Backpack safety

[TKrene]

I am starting my Camino on April 2 from Pamplona. I am leaving for Spain March 26 and spending a few days in Barcelona with some friends. A friend who is joining me for the last 100k was wondering about the safety of our backpacks in the albuergues. So my question is, Do pilgrims just leave their backpacks in he albuergues when they go touring around the city in the evenings or when they head to dinner and if so, are the backpacks safe? Do people take locks? My plan was to have a very compressible backpack for touring with my valuables around my neck (passports, $, etc). Is that what most people do? Any information would be helpful. I am starting to panic but know that no matter what the Camino will provide and all will be well.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Some albergues, but few have lockers you can close with a lock you bring from home. Think small luggage type locks.

Other than that just being your valuables with you in the shower and when you walk around town.

Avoid leaving your backpack at the front door of a closed albergue until it opens and you go off touring the sites.

 

[Lucy Longpath]

We did leave our backpacks in the dormitories in the Albergues when we went to dinner either in a different room in the same Albergue, or in a cafe/bar somewhere close by. I did take a small folding Onya backpack and put a few important things in it and kept my valuables on my body in a moneybelt at all times. I took the moneybelt and my phone to the shower and put in a small waterproof bag and hung up inside the shower or just outside but in view. Occasionally there were lockers or shelves to put the backpacks in but not usually lockable. I only locked my backpack into a locker about two or three times. The rest of the time I had to just not think about it as everyone else was doing the same.

 

[CdnDreamer]

I had a kind of love/hate relationship with my backpack. I felt that if someone took it, then I wouldn't have to carry it. I left it in front of closed albergues and went for lunch and explored the town, left it in front of restaurants while dining inside, left it inside the albergues while I went out for dinner. But no one took my dirty clothes, and sleeping bag that I had been sleeping in for a month. So I had to keep carrying it.. I did keep all the electronics, ID and money on me so there was nothing of value in the bag. Sounds like you already have a plan to keep your valuables safe. My advice is don't stress - anything can be replaced. Buen Camino!

 

[Deleted member 43985]

I wore a travel 'wallet' around my neck containing passport, credit card and some cash. It went everywhere (including the shower) with me and shared my sleeping bag too. My phone and small camera stayed in my backpack when I was showering but went with me when I'd go out for meals or exploring towns. I've read posts about occasions where believing in your fellow Pilgrim didn't turn out so well for some but so far I've not had any issues nor actually known anyone personally who has. Good luck and Buen Camino, Jordon.

 

[Stivandrer]

Bought a Pacsafe shoulder bag to store all my stuff that needed protecting. It ended round my neck, which wasn´t the intention, but from here I had a perfect watch of my valuables. Has wires in the strap so as to ward off the real heavy thugs from slashing and snatching it.....
For some reason I had been spooked by the information that the chips in my credits cards could be scanned if not RDIF protected.
Somehow I have traveled for almost 50 years and never been afraid of any thefts at all, but the random information floating on the net gets you spooked.
I might have been overreacting and less might have sufficed......
My fears were the international travel corridors as the main risk factor, not the Camino itself.
Somehow we are all travelers together in the same project and a little faith helps. Heard of no one who got robbed or pick pocketed.
On the very last day racing to the Ceathedral, I lost my Pacsafe not once , but twice due to dehydration and a stomach condition, and every time someone had the decency to take care of it...So a little trust goes a lost way:
maybe La Suerte del Viajero - Traveler´s Luck has got something to do with it

 

[MTtoCamino]

There is one place in particular that has a theft problem both inside & outside the alburgues. That is in Leon, as it seems more folks that are struggling. Just be aware, please be kind, it is simply a lesson in humanity. "Things" can be replaced.
Buen Camino
Keith

 

[Orford girl]

I am starting my Camino on April 2 from Pamplona. I am leaving for Spain March 26 and spending a few days in Barcelona with some friends. A friend who is joining me for the last 100k was wondering about the safety of our backpacks in the albuergues. So my question is, Do pilgrims just leave their backpacks in he albuergues when they go touring around the city in the evenings or when they head to dinner and if so, are the backpacks safe? Do people take locks? My plan was to have a very compressible backpack for touring with my valuables around my neck (passports, $, etc). Is that what most people do? Any information would be helpful. I am starting to panic but know that no matter what the Camino will provide and all will be well.

Hello and buen camino
My rule of thumb anywhere has been don't leave what you can not afford to loose. If pack is too heavy, bulky to take all the time, try scaling down!
Buen Camino
Orford girl

 

[HeidiL]

When we needed to leave the backpacks somewhere we didn't feel was terribly safe once, we fastened them together with the hip belts, also putting a strap around the leg of a nearby table, figuring that if someone tried to grab a pack and run, they would make a lot of noise and be quite noticable. Nothing happened, of course. But we felt calmer.

 

[november_moon]

Just take your valuables with you - the rest, well - realistically no one wants your dirty clothes.

 

[thomryng]

When we needed to leave the backpacks somewhere we didn't feel was terribly safe once, we fastened them together with the hip belts, also putting a strap around the leg of a nearby table, figuring that if someone tried to grab a pack and run, they would make a lot of noise and be quite noticable. Nothing happened, of course. But we felt calmer.

