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I still make mistakes! I have mailed home my sleeping bag twice, and threw one away. Then I spent a camino wishing I had a sleeping bag. The sleeping bag is always my toughest choice. The extra shirt or pants has always been unnecessary. I forgot both long sleeve shirts in a hotel closet one time, and never missed them later, so I suppose I should never have taken them!So, how often do you flip flop on gear you are taking?
The shopping has begun. Fortunately, I am a very avid hunter, fisherman, boater and more. I know what it is to tromp through the woods or sit in a tree for days, be on the ice for fishing or standing in 37 degree (3C) temperatures while raining for 3-4 days, 9+ hours each.
Hiking was only part of any of these activities which makes me somewhat of a newbie to the backpacking world. (It is easier to just admit it sometimes). I am learning as I go. Here are my two first purchases. It is obvious that trying to get all three areas of low cost, high quality and low weight would be difficult to achieve.
The backpack:
I tried several on and chose the Osprey Stratos 36L. It weighs 1.36 kg (3 lb). There was another pack 40+10 for only $20 more plus 5 oz. which was very tempting. This forum has been great even, especially with its varied opinions. The comments that made me nervous were the explosion of opening a smaller pack at the end of the day and less compartments. I did pack it with gear to see how it all fits. I got the total filled pack weight down to 6.74 kg (without water or snacks). I will post more on this in a different thread. (I am a bit geeky and made an excel spreadsheet)
It has a sleeping bag compartment on the bottom. Built-in rain cover in its own compartment. 2 Compartments in the flap (rain gear?) and two pockets on waist straps. Also, it will fit carry-on from the USA. I’ve had delayed luggage three times already. One time it took 3 days to show up.
The sleeping bag:
My first thought was, “Wow, how small and light!” When I started weighing every individual item (I have a sensitive scale I used for the boy scouts pinewood derby cars) I thought, “Wow, this is adding up fast.” The bag in sack is 855 grams. But when I looked at cost to lighten this, I was feeling like I was in budget.
The liner and blanket thing is tempting, but I have been on to many hunting trips including caribou near the Arctic Circle to learn to be warm enough and well rested each day. I know Spain is not the Arctic Circle, but good rest is important.
So, how often do you flip flop on gear you are taking?
200 hundred bucks for a sleeping bag?! Yikes!Welcome to the joys and anxieties of pack planning and weight budgets. Your sleeping bag is weighing in at nearly 2 lbs, which is too heavy. Sea to Summit has a bag at 13.7 ounces (390 g), REI has it for around $200. http://www.rei.com/product/866775/sea-to-summit-traveller-tr-i-sleeping-bag
200 hundred bucks for a sleeping bag?! Yikes!
They must be awfully proud of dat bag....
I don't think I spent over $200 for all my stuff combined.....
Unlike bush or wilderness walks, where one has to carry food and other consumables for several days, there is no need on the camino to carry more than a day or so of consumables, even less in the case of food. So there isn't going to be much difference between what is needed for a few days, and many.Whether you are walking this first half, all of it or just a few days of the Camino I think you still need the same things (subject to the weather).
I disagree with this assessment. If you are prepared to compromise with a 10degC mummy bag, then this sleeping bag might be okay. In spring, I walked with a 5degC semi-rectangular bag, and wouldn't change it. The bag weights 900gm, and I carry a liner. All up, with a stuff sack, about 1.1 kg. Too much? Not if you find yourself sleeping in the gym at Zubiri or the church hall at Granon!Welcome to the joys and anxieties of pack planning and weight budgets. Your sleeping bag is weighing in at nearly 2 lbs, which is too heavy. Sea to Summit has a bag at 13.7 ounces (390 g), REI has it for around $200. http://www.rei.com/product/866775/sea-to-summit-traveller-tr-i-sleeping-bag
Welcome to the joys and anxieties of pack planning and weight budgets. Your sleeping bag is weighing in at nearly 2 lbs, which is too heavy. Sea to Summit has a bag at 13.7 ounces (390 g), REI has it for around $200. http://www.rei.com/product/866775/sea-to-summit-traveller-tr-i-sleeping-bag
I also think I am turning into a weightaholic. The whole cheap cost, high quality, low weight formula is a tough balancing act I am finding.
Thanks for a small memory Mike Savage....my dad used to say this to me when I was a lot younger than I am now.....smiles.Count the ounces and the pounds will take care of themselves.
The shopping has begun. Fortunately, I am a very avid hunter, fisherman, boater and more. I know what it is to tromp through the woods or sit in a tree for days, be on the ice for fishing or standing in 37 degree (3C) temperatures while raining for 3-4 days, 9+ hours each.
