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Help me choose?

nidarosa

Veteran Member
Time of past OR future Camino
Enjoying the camino since 2009
I have just been for a walk in Galicia, up to O Cebreiro and from Sarria to Santiago. It was cold, rainy, windy, snowy, and I wore my Marmot Precip with layers under and poncho over and was warm and dry. Now this summer I will be walking St Olav's Way in my native Norway, 640 km through forests and over mountain plateaus, after the coldest spring for a generation. This means late snow melting, flood warnings, and possibly more rain and lower temperatures than normal. The temps over the Dovre mountains could drop down towards zero even in summer, but of course we have no way of knowing what the temps will be by the time we get there. So my quandry now is: do I bring the lightweight (flimsy?) Precip jacket or its goretex version called Minimalist, which weighs marginally more but feels a lot sturdier and more durable? What would you do? It is (supposed to be) summer, and for warm summer rain the Precip would do the job, but what if it gets really cold and rains solid for days?
Any insights on the Precip or Minimalist models, or non-goretex vs goretex over time, would be very much appreciated.
 
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I will defer to some of our members from Norway (there are many), however, I suggest you are prepared.

If you adopt the same layering approach you used on Camiño, and ensure to have warm gloves, a knit ‘watch cap,’ and dry socks, you should be fine.

This said, I invite my colleagues from up north to jump in.

Hope this helps.
 
Thanks, @t2andreo - I guess I just feel a bit unsure because even if it is my own country, I haven't lived in it for near enough 20 years and not really walked in it before. And I hate being cold and wet more than being sweaty and overheating. Maybe I am overthinking it all. I am taking the same merino layers, one thicker merino fleece, gloves and a hat, so I should be OK. Training for a Norwegian summer in Galicia in March was a good idea :)
 
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According to online reviews, the Marmot Minimalist is more bombproof than the Precip, a quality that I like. Better safe than sorry when it comes to raingear. As it happens, I'm walking St Olavsleden from Sundsvall in Sweden to Trondheim this summer, and I'm sure as heck bringing my own bombproof Gore-Tex rain jacket.

What I am going to do before departure though, is to give it a good wash with a technical cleaner and then spray it with an impregnation spray-on and put it in the dryer. This is to restore breathability inside to out and water repellency outside to in. I'm not taking any chances, especially because I'll be camping out most of the time.
 
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@Purky Thank you for your very sensible advice. I do agree with you, it's just the thought of spending even more money on rain gear when I already have rain gear - and purchasing/packing my fears - but I could take the goretex model to Norway and save the Precip for Spanish caminos with bars around every corner? I have always thought of goretex as the gold standard for waterproofing but lately there are so many other materials I have no idea anymore what is best. Thanks for the tip re reproofing. I was planning on taking a small bottle of Nikwax tech wash with me as my Berghaus paclite trousers tend to get very mucky!
So you are also walking to Trondheim this summer - we will arrive late June/early July. I am from Trondheim, so I am looking forward to coming home a pilgrim, it is something I have dreamt of for so long. We will take a tent fly and bivvy bags in case we have to or want to sleep outside, but are not planning on camping as such. How far will you be walking and when do you think you will arrive? I will buy you a pint and an aquavit!
 
@Purky Thank you for your very sensible advice. I do agree with you, it's just the thought of spending even more money on rain gear when I already have rain gear - and purchasing/packing my fears - but I could take the goretex model to Norway and save the Precip for Spanish caminos with bars around every corner? I have always thought of goretex as the gold standard for waterproofing but lately there are so many other materials I have no idea anymore what is best. Thanks for the tip re reproofing. I was planning on taking a small bottle of Nikwax tech wash with me as my Berghaus paclite trousers tend to get very mucky!
So you are also walking to Trondheim this summer - we will arrive late June/early July. I am from Trondheim, so I am looking forward to coming home a pilgrim, it is something I have dreamt of for so long. We will take a tent fly and bivvy bags in case we have to or want to sleep outside, but are not planning on camping as such. How far will you be walking and when do you think you will arrive? I will buy you a pint and an aquavit!

Me and my better half have three weeks, so we're not going to make it all the way to Trondheim on foot. We leave Holland end of July and fly back two weeks into August and we're aiming for (or just over) the Swedish/Norwegian border within 19 days. All geared up for camping, including my trusted rain jacket.

I have already received permission to walk the last bit of St. Olavsleden we won't walk together. I'll do that on my own, on a later date. I'll probably/hopefully do that next year. My wife doesn't really care about 'finishing' a walk. That's more my thing...

If we do have a day in Trondheim, 'cause never say never, I'll take you up on the pint and the aquavit!
 
