We’re three friends who have known each other for more than 30 years. We grew up together, and even though life eventually pulled us into different cities, we’ve always made time for one tradition: a fishing trip to Lac Seul in Northwestern Ontario.

For years, we camped in a remote spot nearly 15 kilometres from the nearest dock. We’d load up the boats, make the run in, and disappear for a week. The days were spent fishing. The evenings were spent cooking over the fire, blasting music, and staying up way too late under the stars.

The weather never cared about our plans. Even in August, we’d get stretches of cold rain, wind, and damp air that seemed to settle into everything. We’d come back from a day on the water cold, dirty, smelling like fish and smoke, wishing there was some way to reset - to find a deep heat that could warm us right to our core, rejuvenate us, and bring us back to life after a long day in the elements.

So we started experimenting.

Some of the ideas were better than others. We tried putting a propane stove inside a tent. We heated rocks and brought them into camping shelters. We burned holes in fabric. We smoked ourselves out more than once. Every year we’d come back with a slightly different setup, convinced we’d finally figured it out. Then one summer we stumbled onto something that changed everything.

We were looking at the hub-and-spoke frame design used in traditional fishing tents. It was simple, sturdy, and quick to set up. The idea stuck with us. Not long after, we cut a hole in the roof of one, installed a cheap wood-burning stove, and lit it up.

It worked. Kind of.

The tent filled with smoke. The fabric leaked heat. It was dangerously dark. It wasn’t particularly comfortable. But underneath all the flaws was something promising. For the first time, we could see a portable wood-fired sauna taking shape. We immediately started talking about how to make it better. Better materials. Better airflow. Better heat retention. Better portability.

What started as a rough camp project slowly became an obsession. We built prototypes, tested ideas, scrapped failures, and kept refining the experience we had been chasing for years.The goal was never complicated. We wanted to recreate that feeling of stepping out of the cold, warming up beside a wood stove, taking a swim in a northern lake, and sharing a quiet moment with friends.

Eventually, that project became Saunder.

What began as three friends trying to build a better sauna for a remote fishing camp became something we wanted to share with everyone who loves the outdoors as much as we do.