Hiking was only part of any of these activities which makes me somewhat of a newbie to the backpacking world. (It is easier to just admit it sometimes). I am learning as I go. Here are my two first purchases. It is obvious that trying to get all three areas of low cost, high quality and low weight would be difficult to achieve.
The backpack:
I tried several on and chose the Osprey Stratos 36L. It weighs 1.36 kg (3 lb). There was another pack 40+10 for only $20 more plus 5 oz. which was very tempting. This forum has been great even, especially with its varied opinions. The comments that made me nervous were the explosion of opening a smaller pack at the end of the day and less compartments. I did pack it with gear to see how it all fits. I got the total filled pack weight down to 6.74 kg (without water or snacks). I will post more on this in a different thread. (I am a bit geeky and made an excel spreadsheet)
It has a sleeping bag compartment on the bottom. Built-in rain cover in its own compartment. 2 Compartments in the flap (rain gear?) and two pockets on waist straps. Also, it will fit carry-on from the USA. I’ve had delayed luggage three times already. One time it took 3 days to show up.
The sleeping bag:
My first thought was, “Wow, how small and light!” When I started weighing every individual item (I have a sensitive scale I used for the boy scouts pinewood derby cars) I thought, “Wow, this is adding up fast.” The bag in sack is 855 grams. But when I looked at cost to lighten this, I was feeling like I was in budget.
The liner and blanket thing is tempting, but I have been on to many hunting trips including caribou near the Arctic Circle to learn to be warm enough and well rested each day. I know Spain is not the Arctic Circle, but good rest is important.
So, how often do you flip flop on gear you are taking?
Doug, Your comment about the Deuter Guide 45+ caught my attention. I just purchased a Deuter Actlite 40 + 10 from REI. I tried several back packs and this one seemed to fit my body the best. Do you or any others on the forum have a comment about this backpack?@WldWil, what an interesting question. When I put my mind to it, there are some items that I carried this year that I carried on my first camino in 2010. Then there were another group of items which were simple replacements for things that had worn out in the meantime, or things that had been changed on previous multi-day walks. Finally, there was a group of items which I was using, if not for the very first time, on their first multi-day trip.
I think after my first camino I realised that late changes were as likely to be problematic as beneficial. Certainly the less time you give yourself to get used to new gear, the less likely you are to know if it will really work for you, or have time to make any adjustments etc so that it works as well as it can for your particular needs. That said, I needed to make some late changes because gear choices I had made were proving unsuitable when I started doing longer walks, and making the change was really unavoidable.
Some of my flips and flops have been
- footwear - different boots on each pilgrimage, although I am back to the replacements for the boots I wore on the CF in 2010, and walked the CI in these this year.
- raincoat - used the same rain jacket on CF and St Olavs Way, but bought a longer jacket for a walk in NZ, and used that this year on CI
- clothing - largely about replacing worn out gear. In contrast, I have used the same light fleece on all my multi-day walks since the CF in 2010.
- pack - this was my worst change before the CF, and resulted in me taking a Fairydown pack that was too large and heavy. On St Olavs Way I used the Kathmandu pack I was going to use on the CF two years earlier, and it was brilliant. Don't ask how I felt reflecting on that! It was too big for camino in Spain. so the last couple of multi-day walks were done with a Deuter Guide 45+.
The Actlite and Guide series appear to fill different needs - the Guide has plenty of external hanging points and attachment straps - slightly increasing its weight. Few of these are really useful on the Camino, where the cleaner design of the Actlite might be quite adequate, and a little lighter. Deuter packs are built much more solidly than some others, and clearly designed to take years of hard rough and tumble. That's not really necessary on the camino, where the harshest treatment might be the occasional scraping against the wall of a bar! Overall, if it fits, and your gear fits in, it is a pretty sound choice. It should last you for many caminos.Doug, Your comment about the Deuter Guide 45+ caught my attention. I just purchased a Deuter Actlite 40 + 10 from REI. I tried several back packs and this one seemed to fit my body the best. Do you or any others on the forum have a comment about this backpack?
The problems of words in different countries' 'jargon'.
So, depending on where you live:_
Knickers=pants= ladies' briefs.
Trunks=pants=men's briefs.
Pants=trousers.
So - not a dumb guy question
I do appreciate the thoughts. Each activity is so different. Sometimes when I go flyfishing in the rivers I walk right in with hiking boots and other times hip boots or waiters.
Rain clothes are driving me crazy, because to me dry is not being wet at all. I am beginning to get the feel with rain gear, various ponchos and shoes that it is more about controlling the level of wetness and sweatiness versus dry. I am looking at early May or next September for my trip. Ironically, I will be looking at rainy days around here to go hiking in to test different equipment.
I also think I am turning into a weightaholic. The whole cheap cost, high quality, low weight formula is a tough balancing act I am finding.
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