Sleeping Bag or Liner?

[Sacred Heart]

Hi Guys,
I am having a problem with my packing!! With the basics I am full and there is now no room for a sleeping bag. I have a liner a friend lent me but I am worried it might be too cold in the Albergues for just a liner? I am starting to walk part of the camino starting in Leon on the 2nd September.
I could strap the sleeping bag to the ruc sac but then that would affect the height as I am only taking cabin luggage.

 

[whariwharangi]

Start packing again ... sleeping bag goes in first. Its your only way to stay warm. If the pack isn't big enough get a larger one.

A sleeping bag liner's primary purpose is to help keep your sleeping bag clean. Its much easier to wash the liner than the bag.

The answer to your question is determined by if you can sleep with just a sheet when the heat in your house is kept low (5-10C).

 

[wayfarer]

You can always pick up a bag in Leon if you want. Most albergues have blankets as well.
Buen Camino.

 

[nidarosa]

I would take a bag, but there are as many opinions on that as there are pilgrims. It all depends whether you feel the cold and if you can sleep through it. Galicia in September can be cold - I am taking my lightweight down bag at the very least but would prefer to take my 1 kg synthetic snuggly bag. Actually, I am sitting in it now on my sofa, and the windows have been open all day - I suggest you do the same. Try sleeping in the bag or in just the liner. How much clothing have you got, how much would you need to wear to bed for just the liner? Can you comfortably sleep with the windows open and just a liner? If you decide to take the bag, one trick is to take it out of its storage bag, put it in the backpack first, then throw and squash everything else on top of it. You'd be surprised how much unrolled sleeping bag you can fit in a pack!

Good luck and Buen Camino!

 

[Ice]

I also vote sleeping bag. Sure, there were nights when I just laid on top of it because it was warm, but there were also plenty of nights when I had that thing zipped up for every ounce of warmth I could get. It was worth it for me to buy a new sleeping bag that was very lightweight and small - it fit easily in my pack. That said, I didn't realize until I pulled it out at my first alburgue that it was a mummy bag (that took some getting used to . So, if you get a new one, try it out first.

 

[Thomas Sheldon]

Look into the Marmot Nanowave 50, a very light sleeping bag that also opens as a comforter.

Weighs less than 2 lbs. and packs very small.

Around US$80 as online purchase.

 

[Sacred Heart]

Thanks so much for your tips guys. I am going to see my Australian who has back packed around the world to see if she can cram it all in. The sleeping bag coming next (a day before I go) is one that the straps really press it down.
Do the hostels have blankets just in case I can't fit it in?
Angie

 

[Mark Lee]

Two summertime Caminos and did not bring a sleeping bag on either one, nor found the need for one.
I say only a liner is needed, unless you find a really lightweight, small, packable sleeping bag.
A lot of the albergues have blankets as well.

 

[nidarosa]

I believe in most cases women sleep colder than men, that's why the comfort limit of sleeping bags have different ratings. I'd still try to sleep in the liner before you decide...

 

[mralisn]

Hello,

Maybe something to consider is what type of sleeper one might be. Some bodies are more cold or more warm during day/night.

For example, I am an extremely hot sleeper (that always sounds funny) so I rarely get under the covers at most places. Carrying a simple sleep sheet in the summer for over 15 years which 95% of the time gets used as "barrier" between me and the bed even if provided with sheet in hostel/refugio. This summer, only inside my sheet on two occasions and wound up out of it by morning. If I ever did need something more substantial, somehow I was provided. However, if one is a colder sleeper, then something more significant would be a good idea. Sometimes we forget our own body temperature and what would be ideal.

Only a couple more weeks before you go. May you have the best of all journeys.

Salud,
Simeon

 

[gidivet]

Hi Guys,
I am having a problem with my packing!! With the basics I am full and there is now no room for a sleeping bag. I have a liner a friend lent me but I am worried it might be too cold in the Albergues for just a liner? I am starting to walk part of the camino starting in Leon on the 2nd September.
I could strap the sleeping bag to the ruc sac but then that would affect the height as I am only taking cabin luggage.

Hi Sacred Heart. These 2 down bags are very small and light. I used the 900 version in April and it was often too warm so it was zipped open like a duvet. I appreciated the down insulation at Orrison when it was quite cold. I also have the silk liner. Both are treated for bedbugs which might help.

https://www.lifeventure.co.uk/product/sleepgear/downlight-sleeping-bags

 

[hnguyen]

Hi Guys,
I am having a problem with my packing!! With the basics I am full and there is now no room for a sleeping bag. I have a liner a friend lent me but I am worried it might be too cold in the Albergues for just a liner? I am starting to walk part of the camino starting in Leon on the 2nd September.
I could strap the sleeping bag to the ruc sac but then that would affect the height as I am only taking cabin luggage.

