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As one who has never really obsessed about weight, I would also add that unless you are sure that the ultralight, form-free backpack works for your back (especially your lower back), you should be careful. I use an ancient Mountainsmith Ghost that weighs 2.1 pounds, which was very light in 2001 when I bought it. By the ultralight standards of today it is heavy. But I can also tell you that my lower back will not tolerate an ultralight pack, and that within an hour or so I am hurting. My heavier Ghost transfers all the weight to my hips, so that I can walk happily with 9 or 10 kilos.
I had to smile at the thought that your Mountainsmith would be outdated as an 'ultralight' pack. I would still consider that weight range for a pack 'ultralight'. My smile was brought on with what has now evolved in the fastpacker world of backpacking, which has taken 'ultralight' and moved the bar to 'hyperlight'.
And that is the category that those frameless, "free-form" packs fall into. The hyperlight fanatics will cut their loads to below 10 pounds for a Pacific Crest Trail thru-hike. Yup, that's right.... it is really cutting corners and willing to accept discomfort on all fronts from weather to sleeping to hunger to, well you get the idea. To me, it is nuts. But at those low weights, a frameless pack can work. it's not for me, though.
Your Mountainsmith is still considered ultralight, and like that pack, a lot of the ultralight cottage manufacturers will focus their energies on internal fully framed packs in the 2 to 3 pound range. I was able to take my Gossamer Gear Mariposa (normal weight 2.1 pounds) and do some elimination of unneeded features to get it below 2 pounds, and still have a comfortable full frame backpack.
So, you are still an ultralight walker, Laurie
Ok, Mr. davebugg,
Since you are so well connected to the outside industry, would you PLEASE tell Mountainsmith to resuscitate its original Ghost backpack?! Or is the new Ghost 50 a good substitute? My pack is getting old, it has now weathered 16 caminos!
Ok, Mr. davebugg,
Since you are so well connected to the outside industry, would you PLEASE tell Mountainsmith to resuscitate its original Ghost backpack?! Or is the new Ghost 50 a good substitute? My pack is getting old, it has now weathered 16 caminos!
For myself, I have a baker's scale which I calibrate with a 100 gram weight and a 5 pound weight. The 100 gram weight is sourced from a manufacturer of weights designed for scale certification compliance checks. The five pounder is a small dumbell disk that was measured on a calibrated scale at a machine shop. The weight was actually 4.25 ounces too heavy, and so care was taken to grind and file away enough metal to hit the 5 pound mark exactly.
When I was in the Lake District Walking I had a chat with a fellow Coast to Coaster. He was walking with a 25.5Kg pack and loving every minute of it. He had a tent, cooking equipment, hammock...........
I hadn't realised there would be bragging rights about pack weight ! I hoped walking the camino was about leaving your ego at home.
I don't think most of us are bragging, so much as demonstrating that light packing can be done, and readers can get a pretty good idea of what things are most often viewed as important. On my first camino I read the advice quite carefully, followed most of it with success, and I have carried almost the same equipment now for 5 Caminos.
Feel free to carry all that you want. However, if you want to carry as little as possible, there are some good ideas here.
I have met people whose first time carrying their loaded backpacks was from the car to the airport checkin counter when they were leaving home. They were surprised and dismayed soon into day 1 on the camino.
Thanks for the reality check Bradypus and the option to walk extra. Very good ! Blessings to youSometimes we have rose-tinted notions of what walking the Caminos will be like. Perhaps it is just as well to be forewarned that there are all sorts of people both here and on the Caminos - you will not always find everyone's words and actions to your taste. I have been known to walk an extra 10 or 15km one day to leave someone more than usually annoying well behind me
Hey @Kanga are you referring there to the aarn featherlite freedom v natural aspiration?I'm with @peregrina2000. Smaller and lighter does not always mean more comfortable. I recently bought a much smaller, lighter pack than my old standby. It is OK - but I still think the old fully featured much bigger pack is more comfortable, even when fully loaded with far more weight. The only advantage of the smaller pack is that it is a carry-on.
