Sleeping mat and too much weight!!!

[salazar]

Dear All,

I am starting the Camino Frances on 25 August. I have bought the light weight stuff and weighed all and packed my bag. But....I have too much weight. I got rid of the iPod, camera and nice notebook as well as some other nice things. But still too heavy.

My pack is also not the lightest at 2580 grams, but after trying many it was by far the best fit. I had my eye on a lightweight one that was 1300 grams, but it was not comfortable and after going to all the good outdoor stores the pack I bought was really the only one that felt good.

So I am at (about) 9700grams without food or water. So it is time to dump more things. I already dumped the sleeping bag and am only taking a silk liner and some warm 'long johns'. I figure I can wear those to sleep and if it is cold on some days. I also dumped the jacket. I had placed to take a jacket and a fleece. The jacket was 450 grams so i dumped it and I will use the fleece and if it rains when I go out a night I will being wearing a big poncho.

So....now to the question. I bought a light weight Therm-a-rest sleeping mat. It only weighs 460 grams and takes up almost no space in my pack. I read many books and they all seem sto say you need a sleeping mat in Holy Years as you may be sleeping on the floor. But I am starting to doubt this. And dumping another 460 grams will be good for my poor knees.

And how do you do the food and water thing. I drink LOTS of water. 4 liter on a 6 hr walk. Even if i fill up at every font, it will be an extra kilo or two. Plus food, you know snack bars, biltong, sandwich - all extra weight.

Is the recommended 10 kilos including food and water (i think it is...)

So thanks for your help and insight. I have been training but hit a big bump with a strained knee ligament. I over did it one day and I am paying the price. I am a little scared that I will not be able to start on the 25th. Usually I can train (walk, gym, cycle) 6 hrs a day everyday without problem, but I have added many kilos to my waist and am out of training for a year. So I think I have to go even more light on the pack.

thank you and kind regards!!!

[Covey]

Welcome to the Great Camino Weight Game!! I was in a store a couple of years ago trying to decide which shirt to buy and having narrowed my choice down to two shirts, had one in each hand trying to work out which was the lighter of the two. The shop assistant was giving me a very strange look!!!

There was a lady on this Forum a couple of years ago who said she was removing all labels from her clothes and un-necessary buttons to save weight. Some thought that was a little extreme, but when you think you have to carry the weight for 30-40 days, WEIGHT MATTERS!!!

Its a pity you could not find a comfortable pack a little lighter than the one you have, but again, it is going to be on your back every day for 30-40 days, and a badly fitting pack will cause you a lot of discomfort.

In part jest, I always suggest that you lay out all the kit you think you will need, and then pack half of it, and leave the rest behind. At Roncesvalles, there is usually a large pile of "unwanted" kit downstairs where the INTERNET PC's are. Having dragged all the kit up the hills from St Jean, many pilgrims abandon items they thought they might need, and carry on to Pamplona and all points West with what they really do need.

Personally, I have never carried a sleeping mat, and have no plans to start carrying one. At the end of August, the numbers walking the Camino Frances should begin to reduce because the schools and universities resume in the first week in September in Europe and the "summer holidays" pilgrims will have been aiming for Santiago by the last week in August. From Pamplona on-wards, there are a lot of albergues on the Camino Frances so there are enough sleeping places to avoid having to use a sleeping mat.

Water is only really a problem on the first day from St Jean to Roncesvalles. There is a water point at Orisson which is about 10kms from St Jean, and another spring/water trough just over the top of the hills on the edge of the forest. If it is a very hot day then you will need to carry extra water, but if cloudy, the two water points are OK. I find the best routine is to drink a litre of water before leaving the albergue in the morning, and then start out with 1.5L in/on your pack.
The Camino Frances track goes through a number of villages each day and there are usually a number of bars/places where you can refill your water. If you see a water fountain in a town/village, just make sure it is marked as Potable. Some villages have water troughs but they are untreated water for cattle and horses!!

Sorry to hear about the ligament! The most common reason pilgrims drop out of the Camino is because of knee injuries. Nothing gets better the more you walk on it, so if you feel a twinge, then stop and rest up for the rest of the day. Struggling on usually means "an early bath" and a trip to the airport.

10kgs INCLUDING food and water is the target, but most stop for coffee and lunch at a bar, so you really do not need much in the way of food as one tends to buy what you want to eat in a village shop, and eat it on the spot. Weight inside you seems easier than weight on your back!!

I aim to lose 10kgs in weight in the months before setting off, so my packs weight does not add too much to my burden.

[Sil]

Hi Salazaar - you must be a Sarf-Efrican if you are taking Biltong!!
Your pack weighs 4 times as much as my lightweight pack - 595g. You don't say if you are a big-strong-boy or a lightweigh person?
I suggest you leave the mat. If you have more than 2 of everything, leave the third item behind. I recently reviewed a camino book for the CSJ UK Bulletin. Here are a couple of excerpts - on backpacks:


As I was scanning the shelves [in Roncesvalles albergue], I realized that these were not items forgotten; heavy and now deemed unnecessary, they had been discarded after the first hard day. I had not previously considered this. The idea that one could just “get rid of stuff” suddenly became hugely appealing.

In Zubiri, I left a roll of toilet paper on purpose because it was too heavy. That may have also been where Malakai ditched the Spanish / English dictionary that would have come in quite handy. In Pamplona,when we arrived after the post office had closed, we left behind every little thing that we could. We even rationed the clothes pegs.

And so the road to Pamplona is one of tired and sore pilgrims, spending their footsteps with thoughts of what they no

longer wish to carry. Need takes on a very different meaning when you physically carry it on your back. There are moments when all I want and need is my water. The rest is too much, and I could easily leave it all behind.

It did dawn on me, while making this decision based on the heaviness of the packs, that I would be carrying one of them on my back for a month. As I write this, I have now carried my pack for three days and I hate it. It hurts me. I can’t lift my neck.

Hamba kahle!!

[Covey]

Not sure I would abandon the toilet paper!!!

I always carry a small roll in a plastic bag in my pack, "just in case" The bar keeper might have put a new roll in his loo, but 30 pilgrims later, there might be none left and one might have a problem!

Some men seem to carry an inordinate amount of toiletries to care for their body beautiful along the way. (I would not dare comment on what the ladies might carry!!) The Camino is all showers, so I carry a half used container of shower gel which does for in the shower and also for hand washing clothes and having a shave. A plastic disposable razor, a tooth brush and half a tube of toothpaste completes my washing ensemble!! Most places where you stop at night (except Roncesvalles) there is a shop nearby where you can buy the basics. Forget about electric shavers etc!! and any deodorant is fighting a losing battle in the average albergue!!!!!!!

The pharmacies along the way do sell soap etc, but it tends to be the expensive brands, so get your shower gel etc in a supermarket.

[Sil]

Gordon Bell - a Capetonian who lives in Casa Banderas (house of flags) at Velacha outside Portomarin, suggests that you shower with your clothes on - washing body and clothes at the same time!

[Covey]

One could, but I wonder if the shower queue would get even more restless if they thought one was using the precious tepid/warm/hot water to do one's laundry as well! It gets a little tetchy if anyone takes longer than 3 minutes in the shower anyway, let alone getting a good suds up to do the clothes.

Anyway, my 1000 Mile socks like my Almond Oil and Honey Shower Gel applied with a gentle squeezing action, and after 6 hours walking I would probably fall over in the shower if I tried doing it "in situ".

There is a shop in Azura where you can buy all sorts of meat, and they were selling Biltong last year to the great joy of a SA couple from Pretoria.