The answer depends on your tolerance level for sleeping temperature! For myself, I hiked the CF starting from SJPP last April/May and packed only a silk sleeping bag liner. Most albergues on the CF provide blankets (ask if you don't readily see one!) I was cold only one night - and I got up to put on my long pants and long t-shirt. My main reason for opting to take only the liner is weight minimization. My total pack weight was 11 pounds (not including water and food.) I'm hiking the camino Portugues this October/November and plan to take only the liner again, for the same reason: weight saving. For the CP I aim to keep the total pack weight (including the backpack) to under 10 pounds. This goal is reachable since I've just ordered an Osprey Hornet 32 backpack (1 lb 4 ozs) to replace my Gregory Z30 (2 lbs 15 ozs - I weighted this on my kitchen scale!) Instead of getting a larger pack (as some had suggested), perhaps you may want to rethink about every item you now take. I realize that I'm rather extreme when it comes to packing - and my minimalist approach may not work for you. I do know, however, that my feet, knees, shoulders, back and body shouted with joy every step of the way to SdC! Buen camino.

 

[Mark Lee]

Also if you can get your hands on a military surplus poncho liner, they are a great compromise. Very lightweight, but very warm. Basically it's a thin, kinda quilted nylon blanket, the size of a poncho. Very multi-purpose and useful. Can be slept under like a blanket, or just laid out as a top cover and even has laces on the edges so you can kind of turn it into a sleeping bag liner type configuration.

 

[xin loi]

Having spent many, many nights involuntarily trying to sleep on bare ground, I would never walk without both a sleeping bag and pad. Just go out some night and sleep on a concrete walk or on bare ground and see how much you feel like walking anywhere the next day. I slept on floors 3 times during May & June. And lot of people do go out in to the fields to sleep under the stars once a week or so. And NOT all albergues have blankets--Roncevalle does not but does sell sleeping bags for 64 euros.

 

[tictoc]

I took a bag in May and wished I hadn't, the bag was too hot most nights and a lot of the time I didn't bother taking my bag out and just used an alburgue blanket (only one alburgue didn't have them) and the nights that were a bit chilly I just slept in all my clothes as I couldn't face packing my bag up in the early morning darkness and waking everyone up who wanted a sleep in as I was out on the trail by 6.00 am very latest.

 

[Dutch]

I think its simple, if you don't mind using albergue blankets in combination with your sleepingbag liner, then just take the liner.

If you get goosebumps just thinking about the albergue blankets then your better of taking a sleeping bag.

Towards the end of your walk, half/end september, it will get colder earlier on in the day and at night and just a liner might not always be enough.

 

[annakappa]

You don't say what capacity is your bag pack? If it's 35 liters or more, there should be enough room in it to accommodate your sleeping bag. I think that if it doesn't fit in, maybe you might consider eliminating a few other items.

I think its simple, if you don't mind using albergue blankets in combination with your sleepingbag liner, then just take the liner.

If you get goosebumps just thinking about the albergue blankets then your better of taking a sleeping bag.

Towards the end of your walk, half/end september, it will get colder earlier on in the day and at night and just a liner might not always be enough.

Dutch sums up the situation very well! Anne

 

[Sacred Heart]

Hello,

Maybe something to consider is what type of sleeper one might be. Some bodies are more cold or more warm during day/night.

For example, I am an extremely hot sleeper (that always sounds funny) so I rarely get under the covers at most places. Carrying a simple sleep sheet in the summer for over 15 years which 95% of the time gets used as "barrier" between me and the bed even if provided with sheet in hostel/refugio. This summer, only inside my sheet on two occasions and wound up out of it by morning. If I ever did need something more substantial, somehow I was provided. However, if one is a colder sleeper, then something more significant would be a good idea. Sometimes we forget our own body temperature and what would be ideal.
Only a couple more weeks before you go. May you have the best of all journeys.

Salud,
Simeon

Thank you so much. I going to have to re pack and try and squeeze something in. The temperature is dropping fast over in England, it still seems to be holding it in Spain 21/22.

 

[CISSA69]

Thanks so much for your tips guys. I am going to see my Australian who has back packed around the world to see if she can cram it all in. The sleeping bag coming next (a day before I go) is one that the straps really press it down.
Do the hostels have blankets just in case I can't fit it in?
Angie

501, member: 3278"]You can always pick up a bag in Leon if you want. Most albergues have blankets as well.
Buen Camino.[/QUOTE]
Blankets usually only made available in cold months of the year ... meet somebody who walked the Camino as a round the world traveller may have a very different approach to a pilgrim

 

[Caminobd]

Having just completed camino Frances twice, once with just a liner, this time with a liner and down hiking quilt, and having experienced lots of rain and cold going through the mountains in Galicia, I would absolutely take something warm, a hiking quilt or a sleeping bag. The quilt is smaller and lighter than a bag and you really only need the top layer if you have a liner. Yes, many albergues have blankets, the odd one not. Having a run in with bed bugs the first camino made me squeamish the second time. I wanted my own blanket. Having said this, if you choose to take only a liner and chance the blankets, the Albergues I stayed in, all of them, were very clean, more so than my first Camino. A few gave out disposable sheets and pillow cases.

