For 2024 Pilgrims: €50,- donation = 1 year with no ads on the forum + 90% off any 2024 Guide. More here. (Discount code sent to you by Private Message after your donation) |
---|
For those pilgrims starting in St Jean and don't have everything they need you can buy almost everything you'll need to walk the Camino in St Jean,
- Backpacks Wilsa, 50 liters, 800 grams, 49.90 EUR
- Sleeping bag Gelert, 600 grams, -5 °, 53 euros
- Sleeping bag Gelert, 800 grams, -9 °, 59 euros
- Silk sleeping bag Gelert, 100 grams, 42 euros
- Cotton sleeping bag Gelert, 300 grams, 17 euros
- Low Salomon trekking shoes gold Columbia, 79 euros
- Telescopic sticks (several Kinds at different prices) 14 euros, 18, 20, 24.50, 27.50 euros.
- Chesnut wood sticks 9 and 10 euros
- Regatta breathable waterproof windproof jacket 73 euros
- Sun hat Columbia 19.95 EUR
- ALTUS raincoat-poncho - 39 euro
- .... all kind of items as socks for walking , breathable shirts and pants and shorts, underwears Odlo accesories Gelert, bookguides, memories of the road, etc. ....
The shop 32 rue de Citadelle - near the Pilgrim's Office
http://www.directioncompostelle.com
Not sure what you mean by "headline topic", but apparently someone recently found this old thread and responded to it. That bumped it up into "new posts" territory.My question is...why are we receiving yesterday's news as a headline topic
The big problem with waiting to buy in Saint Jean is that you won't have very much time to test them before you have to depend on what you have just bought.I googled outdoor sports or camping shops in St Jean a while back and was surprised by how many there are. A far cry from when I was last there, they even have supermarkets now!
I reckon if you can't get it in St Jean you don't need it.
If the link took you to this thread, then you have the original thread - no copy and pasting. Over the years, new posts have been added to the end of the old thread. Every time someone adds a post it (like right now), it is "bumped," in effect, as it is awakened from the archives and comes to our attention. We need to remind ourselves to look at the dates on threads. Occasionally old threads are flagged for our attention at the bottom of the page as "OLDER threads on this topic".I assumed that it was created as a copy and paste exercise rather than a new post.
The big problem with waiting to buy in Saint Jean is that you won't have very much time to test them before you have to depend on what you have just bought.
Apart from possibly footwear, what is there to test? Do people that buy things at home especially for their pilgrimage really test it all first? I agree with @Barbara above, I just wore what I had, and will do so next time, even my footwear I'll just wear whatever I'm wearing at the time and replace them along the way if or when needed, and break them if by alternating with old footwear or walk less miles for a few days.
Or you could do what I did on my first Camino, which was to just use the clothes I already had, and get anything missing along the way.
Apart from possibly footwear, what is there to test?
Most of us actually do consider all of these options, along with other factorseven my footwear I'll just wear whatever I'm wearing at the time and replace them along the way
Wonderful shop. But realize prices are 9 years old and may be higher.
[/QUOT
The big problem with waiting to buy in Saint Jean is that you won't have very much time to test them before you have to depend on what you have just bought.check date of 2011For those pilgrims starting in St Jean and don't have everything they need you can buy almost everything you'll need to walk the Camino in St Jean,
- Backpacks Wilsa, 50 liters, 800 grams, 49.90 EUR
- Sleeping bag Gelert, 600 grams, -5 °, 53 euros
- Sleeping bag Gelert, 800 grams, -9 °, 59 euros
- Silk sleeping bag Gelert, 100 grams, 42 euros
- Cotton sleeping bag Gelert, 300 grams, 17 euros
- Low Salomon trekking shoes gold Columbia, 79 euros
- Telescopic sticks (several Kinds at different prices) 14 euros, 18, 20, 24.50, 27.50 euros.
- Chesnut wood sticks 9 and 10 euros
- Regatta breathable waterproof windproof jacket 73 euros
- Sun hat Columbia 19.95 EUR
- ALTUS raincoat-poncho - 39 euro
- .... all kind of items as socks for walking , breathable shirts and pants and shorts, underwears Odlo accesories Gelert, bookguides, memories of the road, etc. ....
The shop 32 rue de Citadelle - near the Pilgrim's Office
http://www.directioncompostelle.com
lockdown in France
stay in bunker awile
But how many, after having bought their gear really test it properly other than a short walk. Like you say it takes a bit of time before their faults are known. And if it doesn't work, do they then buy another then another until it does? Unless they have done a lot of walking before, and most haven't, it's often their first experience of long distance walking, most gear is really tested (and discarded) on the pilgrimage. And then they know what to bring next time.The backpack is just one example of why someone would want to purchase large gear and clothing choices ahead of time, and to give them a workout and practice runs.
But how many, after having bought their gear really test it properly other than a short walk. Like you say it takes a bit of time before their faults are known. And if it doesn't work, do they then buy another then another until it does? Unless they have done a lot of walking before, and most haven't, it's often their first experience of long distance walking, most gear is really tested (and discarded) on the pilgrimage. And then they know what to bring next time.
From what I can see (it's been a long time since I was there) there is more than enough shops in St Jean to kit out a pilgrim with decent gear. There's more choice there than in my local city.
As for backpacks, I've always found the simpler the better, normally cheap old ex army. Like you say the more it's used the better it becomes, so almost anything will do and become part of you eventually. How a bag is loaded is often more important than the bag itself. Although I stopped using a backpack years ago (unless for really heavy loads) as I prefer to carry it on one shoulder, easier to access and saves the back from sweating. In fact I often dispense with a bag and just make a roll of the gear stuffed inside a sleeping bag, tarp, or clothing.
Obviously for most it is probably better to buy before travelling but for me part of the adventure is finding the gear and clothing I need along the way, things that wouldn't be available at home or I wouldn't have thought of buying or even knew existed, It's amazing what you can find or adapt if you have to, whether from sports and camping shops, or ex army stores, flea markets, tourist shops and cheap Asian stores. Probably for a lot less, than kitting out beforehand, and sometimes better but if not then certainly more fun.
Yes, agreed. But I wasn't talking about last minute buy. I was suggesting buying rather less, and using things that you use every day. Though this probably wouldn't apply to a backpack, most of us already have clothes and shoes. So we know already which of these are comfortable. Just my two cents worth.In my thousands of miles backpacking, and in helping folks choose gear, I do not understand how it benefits anyone to purchase this type of primary gear at the last minute before heading out on Camino. That seems to me to be a strategy fraught with problems of wasting time and money.
Yes, agreed. But I wasn't talking about last minute buy. I was suggesting buying rather less, and using things that you use every day. Though this probably wouldn't apply to a backpack, most of us already have clothes and shoes. So we know already which of these are comfortable. Just my two cents worth.
I'm certainly not arguing or even suggesting that anyone should not buy or try out gear first. That would obviously be the best option, (but how many really do test their gear properly first. The amount of gear that seems to be left behind, suggests many don't).I do not understand your thesis here. You seem to argue against folks trying out and purchasing gear prior to Camino. .
(but how many really do test their gear properly first. The amount of gear that seems to be left behind, suggests many don't).
I'm just stating that as the title of the thread suggests you could buy everything you need in St Jean if you arrived without anything, as the variety of shops is enough to be able to kit yourself out with decent quality gear to walk.
I think if I was a beginner then I could become overloaded with too much information and possibly think that I had to have the latest often expensive technical gear to be able to walk to Santiago, when many would probably already have footwear, clothing, and even possibly waterproofs and rucksack that would be suitable and already tested and be better than buying new.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?