Sleeping Bag

[Colleen]

Hi my name is Colleen, 55 years old, from Australia and expect to commence walking on 23rd April from SJDP. Like everybody I am trying to be ruthless with the weight of my backpack and am yet to decide on the weight of my sleeping bag. I am not sure what to expect with overnight temperatures and 'the comfort zone' required of a sleeping bag. Would a 5 degree+ be sufficient to cover the whole walk. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[geofones]

I did it in September 2004 l, it was quite warm and sunny. I used a Vango Venom 150. Weight 600gm (22oz) http://www.outdoorgarage.com/acatalog/V ... m_150.html
Really excellent kept my pack to about 6kg

 

[Colleen]

Many thanks for the info on the Vango Venom sleeping bag. Any chance of listing the basics you packed to keep you weight to 6kgs. e.g. Poncho in place of rain coat, sandles etc. As I am only 52kgs I would love to keep my backpack to 6-7kgs!!

 

[Minkey]

I've got a down sleeping bag, on the positive side it's light and packs very small, very quickly, although negatively it's flippin' hot!

Best advice I've heard re: keeping pack weight to a minimum is to have three sets of clothes, one on and two in your sack. You just have to wash stuff more regularly.

 

[leslie]

i used two and a half yards of polar fleece
i cut about eighteen inches off of half the top
to form a flap for my head
folded the rest in half lengthwise and
basted across the bottom and up the side

cheap, light weight, washable, easy to pack, and not too warm

 

[Handzondeck]

Colleen

I use a snugpack travelpak 650 gm sleeping bag with a thermolite sheet. Weighs next to nothing.

Sharon
Aussie pilgrim walking via de la plata in five days

 

[julie]

Colleen, from one 55 year old 52kg Aussie to another, I would think your sleeping bag would be fine - I walked from SJPdeP last September and found more of a problem with overheating at night. The weight of the bag would be of more concern - Sharon's sounds good (mine weighed a kilo) and Leslie's idea sounds terrific! There is usually a lot of people in the room so it does get stuffy. I only took 1 change of clothes (but 2 changes of underwear & socks) - long sleeves that I could roll up and long zip offs so that I could start off with long pants and finish the day in shorts. Worked well for me and kept the weight down. Sandals for the end of the day and a T-shirt to sleep in. Added a lightweight pair of gloves (which I needed on a few mornings), a wind jacket (fleece would be equivalent) and a lightweight raincoat also very basic first aid items.

Buen Camino, Julie

 

[Dawn of a new Day]

I am amazed at the weight of the sleeping bags and packs. Where do you people find them. i live in victoria and i don't think the selection is great.
the lightest sleeping bag i have found is an outbound hike and bike weighing 1000 grams (2.2lbs.)
I am wearing one set of clothes and only taking one other set (2 for underwear and socks)
dawn

 

[bjorgts]

Cold spring??

I see that people walking the Camino in September are saying that it was not cold in the nights. The question was for April/May? From three springs on the Caminos, I know that nights can be nice and warm - oh yes! But I thought that one voice in the choir should say something about the posibility of COLD(!!) nights on the Camino in springtime (COLD days too!!). Ask those who went there the three last weeks of April in 2005! We had a wonderful time, and enough wool-clothes. (We are Norwegians!) You would not dream of sleeping in a T-shirt! Some people were freezing, and thats not good. (But in 2003 ... warm and sunny all the time ....) Thats the way it is .... You do not know. Be prepared, but carry as little as posible. Some days last spring we had almost all our clothes on, one layer on the other - and no freezing. Have a nice walk! Bjørg

 

[Colleen]

Many thanks for the great feed back. I leave Australia today for London and now expect to commence walking from SJPDP on 22nd April. I hope to make it to Roncesvalles on the first day but it is difficult to envisage how tough Day 1 will be.

 

[Magnara]

Hi Colleen
Good luck on your Camino! I would love to know whether you would recommend the route you took to get to SJPP at the very start of it all and whether in retrospect tht is the route you would recommend. We will be starting from Australia in December, so we have plenty of time to look at the best way to get there.
Looking forward to hearing about this and many other details about your pilgimage.
Magnara