 

[JabbaPapa]

A sleeping bag liner's primary purpose is to help keep your sleeping bag clean. Its much easier to wash the liner than the bag.

In fact the primary purpose of the liner is to prevent your body heat leaking out into a cold floor or the ground, and thus to protect you from exposure.

 

[JabbaPapa]

And NOT all albergues have blankets--Roncevalle does not but does sell sleeping bags for 64 euros.

Their greed has obviously reached a new low point ...

Why is it that one never hears a good story about Roncesvalles ?

 

[Dutch]

Really? What was the previous greedy low point?

Cant say i read that many bad things about roncesvalles.....beside the fact that you cant buy breakfast there

 

[Wigglefish]

I've been debating this about October. I leave the 5th and can't decide if it's worth it bringing a sleeping bag or just the liner. Any thoughts? I'm leaning towards sleeping bag, post Dutch's comment.

 

[Sacred Heart]

You don't say what capacity is your bag pack? If it's 35 liters or more, there should be enough room in it to accommodate your sleeping bag. I think that if it doesn't fit in, maybe you might consider eliminating a few other items.



Dutch sums up the situation very well! Anne

I think it is 35 litres

 

[wayfarer]

501, member: 3278"]You can always pick up a bag in Leon if you want. Most albergues have blankets as well.
Buen Camino.

Blankets usually only made available in cold months of the year ... meet somebody who walked the Camino as a round the world traveller may have a very different approach to a pilgrim[/QUOTE]
I have walked in April, May and mid September and blankets were available in almost all albergues, if you don't see them just ask.

 

[annakappa]

I think it is 35 litres

OK, then with 35 litros. You Should most certainly have room for a sleeping bag. The Sleeping bag goes in first, then the rest. As you walk West and higher, the nights become fresher/ colder! At the beginning going out of Leon, you will probably wonder why you ever brought it with you, but......well, the temperature can drop and frankly, I would not like to use blankets that loads of Pilgrims have used before me! Anne

 

[Mark Lee]

Their greed has obviously reached a new low point ...

Why is it that one never hears a good story about Roncesvalles ?

Stayed in Roncesvalles for the night when I did my first Camino, but when I did my second one this past summer I made it a point to bypass it and stay in Burguete for the night. Very quaint and cool little town.

 

[Mark Lee]

OK, then with 35 litros. You Should most certainly have room for a sleeping bag. The Sleeping bag goes in first, then the rest. As you walk West and higher, the nights become fresher/ colder! At the beginning going out of Leon, you will probably wonder why you ever brought it with you, but......well, the temperature can drop and frankly, I would not like to use blankets that loads of Pilgrims have used before me! Anne

Used the blankets at the albergues frequently for both my Caminos. Never had any problems with them not being clean. Never had a bedbug either. No problemo......

 

[Dutch]

Hi Mark Lee, was there a reason for not staying in Roncesvalles second time around? You didn't like it? Just curious.

 

[Mark Lee]

Hi Mark Lee, was there a reason for not staying in Roncesvalles second time around? You didn't like it? Just curious.

Just found it to be too crowded and not much to see or do there. Burguete was just a few kilometers down the road, so I figured what the heck. Stayed in the little hostel/hotel that Hemingway had once stayed at. That was really cool.

 

[ebrandt]

We walked in April and had some pretty cold weather including snow. We took light weight three-season bags rated down to 35 degrees F. These were too warm. The next time we go (we plan to walk the Camino Primitivo in June 2015) I plan to take a liner that is rated to add about 15 degrees F of warmth to a bag. So that is a bit of a heavy liner that will also provide some warmth. I also plan to take one pair of long underwear bottoms. On the Frances, almost every albergue had blankets available in April. If we can't get blankets, I would just sleep in clothes. The problem with taking a bag that is too warm for a woman is modesty. A couple nights I slept directly on the sheet and just used my bag as a cover. But I really wanted at least one layer between me and the generic sheet! I slept in a cami and undies and did not feel comfortably just sleeping on top of my bag or with it folded down. I just wanted a little more cover!

So for me, its not really about weight. Its about comfort. I will try to not take something that is too warm again!

