driven - a nice way to travel ;)

Re:Culture Shock

[ayjay29]

I live in Sweden, and a Swede was trying to explain the Sauna tradition, he asked:

"What's the English word for the hole in the ice that you jump through after you have been in the Sauna?"

Re:Culture Shock

[Idarubicin]

Not all people jump into ice-cold water after sauna. But there is a small minority who practise that every day. They claim that it is good for your health and in general they tend to avoid flu and cold better compared to folks who don't do it.

They tend to better resist colds and the flue because all the weak ones were killed by this treatment a long time ago.

related link

[carpe_noctem]

http://www.molestedcars.com. Jah.

A car with

[phorm]

a) A lot of steam...
b) An engine hot enough to cook food

I could thing of a couple of other cars that almost come equipped like this anyways... perhaps a kia?

In all seriousness though, what can you do with a trashed out rusty car... other than sticking it in a junkyard to be made into a trash-compacted cube? A sauna sounds like a pretty cool idea... makes me wonder what other things one could do with a car. Perhaps if they had a convertible... a hot-tub?
For some old vehicles which have suffered accidents... you have a body which is slightly mangled (maybe not drivable) but not too bad, and a working engine. The engine can be a power source... a heat source... whatever.
When not moving, many cars can run for hours while using very little gas... many around here become portable entertainment centers (big stereos) for bush parties, etc.
Sooooo... how many people can think of alternate uses for these cars. If it's not too crazy, be inventive, and we've got a lot of ingenious people out there. I've got an old '88 Toyota that still runs quite well, although the body is shite. I might consider donating it if it doesn't sell and somebody can think of something cool for it?

Re:A car with

[hhknighter]

I always thought Kias were come-in-a-box-and-build-it-yourself. I do know a few DAEWHOAs and modded imports that do that (some only have stickers, but by default, these stickers offer hotter, faster, speedier and ricier performance).

I aint ingenious, but maybe you could change it to:
a) Home Entertainment Center (DVDs and the works), fun and great for dates (includes backseats)
b) a speed boat, I saw someone do that before
c) Fireplace
d) huge, rolling, disco ball

I did this with a 2001 Hyundai Elantra.

[bahwi]

I left some sprite in the car, and I LIVE IN TEXAS.

There you go!

[MagLub]

Well, I'm one of the proud builders. We, who built the SAUNAAB live far, far, far away from the nordic countries. At least almost 2000km (more than 1000 miles) away at least. So, since we miss our saunas soooo much, we just had to build one. The reason for it to end up in a SAAB is that one of the guys own more than 20 SAAB's already and one was up for the scrap yard (as Nordics we usually take care of this, not leaving it for coming generations in the back yard. ;=) ). We kind of thought of it as a cool idea. All work was done late evenings and week ends. No unemployment here... We have to take care of those anti matter particles daytime, you know. Well, the SAUNA experience in the SAAB is very good. The steam hits you harder in the small volume the SAAB offers than in bigger saunas. Anyone nearby Geneva is welcome to have a look. ;=) //magnus

Sauna games

[Jayman2]

It reminds me of the sauna-game "Jokka". You take 6 people and a case of vodka, pour the vodka on the sauna - and wait a while. Afterwards someone leaves the sauna and the rest has to guess who!

This game can be played by two players as well, but it requires more vokda!

Finland Finland Finland.....

[bobdotorg]

Ahhhhh.... Makes me yearn for the days when I was a professor in Finland.

I had a sauna in my apartment, and my students taught me an old Finnish custom - turn the sauna up to about 105 (that's C), and stay in until you can't stand it any more. Then run outside and flop in the snow until you can't stand it any more. Then return to the sauna. Repeat as necessary.

SAUNAAB -Comment by one of the creators.

[Anonymous Coward]

Hello everyone,

I am glad to see that most of you like what I and my friends built! It is actually a quite good SAUNA. We wanted a SAUNA and I had an "extra SAAB" available. Add some imagination and there you go... :-)

Have a nice day all!

Cheers,
Magnus
-One of the constructors of the SAUNAAB.

Interesting

[Sycraft-fu]

I now think I have a better understand of why Linux came to be. :)

Re:wtf

[Gordonjcp]

Why when I read this article do pictures of country loving, huge rusty truck obsessed, confederate flag hics come into mind?


Because that's what the fun bits of *any* country are like.

If there are no flames, explosives, lasers, guns, loud music, dangerous agricultural machinery, alcohol or barbecued food involved, you're probably not really having fun. Come to the north-west of Scotland, and we'll show you.

The Finns are mad

[Ripplet]

This just confirms that Finnish people are mad. But especially about saunas. I worked in Finland for nearly a year. When I was looking round for a flat to rent, only about half of them had baths, but they all had saunas. One flat even had two saunas.
But then, the offical figures are 1,500,000 saunas in a country of 4,500,000 people, so that's at least one per household.
Where I worked, the main meeting room had a sauna next to it.
You can even get saunas with full video conferencing or internet facilities now, for the executive who always needs to stay in touch (http://www.mediatampere.fi/sauna/).

Does that come with a 5 yr/50,000 gallon warranty?

[eforhan]

... or would that only come in litres?

Google Cache

[skwog]

is here [google.com]

Re:Huh?

[Alan Partridge]

some crazy Swede or Finn nerd scientist modding an old Saab into a sauna is EXACTLY the kind of story that Slashdot should be doing. Rather this story that made me smile than yet another tedious DMCA squabble between idiot teen "hackers" and the occasional rational adult.