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Thanks, @t2andreo - I guess I just feel a bit unsure because even if it is my own country, I haven't lived in it for near enough 20 years and not really walked in it before. And I hate being cold and wet more than being sweaty and overheating. Maybe I am overthinking it all. I am taking the same merino layers, one thicker merino fleece, gloves and a hat, so I should be OK. Training for a Norwegian summer in Galicia in March was a good idea :)

Ah ha! You have realized one of the great truths of the Camino... "Warm and wet is sometimes good...sometimes very good. But cold and wet is NEVER good."

I coined this phrase here in the Forum, but surely, someone else originated it. Nonetheless, it is very true. If you have a choice between being hot and sweaty, and cold and wet, always opt for the former.

Hope this helps.
 
When I woke up this morning it was bucketing down outside, and thinking about my two jackets it seemed a no-brainer - no way would I go out in that without goretex. And the (Ferrino open sleeve) poncho over the pack! Some people say the goretex paclite doesn't breathe very well but the jacket has pit zips. If we get hot summer temps and it rains, I can wear just the poncho for more ventilation. Sorted. Thanks for input!
 
I have tried several trekking raincoats, including a Ferrino. They are excellent, but I am a heat generator. So, for me, a hiking poncho (with a hump to cover my rucksack) is the best alternative.

I use a Sea to Summit lightweight siliconized nylon poncho. It is about the size of a mango fruit when stored. There have been problems reported with plastic snaps that will not stay closed. I dealt with this by using Super Glue to permanently seal closed all the side snaps. I used wooden, spring type, clothes pegs / pins to hold each snap closed while I continued gluing each one.

After about 15 minutes, I removed the spring clothespins and voila! Problem solved...with no added weight.

FYI, This poncho has done two successive Caminos with no issues.

Hope this helps.
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
@t2andreo Mine is a Ferrino Hiking, an over-the-head one with open armholes/sleeves, and without the reflective lining that seems to cook pilgrims every summer. I prefer it to a pack cover, but I wouldn't take only the poncho to Norway. Hopefully the goretex/poncho combo should work out well. I have a siliconised Altus but it doesn't breathe very well, in part due to the elasticated cuffs keeping the steam in. Your home glued one sounds just the thing!
 
Hello Nidarosa,

Perhaps we will meet up. I walked the VDLP in 2015 and I'm heading to Norway in little over a month to do the last half of the route there (I'll be starting in Otta) as I only have a couple of weeks. I decided to do this months ago and didn't really realize what kind of a winter/spring Norway had had this year. I too am working on a gear list for this trip. I will be camping as much of the way as I can and now, from your post, I think I will be making sure I take some of my warmer layers and my more robust gortex jacket...debating on the poncho. Would love to exchange more notes and ideas and if you have any tips for me I would very much appreciate it!
 
According to online reviews, the Marmot Minimalist is more bombproof than the Precip, a quality that I like. Better safe than sorry when it comes to raingear. As it happens, I'm walking St Olavsleden from Sundsvall in Sweden to Trondheim this summer, and I'm sure as heck bringing my own bombproof Gore-Tex rain jacket.

What I am going to do before departure though, is to give it a good wash with a technical cleaner and then spray it with an impregnation spray-on and put it in the dryer. This is to restore breathability inside to out and water repellency outside to in. I'm not taking any chances, especially because I'll be camping out most of the time.
I've had 3 Precips and while I know they are really popular I would be reluctant to take one on the camino. Each one I've had has delaminated and leaked!. Marmot has at least been good about replacing them! I did take a (very slightly heavier than the Precip) Black Diamond goretex jacket and it was perfect in heavy rain. I'd lean towards the Minimalist myself.
 
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As they say - pilgrim makes plans, God laughs. In the end it turned out the Minimalist was a very bad fit for me and it was very hot in Norway before I left, so the thought of carrying it without using it, just adding weight to the pack, made me return it last minute. I also finally got around to testing the poncho and fully loaded pack with sleeping mat, and of course the poncho wouldn't fit over it all! Back to the drawing board I went, and the Precip and my Norwegian Helsport poncho went into the pack instead of the Ferrino.
We started walking in very hot weather, 25-30 degrees in the shade every day, and all the rain gear stayed firmly at the bottom of the pack. We had to start carrying more water and food, adding more weight to the pack, and after one worrying and two very uncomfortable cases of heat/sun stroke with migraine, exhaustion and loss of appetite, plus other heat related badness, we decided to call it a day for now. The forecast was for two more weeks of the same, and even up on the mountain it was 27 degrees! We had to cut our stages to manage it, and would then have to stop a week from Trondheim so my companion could get back to work. We would rather stop with 4 weeks left, that way we can carry on and still get a good long walk out of it.
Thanks for all the input! I might still get something like the Minimalist for the next attempt though.
 

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