Liz

 

[Sacred Heart]

OK, then with 35 litros. You Should most certainly have room for a sleeping bag. The Sleeping bag goes in first, then the rest. As you walk West and higher, the nights become fresher/ colder! At the beginning going out of Leon, you will probably wonder why you ever brought it with you, but......well, the temperature can drop and frankly, I would not like to use blankets that loads of Pilgrims have used before me! Anne

Thanks Anne,
I am going to have to repack again. I don't see the sleeping bag the day before I go. Good tip about putting it at the bottom. Just as a matter of interest. Did you roll your clothes and is there any format I am missing on the packing it in?

 

[wayfarer]

I bought one of these recently from a company in Spain. Its very light, just 600 grams and packs up tiny. I don't know if you have time to order it though, but I think they use Fedex.
http://www.ferrovicmar.com/herramientas-electricas.asp?producto=saco-altus-superlight

 

[annakappa]

Thanks Anne,
I am going to have to repack again. I don't see the sleeping bag the day before I go. Good tip about putting it at the bottom. Just as a matter of interest. Did you roll your clothes and is there any format I am missing on the packing it in?

As far as clothes are concerned, I use two large zip lock bags. I fold/ roll the clothes small and squeeze out as much air of the bag as posible. Small items like socks are shoved in the gaps. Also a couple of small zip lock bags that hold the toiletries, medicaments, etc also get shoved into gaps. The rain jacket and/ or fleece are kept on top for easy availability. Now, I guess that someone will write that plastic makes a noise when packing in the morning! We are nearly always the last to leave the albergue ( around 8 am) so everyone is up, about and packing when I start to get my act together! Anne

 

[Tammi Murray]

Start packing again ... sleeping bag goes in first. Its your only way to stay warm. If the pack isn't big enough get a larger one.

A sleeping bag liner's primary purpose is to help keep your sleeping bag clean. Its much easier to wash the liner than the bag.

The answer to your question is determined by if you can sleep with just a sheet when the heat in your house is kept low (5-10C).

Depending on which sleeping bag liner one has purchsed, the primary purpose is not necessarily to keep your sleeping bag clean, some are for added insulation. Thus, unless you are planning to stay outside, I would question the need for both a sleeping bag and a sleeping bag liner. Also, whether you need a sleeping bag or a liner depends on the season that you will be walking in. For example, walking right now, I would probably opt for the liner only; whereas walking in the Spring or Fall, I would opt for the sleeping bag, and in the winter, because I run pretty cold, I would likely opt for both, even indoors.

 

[whariwharangi]

Depending on which sleeping bag liner one has purchsed, the primary purpose is not necessarily to keep your sleeping bag clean, some are for added insulation. Thus, unless you are planning to stay outside, I would question the need for both a sleeping bag and a sleeping bag liner. Also, whether you need a sleeping bag or a liner depends on the season that you will be walking in. For example, walking right now, I would probably opt for the liner only; whereas walking in the Spring or Fall, I would opt for the sleeping bag, and in the winter, because I run pretty cold, I would likely opt for both, even indoors.

The primary purpose of the sleeping bag liner is to keep your bag clean. A secondary purpose is to increase warmth and comfort. Most sleeping bag liners are made of light weight materials such as cotton or silk and have almost zero insulation value. Any added insulation value comes from creating air space between the bag and the liner.

 

[Sheesh]

On one hand I think the primary purpose of a liner is to add warmth but, on the other hand, I think the primary purpose of a liner is to keep the sleeping bag clean.

I think the secondary purpose of a liner is to elicit debate as to what the primary purpose is.

 

[whariwharangi]

On one hand I think the primary purpose of a liner is to add warmth but, on the other hand, I think the primary purpose of a liner is to keep the sleeping bag clean.

I think the secondary purpose of a liner is to elicit debate as to what the primary purpose is.

Its not a debate ... its ergonomic fact. You can think what you like but I would submit your opinion is not based on fact.

The problem with calling it a debate is that people are getting wrong information from this forum.

It may well be that I am taking it too seriously. I hike a lot and knowing about my gear and how to use it has meant the difference of survival on more than one occasion. I suppose that isn't so likely to happen on the camino but it still isn't helpful to give incorrect information.

 

[Patch]

Hi,
We walked from Leon and just used a silk liner bag- impregnated with DEET to deter any bed bugs. When it was cold we just used the Albergue blanket - they were. Always available, just had to ask. It weighed less then a 100 grams and never had a single bite on the trip.

 

[Tia Valeria]

I would say take the sleeping bag rather than just a liner. If it is hot you can unzip it, if you are cold you will probably not sleep properly. I had a bag plus longjohns and long sleeved vest for really cold nights.
Rolled up and with compression straps on a sleeping bag can go down quite small. Otherwise the idea of putting it at the bottom and squashing it with the rest sounds good. I always roll everything up, it seems to take less room and also to crease less.