• 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)
This is a mobile optimized page that loads fast, if you want to load the real page, click this text.

sleeping bag

Yoke

New Member
Time of past OR future Camino
plan to walk the Camino (2014)
Travelling October/November staying in Camino hostels. Do I need to take a sleeping bag ? Ta
 
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
A search on this forum would lead you to much discussion on this very subject. Whether it will lead you to a definitive answer is debatable. Depends on you, whether you sleep warm or cold, how much you are prepared to carry... ...

Me, i'd carry a sleeping bag, two-season, down-filled. In October/ November I'd also carry a bivvy-bag / space-blanket. But thats just me. I'm hyper cautious, carry very little body fat and like to sleep warm.

Just enter "sleeping bag" into the search facility and download yourself an evenings research
 
As @Tincatinker says, this is one of those hornet's nest topics, and you will find plenty of discussion. A friend has just returned from walking the CF to reach SJDP on Xmas Eve. His son put his reports into a blog at http://caminowally.blogspot.com.au/. You might get a better idea of whether you want to take the risk of not carrying one once you read it.

Regards,
 
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
Not all the albergues have warm blankets. I just queried Roncesvalles and they do NOT provide blankets and that is likely to be one of the coldest places you'll sleep.
I have walked the Camino several times in Fall and I would definitely take a sleeping bag.
I cut a down bag into a blanket and I love it.
 

I had read the Albergue at Roncesvalles was COLD. So I took a bag rated for -10C. Imagine my surprise to find it heated to the point where I used only the sheet liner. Late October 2012.

A lot of the albergues were heated (particularly the Xunta operated albergues) ... only a few were cold enough to justify a low temperature bag ... even so the -10C was definate overkill.
 
Ideal sleeping bag liner whether we want to add a thermal plus to our bag, or if we want to use it alone to sleep in shelters or hostels. Thanks to its mummy shape, it adapts perfectly to our body.

€46,-
Well, I guess we all have different experiences.
It was so cold last time I was in Roncesvalles that I had to give one of my walkers MY sleeping bag.
I slept in all my clothes under my ALTUS poncho.
I don't think you need a sleeping bag rated for -10 but I do believe you need a bag.
They only give you paper sheets there.

There are other albergues where you will not get blankets either.
We almost froze last year in the municipal at Obanos.
In fact, the mean hospitalero told us, "You are pilgrims. You should have a saco de dormir!" when we asked him to turn on the heat. This was in JUNE!
 
I walked the CF in Oct/Nov. 2013. Took a silk liner and a very small fleece blanket. Total weight under 1 pound. Was more than warm most nights and on those few nights I needed more the albergues had blankets.
 
Travelling October/November staying in Camino hostels. Do I need to take a sleeping bag ? Ta
Hostales and hoteles supply linens. Albergues, the closest to what you may be thinking of as a hostel, expect pilgrim to have their own sleep linens. Most select a sleeping bag or silk/nylon sleep sack. No naked bodies are permitted on the mattresses, but you probably would not be tempted anyway!
 
3rd Edition. More content, training & pack guides avoid common mistakes, bed bugs etc
I brought a lightweight down sleeping bag when I was on the Frances Sept-November. I did NOT regret it... Rain, snow, drafty hostels, not much heat in some albergues... Be prepared to be self sufficient. There are some inexpensive light weight down bags on the market these days. You just need to look.
Buen Camino
 
I am doing the Via de la Plata in April from Seville. I am not sure if I really need my sleeping bag. I took one on the Camino Frances in 2012 May/June but only needed it about three times. It was good for security but if it is unnecessary I would prefer not to bring it. Can someone advise me please.
 

Kathryn,

I'm setting off on the Via de la Plata next week (by bike) and have the same [small] dilemma on whether to bring a sleeping bag or not. I'm thinking a silk liner will suffice. Have you started your camino on the VdlP yet? And if so, what's your verdict?

Thanks,
 
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.

Kathryn,

I'm setting off on the Via de la Plata next week (by bike) and have the same [small] dilemma on whether to bring a sleeping bag or not. I'm thinking a silk liner will suffice. Have you started your camino on the VdlP yet? And if so, what's your verdict?

Thanks,
 

Most read last week in this forum