Gear Check Time
Pack contents as of April 11
What you see is (almost) my entire pack contents for the Camino de Santiago.
Clothes:
Two pairs of hiking pants, three shirts (No sleeve, Shortsleeve, longsleeve), four pairs underwear, one travel bra, two sport bras, four pairs socks, one pair silk bottoms, two outer wear long sleeve shell tops with the thumbhole things, one jacket lightweight, one pair crocs.
Sleeping items include Cocoon Hyperlite Air-Core travel pillow, one eye mask, earplugs, LaFuma 600 sleeping bag.
Toiletries bag holds baby lotion, nail brush, pumice stone, olive oil soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, hair elastics, head band, and deodorant crystal.
First aid bag holds nail clipper, Arnica, plasters, blister packs, Aleve, Mint tea, and antacids.
Scrummy Cocoon pillow and eensy weensy backpack for day travel
Miscellany include mobile international cellphone, iPod Touch, charging gear to go with, ski hat, Adventurey hat, and cowl. Sea To Summit Kitchen Sink and eensy weensy day pack.
Food bits to start are trail mix, power bars, and tea bags.
Testing! I’ve been sleeping in the LaFuma 600 to get used to the ins and outs of using the sleeping bag. Plus, my claustrophobia tends to get in the way of restful sleep when I’m in a bag. Also, acclimating myself to quick unpacking and repacking should help me be a courteous albuergue user. I keep reading horror stories about pilgrims with no regard to others at the albuergues. Seeing as I am beginning my Camino at around the halfway mark, I want to start off on the right foot.
The Cocoon pillow is comfortable as long as you don’t blow it up too much. Just a little is enough or your head will slip off and the pillow will go skittering away. I find that when I put the pillow in the curve of the top of the sleeping bag (where you would normally cinch it to close around your head) and cinch it slightly it keeps the pillow in place and that makes my head stay in place. Plus it keeps any possible ‘critters’ out of my equipment.
The eye mask is pure genius. I didn’t think it would be useful but it is. I put that thing on and the world is black. Thom got me the mask as part of a Christmas present. I thought he was joking. It’s dead brilliant.
view from the left
view from the right
Right now I’m in a quandary over back packs. I have the Gregory Jade 60 which is too big and the Gregory Freia 30 which is just barely enough. I’m finding that just enough is frustrating.
With the Freia 30 I’m struggling getting all of my items in and out packed just perfectly. I really don’t think I want to spend most of my time in the Camino repacking every time I want to get something out of my pack.
Putting things in and out of your pack tends to attract unwanted passengers.
As a last minute decision, today I tested the Jade 60. It’s about a pound heavier. The pound was noticeable and the length of the pack was actually more comfortable, fitting on my hips much better than it did last year . Go figure – I’ve lost several inches. So, the weight resting more on the hips than the Freia 30 seems to even out the extra weight of the pack.
But is the added weight of the Jade 60 is worth the convenience of not being frustrated. As far as I can tell the extra weight doesn’t seem to be a problem. However, I only walked for an hour. Granted it was straight uphill, and pretty sweaty and hot today. I’m leaning heavily towards taking the Jade 60 and jettisoning a few non-essentials but “would be nice to have along”…
The knitting, however, stays.
Of COURSE the knitting stays, that goes without saying.
Mightn’t Thom squeeze some of your things into his pack? It would be a shame to have to litter the walk with jettisoned items like pioneers shedding pianos on the Oregon Trail.
I have walked the camino 5 times.
Here is some footcare advice. Discard the pumice stone and nail brush. You need those calluses! Take along some vaseline and sock liners. The “2 sock system” always works for me.
You can leave unwanted items at the albergues to “share” with other pilgrims.
Thanks! It’s been discarded. I’m down to 16.6 lbs with the heavier pack and some of my water bladder filled which is about what the Freia was weighing with some of my non essentials on the pack (six energy bars might have been a bit much). My weight is in the high 150s right now so that’s about my 10%. The Jade fits better on my hips and is overall bit more comfortable to carry than the Freia 30 which doesn’t sit on my hips as soundly. I understand being able to fluctuate the pack back and forth from hips to shoulders makes the longer days easier so I’m pretty set on the Jade and have cinched it down to the max, I’m going to check the boards for more advice on weights.
This is all, of course before I add in Thoms second pair of shoes, socks and flip flops along with his May Magnificat which he has requested I bring. If I didn’t go to the bigger backpack, I would not be able to bring those.
My recommendation would be to take the smaller pack. What isn´t heavy at one hour, or two, is a ton at six hours.
Also – bring flip flops for the shower. In fact, if you could grab mine that would be great. Using my crocs in the shower and then for around the albergue has not been optimal.
Oh, and while I´m thinking of it (and still without e-mail access), please grab another pair of my hiking socks, perhaps two.
I´m walking through mine.