Helsinki is the capital of Finland and VARUSTEKLEKA is the most important place for us there, as they organize in the idiosyncratic country that produced Simo Häyhä - known as the "White Death" - the most successful sniper in the world and the Leningrad Cowboys - "Those were the days" - incredible music.

An incredible country with an even more incredible language, which belongs to the Finno-Ugric group, to which the Finns and the Hungarians belong - but they do not (linguistically) understand each other. VARUSTEKLEKA is such a magic word for us: it surely comes from "varustaa" for "equip". We don't quite trust the automatic translation of VARUSTEKLEKA as "equipment hole" but who really wants to know for sure, if not a Finn themselves.

Before VARUSTEKLEKA, we saw this sign, happily noted that "Achtung" in German and Finnish are the same word and that it's about some kind of "parking": "Asiakaspaikoitus" sounds mighty cool and is supposed to last for two hours. Finland is a beautiful country.

At VARUSTEKLEKA, you immediately see what it's about. Equipment in new and also used militaria. Everything you could want. And you can also see that the forest people of the Finns worship modern gods. On the left, for example, Ziga from POLENAR TACTICAL, you'll have to tell us who's on the right.

Ziga, the doll, by the way, is wearing the new Multicam combat suit from VARUSTEKLEKA, which will be released soon, with which he, the worshiped one, is already running BRUTALITY... We are also well dressed by the way: We start in the fine fabric from NORARMS. But that's another story.

There are Christians in Finland: here at VARUSTEKLEKA they worship the Gun-Jesus. Ian MacCollum spreads his teachings on the weapons channel FORGOTTEN WEAPONS and is a founding member of Finnish BRUTALITY. Here dressed in Finnish M05 Camo. VARUSTEKLEKA produces quite a few of those.

Finnish can also be so onomatopoeic. "Klonkku" reminds us as a noise of hearty collision with hearty beer. Is our Finnish interpretation correct? No idea... Langenscheid online says: "Our team has been informed that the translation for 'klonkku' is missing and is checking the inclusion of the searched word in our online dictionaries." A small step for humanity, a big one for the Finns. (Gollum from "Lord of the Rings," as we later found out, is locally called like this can.)

They're not that young anymore at VARUSTEKLEKA. And you can also dress tactically modern there, like with jeans and a leather belt.

Some things remind us of home at VARUSTEKLEKA. Somewhat unbelievably, we found a native field shirt of the all-important Air Force of the Austrian Armed Forces there. Evil tongues claim it's the last shirt. Whether the term exists in Finnish, we unfortunately cannot tell you...

But we can confirm that they are a cozy bunch: beer, bonfires, sandbags, and targets they have. You need goals in life, that's why we have Finnish BRUTALITY. That was our honorary visit to VARUSTEKLEKA.

Finland is the land of lakes and forests. And a wonderful sport like the Finnish BRUTALITY. But that's another story, one we'll focus on after we've enjoyed the view from our cabin before the competition enough. We'll report on the BRUTALITY next time... For after that, you can already remember:

Finnish BRUTALITY After Game and Meet&Greet, AUG 28, 2024

Finnish BRUTALITY is over, what's next?

Come and compare your scars at the official Finnish BRUTALITY After Game and Meet&Greet Party on August 28th! The party starts at 5 PM and goes until 9 PM at the Varusteleka Store in Helsinki.

There you can mingle with other BRUTALITY players (who are also our VIP guests), discuss your battles, upgrade your equipment, and enjoy refreshing drinks! The store will be open throughout the event, and you can freely move around the shop with a drink in hand. Extra points for those who come in their BRUTALITY gear!

When and where?

• Wednesday AUG 28, 2024, 5-9 PM
• Varusteleka store, Hankasuontie 11 A, Helsinki

VARUSTEKLEKA online