Should I bring a sleeping bag

[EveE]

Hi everyone, please can you advise if it would be best to bring a sleeping bag with me for my Camino? I’m not camping, but do all albergues provide/offer blankets? I’m just thinking about the weight of my backpack.

Thanks!

 

[J Willhaus]

Hi everyone, please can you advise if it would be best to bring a sleeping bag with me for my Camino? I’m not camping, but do all albergues provide/offer blankets? I’m just thinking about the weight of my backpack.

Thanks!

Albergues don't all have blankets and even fewer have sheets. Summer a sleeping bag liner might do, but the other seasons you will want a lightweight 3 seasons bag. If you are staying in private rooms you will get full bedding.

 

[Ianinam]

And ... in case an albergue has blankets, you never know when they were washed for the last time: yesterday? A week ago? A month ago? Last year?

 

[Former member 92300]

If you are staying in all private rooms - you may not need it. But if you are staying in albergues, not all provide bedding and/or blankets. Those that offer blankets - they are not frequently washed.

I always bring a silk liner and a lightweight - summer temperature rated down sleeping bag. The lightest that I can afford (some are quite expensive). Some come in quilt form - but are often more expensive (not always).

Whether you need both depends on how you sleep when it is cold. Are you a warm sleeper or cold sleeper? Even in summer - there can be some nights that are uncomfortably cold. It was unseasonably cold for almost my entire June/July 2021 Camino. The following year I needed it less often - but there were days I still needed it. You can also wear your warm layers to sleep but I usually still need a blanket or sleeping bag myself. When it is too warm - I just use the silk liner.

Nothing worse than being too cold to sleep when you are exhausted.

 

[Lindsay53]

Short answer, yes.

 

[Jodean]

It is still really cold at night & mornings. It is nice to have your own personal sleeping bag to snuggle into. Toss one of the albergue blankets on top if needed. Most are scratchy, fuzzy things that I would not want to snuggle into at all.

 

[C clearly]

You can read the full range of answers here, with a poll giving the breakdown of opinions.

 

[Vince Rollason]

Hi everyone, please can you advise if it would be best to bring a sleeping bag with me for my Camino? I’m not camping, but do all albergues provide/offer blankets? I’m just thinking about the weight of my backpack.

Thanks!

Hi Eve
I have walked 5 times in April, May. June, July, September and October. I have only ever taken a sleeping bag line. The alberques have always provided blankets on the very few occasions I have needed them.
Buen Camino
Vince,

 

[Sandcruiser]

I'm 9 days in.
I brought a 500g (1 lb) down bag.
I have used it once or twice and could have used an albergue blanket instead. I also could have used my jacket as a mediocre blanket.

I tend to sleep cool but the albergues have all been ~70° at night, so far.

I do have a silk liner, highly recommended.

 

[EveE]

I'm 9 days in.
I brought a 500g (1 lb) down bag.
I have used it once or twice and could have used an albergue blanket instead. I also could have used my jacket as a mediocre blanket.

I tend to sleep cool but the albergues have all been ~70° at night, so far.

I do have a silk liner, highly recommended.

Fab, thank you!

 

[J Willhaus]

Not all albergues have blankets. They are seldom washed and can harbor bedbugs.

 

[Tigger]

I have a down sleeping bag and liner in a 8l stuff sack that compresses to half size, total weight 34.8 oz. (warm down to 32F, 0C) It's all treated with permethrin before I go to insure any bedbugs die so no risk of brings them home. REI has camping gear on sale every spring. The entire investment was under $200. This seems to be a nobrainer. The OR is spot on! Surely it is not too much asking folks to carry something seasonally appropriate.

I'm rather surprised any of the albergues have blankets. It sounds like a lot of work taken for granted until there is a shortage at which time it becomes an issue for those unprepared as well as a headache and concern for the kind volunteers.

 

[Kirkie]

The first response was from a hospitalera in donativo albergues. She/they ( a married couple) know what they are talking about. Buen camino. I see you were about to begin on 4th June. And? Many members read all sorts of posts eagerly, specially if their circumstances do not allow them to actually set out on camino. How was it/is it?