I hope you are staying in private rooms with an alarm clockHere's my simple rule - just bring fewer things
Camino Norte, May or September
Heaviest items first (would add towel and slippers if staying in albergues)
Guide book
Tube of electrolyte tablets x3
Electric shaver
Cool-Lite t-shirt LS
Soap, deodorant, plasters
Cool-Lite t-shirt SS
Water bottles x2
Sleeping bag liner
Spare glasses
Rain jacket
Running shorts
Sun cream
Hat
Underpants
Liner socks x3
Alarm clock
Dry bags x2
Buff
Yes, of course I am - and no need to use an alarm clock in alberguesI hope you are staying in private rooms with an alarm clockunless of course it is a silent alarm!!!
You will be ok with the Gregory 28L, same one as mine. You will be so thankful for it, it does balance beautifully. FYI, If you are carrying a sleeping gear, more then a silk liner, attach it on the outside in a waterproof sack. First thing on the bed, last thing cleaned up. Especially useful trick if you are an early morning walker. Buen Camino!I read this post and the ensuing discussion with interest. I have never "backpacked". Carrying a pack to walk a portion of the Frances route will be my first time doing so in 67 years. When shopping for a pack, I was uncharacteristicallly stressed out; I could feel that each pack I tried on rubbed or pressed on my body somewhere. Then I tried on "the one" - a Gregory Jade. What I didn't realize is that it was also the smallest of all the packs I had tried. I purchased it and then wondered how I would get even the essentials into it. With my start date just a month and a bit away, I have started experimenting by packing and repacking. I can keep my pack very light until I start to add the toiletries and a few medications - oops.... there goes my ideal weight. Eventually I came to the conclusion that 12 lb. total was an unrealistic number and that if I could keep it under 15 lbs (with the very unsophisticated method of stepping on a scale without pack, then steeping on the scale with the loaded pack and subtracting to find the difference), then I was doing well. Now I realize what a previous poster has already said, "take the recommended minimum and maybe one thing extra that would make you happy and be useful to you and then don't worry about what the numbers say. And wonder of wonders - the minimum plus one extra fits nicely in my Gregory 28L. What is more important, I hardly notice the weight of the pack as I walk because it balances so nicely on my hips and fits perfectly across my shoulders. Pack weight is a lot less important than pack fit, I have come to believe.
.
And no more embarrassing events like on the CF asking for, begging for candle wax from villagers when the aged zip on my pack began unzipping all by itself.
)
I have been known to walk an extra 10 or 15km one day to leave someone more than usually annoying well behind me
I tried that once, only to see the same person the very next day sitting in the only café in a small village. So I had to smile and say hello again. They had taken a taxi "to save a few kms".
!!!!! I'd have to use emoticons because (polite) words would fail me
So maybe it's better to stay half a stage behindI tried that once, only to see the same person the very next day sitting in the only café in a small village. So I had to smile and say hello again. They had taken a taxi "to save a few kms".
Jill
Fun thread - whether they are bragging or boasting or scared or concerned, I always enjoy the kit threads ... I always tend to disbelieve the superlights - just a litre of water weighs a kilo!
So maybe it's better to stay half a stage behind
So maybe it's better to stay half a stage behind
me too
Or carry some safety pinsI had that problem on my Camino Mózarabe this spring. The zipper on my fanny pack just wouldn’t stay closed. After trips to a few outdoor shops in Granada withut finding a fanny pack that I liked, the guy who was helping me asked me why I didn’t just go get mine fixed. He sent me to an upholsterer friend who had a device that looked like a cross between pliers and a wrench with teeth, and with three little movements, he fixed the zipper. And he told me he had repaired zippers on countless backpacks. In the US, we just throw them out. So bring your broken backpack to Spain and get thee to an upholsterer.
As one who has never really obsessed about weight, I would also add that unless you are sure that the ultralight, form-free backpack works for your back (especially your lower back), you should be careful. I use an ancient Mountainsmith Ghost that weighs 2.1 pounds, which was very light in 2001 when I bought it. By the ultralight standards of today it is heavy. But I can also tell you that my lower back will not tolerate an ultralight pack, and that within an hour or so I am hurting. My heavier Ghost transfers all the weight to my hips, so that I can walk happily with 9 or 10 kilos.
Oh, thank you so much, I have bookmarked this for when i eventually do go to replace my pack. It is so great to have all you gear experts out there always ready to help, buen camino, LaurieCheck these two out. They seem close to your Ghost specs. Particularly on the weight, if slightly smaller in pack volume than 50L.