I brought some 8-inch nylon zip-ties for exactly this reason. You can get the kind you can unlock from most hardware stores.

Won't stop a determined thief, but it will slow down the casual one enough that they'll move on.

 

[BrienC]

Some albergues, but few have lockers you can close with a lock you bring from home. Think small luggage type locks.

Other than that just being your valuables with you in the shower and when you walk around town.

Avoid leaving your backpack at the front door of a closed albergue until it opens and you go off touring the sites.

Anemone says it quite succinctly: Bring a tiny lock-that weighs almost nothing-for those times when a locker is available. Keep anything of value with you at all times, and use common sense (as SYates says, "the least common of all") by not leaving your stuff laying about.

And, fear not. Buen Camino

 

[tpmchugh]

I am starting my Camino on April 2 from Pamplona. I am leaving for Spain March 26 and spending a few days in Barcelona with some friends. A friend who is joining me for the last 100k was wondering about the safety of our backpacks in the albuergues. So my question is, Do pilgrims just leave their backpacks in he albuergues when they go touring around the city in the evenings or when they head to dinner and if so, are the backpacks safe? Do people take locks? My plan was to have a very compressible backpack for touring with my valuables around my neck (passports, $, etc). Is that what most people do? Any information would be helpful. I am starting to panic but know that no matter what the Camino will provide and all will be well.

Never worried about my backpack. Left it in albergues, left it in the street out side bars/cafes, never had any trouble. Passport however I kept with my credencials and money in a travel wallet that fitted perfectly in my cargo pocket. My pal kept his in a canvas bag with a long shoulder strap just inside his pack then took it wit him when he left the pack down. So my advice, dont be separated from your passport. In the shower it was inside a sealable ziplock food bag. Other than that your pack and dirty socks and underwear will be fine

 

[Felipe]

I have never heard about stolen backpacks in albergues. The only risk I know is in buses, when you put them in the baggage compartment. So, I usually stay outside until the compartment is closed.
As said before, the real problem is your valuables (camera, passport, money) that always stay with me, even in the shower. Caring for them is an annoying source of stress -one of the things that I don't like in the Camino, but it can't be avoided, unless you travel with a friend or relative. After some days, it becomes a routine.

 

[Urban Trekker]

Bathrooms/showers--I walk the caminos with a friend so we use the buddy system. One watches the gear while the other in the shower/bathroom.

Valuables--I use a Z-Pack shoulder bag to hold my valuables. Its water prof and has 3 attachment buckles on each side. I attach the neck strap at the top buckles and put it around my neck. When I put my pack on I buckle the Z-Pack to the shoulder straps using the middle buckles, reversing the process when taking the pack off and leaving the shoulder strap still around my neck.

My pack--If I'm going into town I have a ultra lite day pack that I can put my coat, fleece, and rain gear in to take with me. I leave my camino pack at my accommodations. I do use a snap link to attach it to my bunk or another pack. Makes it harder to steal on a snatch and grab. Buen Camino

 

[domigee]

I have never heard about stolen backpacks in albergues. The only risk I know is in buses, when you put them in the baggage compartment. So, I usually stay outside until the compartment is closed.

I do the same
Otherwise I don't worry about it.

 

[SYates]

... Do pilgrims just leave their backpacks in he albuergues when they go touring around the city in the evenings or when they head to dinner and if so, are the backpacks safe? Do people take locks? My plan was to have a very compressible backpack for touring with my valuables around my neck (passports, $, etc). Is that what most people do? ...

I always take all my valuables with me, no matter if I go into town or just to the restroom. Looks and other security devices only indicate where the valuables are imo. Buen Camino, SY

 

[Missing Mike]

Bathrooms/showers--I walk the caminos with a friend so we use the buddy system. One watches the gear while the other in the shower/bathroom.

Valuables--I use a Z-Pack shoulder bag to hold my valuables. Its water prof and has 3 attachment buckles on each side. I attach the neck strap at the top buckles and put it around my neck. When I put my pack on I buckle the Z-Pack to the shoulder straps using the middle buckles, reversing the process when taking the pack off and leaving the shoulder strap still around my neck.

My pack--If I'm going into town I have a ultra lite day pack that I can put my coat, fleece, and rain gear in to take with me. I leave my camino pack at my accommodations. I do use a snap link to attach it to my bunk or another pack. Makes it harder to steal on a snatch and grab. Buen Camino

Where did you get your "Z Pack shoulder bag" and it's water proof as well. Do tell.....

 

[Urban Trekker]

Where did you get your "Z Pack shoulder bag" and it's water proof as well. Do tell.....

Ordered on line from Z Pack.

 

[nalod]

The only time anything disappeared from Backpack in 11,000 km of hiking was between check in at Madrid Airport and retrieval at Dublin Airport on my recent trip, it was my lovely knife that has cut many lunches for me. I had it in the top pouch.

Keep valuables to an absolute minimum, keep them with you, for me unfortunately that means bringing the large camera with me everywhere, I occasionally get strange looks in some cafe's when I go to the toilet with the camera.

 

[Missing Mike]

Ordered on line from Z Pack.

Thank you, I just order them plus the pillow and travel zip.