News - Scandinavian Outdoor Group

& D
the walkstool with its three telescopic legs is a patented
Swedish invention. and it has been tested more rigorously
than most of the products at the Outdoor fair.
the stool
that walks
iN tHe spriNg oF 2006, the Swedish National Testing
and Research Institute received a different kind of task.
Normally, the institute works for the furniture industry,
conducting tests on everything from beds to bookcases.
But now, a series of three-legged stools with telescopic
legs stood in their testing room.
Walkstools are a Swedish invention from the mid-
1990s. Entrepreneur Lars Andersson had seen them
at a trade show and became so enthusiastic that he
and the inventor, Mats Gustafsson, started a company
called Scandinavian Touch. Now, almost ten years later,
Andersson and Gustafsson had a disagreement. Gustafsson
believed that the stools would only hold about 150
kilograms of weight. Andersson was sure they could take
much more than that and wanted to test them according
to standardized methods.
But even Andersson was amazed at the results. The
55 centimeter high model supported a 400 kilo load, before
its legs began to falter. Another test showed that the
stools withstood a 140 kilo load repeated at least 12 500
22 ScaNdiNaviaN OutdOOr NewS
times – the test was discontinued before failure. In a third
test, the stools were subjected to extreme variations in
temperature and humidity. After 168 hours the stools
were judged as “no problems detected”.
“Since then we have strengthened both the upper
and lower legs,” says a satisfied Lars Andersson, the
company’s CEO and owner.
today tHere are siX WaLKstooL models. Four of
them are manufactured in Scandinavian Touch’s own
factory in Lidköping, Sweden, and two simpler models in
China. They are patented in all major industrial countries.
“It is actually the only three-legged stool in the world
with telescopic legs that has patents and trademark
protections,” says Andersson.
Walkstool differs from most members of the Scandinavian
Outdoor Group. The product is aimed at many
more than just those in the outdoor community. It’s difficult
to stop Lars Andersson when he begins listing out
the different target audiences. Electricians not wanting to