Sizing (torso length, not pack volume), if anything, may be the the crux issue for you with either of these. Each has a good built in U shaped aluminum frame stay should transfer weight to your hips. I like the "j" zip access. Seems just right for the Camino.
https://www.marmot.com/graviton-38/...=1414&dwvar_24690_size=0085ONE&cgid=equipment
or
https://www.marmot.com/wms-graviton...=4573&dwvar_24160_size=0085ONE&cgid=equipment
Or this Gregory series (28L, 33L, 38L, 53L and 63L) has 2 torso sizes. My daughter used this (the 38L) for the CP 2 years ago and really liked it, particularly the "trampoline" style mesh back panel. It comes with an internal daypack that can be removed and is pretty handy for around town once you reach your alburgue, or used for a water bladder holder, if you use one (she didn't). Of course, you could leave it out completely to shave pack weight.
https://www.rei.com/product/895090/gregory-jade-38-pack-womens
This is so true. My large friend's shoes took up a lot of room while mine were minimal in comparison. I believe that the excess pack weight accumulates when we pack our fears. The items that "might come in handy" for all possible scenarios one can think up will weigh one down. This happened on my first Camino in 2010. My second Camino backpack was half the size of the first. The third Camino the pack was a bit lighter. Training for 2020 and think it will level out the same as 2016.Ah! Got your attention!
I was following a thread on backpack weight and couldn't find where to put my two cents in , so here goes. It seems there is a lot of anguish about who's pack is lighter and what to pack , what you must have, what you don't need...And there's a bit of bragging on the part of some who have lighter weights. Having researched every possible piece of clothing and equipment for several years for several walks and different seasons, and meticulously weighing things, I've come to the following conclusions:
1) We aren't always sure 'how'someone weighed the gear they are boasting about. A meat hook? A bathroom scale? A luggage scale holding the entire filled pack? Each bit on a postage scale? A jewelry scale? There are some pretty lengthy lists of gear out there, posted and claiming to be a bitty 5 kg...I'll leave you with that thought
2) Then there is the dreaded "I packed 4 shirts and three pants..." Well, the shirt of a giant XXL man is far from the shirt weight of a teenie woman...' nuff said.
3) Generally, the lighter the equipment is, the more expensive it is. Super Ultralight anything comes with a hefty price tag. If you don't have $450 for a backpack, it will not weigh 1 oz.
4) And there is the theory that others put out there, don't pack this and that, " You can just buy what you need along the way" . Granted, Spain is not a third world country, but the camino route itself is not necessarily walking through malls and plazas. Many of the little villages will have a tiny one room store, with a few veggies, fruit, pasta, wine...maybe a packet of tissue. But you are NOT going to find everything you need when you need it. Major cities have sporting goods stores, but they are generally not located right on your path...you will need to hike quite a ways off to reach it, adding to your long day, or take a cab to it. And it will be expensive . And they most likely won't have any larger sizes available ( met a big guy who could not find any shoes when his blew out, a large woman who lost her pants and could not find even a man's pair to fit during the entire trek ) Many of the medium sized grocerettes had only family sized everything: 3 bars of soap, giant body wash, huge shampoo bottle which you may need to buy and share or dump. And timing is everything as the stores tend to be closed on certain days and at certain hours...I guarantee you will need something from that closed store at that time...wait it out, or walk on without it.
Many posters who are boasting ultralight full packs, or are stating 'just buy it there' most likely have no budgetary concerns, and I'm not sure that's the case with a lot of other walkers. The one with the most money wins. So don't let it be a contest.
Bottom line: Don't stress trying to get your pack down to the stated weights of others...it may not be possible, it may not be true, it may not be reasonable financially. I prefer to pack exactly what I believe I will need...no more, but no less. Bring what YOU feel YOU need and don't let others stress you out about pack weights and gear...or bring money. ( please take this as a lighthearted, but pretty accurate post )
There was one in the pilgrim's office in SJPDP which I used to weigh my pack before I started walking. My bag was way too heavy and then I had to wait five days, until Puenta da Reine before I could get to a open post office, and also left behind a few items before then.
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