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What items can I find on the Camino?

mbart

New Member
Time of past OR future Camino
Norte or Primitivo (planned 2015)
Hello,

reading various threads on this forum (mostly packing lists) I quite frequently come upon advice like: "Don't take X with you, you can find plenty on the Camino" or "If you take Y with you, you will most likely leave it along the way". So my question is: could someone list all the items that are commonly left at albergues during the Camino and as such there's no point in taking them from home?
 
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The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
I wouldn't suggest leaving something vital at home on the off-chance you will find it free along the way, but you certainly could equip yourself head to foot from the shops in Spain.

These are the things I've seen left in albergues or along the way. I'm sure the hospitaleros on this forum could add many more:

A wardrobe of Calvin Klein jeans (new), hats, shirts, jumpers, assorted other items of clothing
A treasure chest of costume jewellery
A storm of rain pants and gaiters
A cornucopia of moisturisers, foot creams, beauty products of every sort.
An Applestore of phone chargers, electrical connections and batteries.
 
When I offered my sleeping bag to a hospitalero two weeks into the Francès in April, I got the impression that there was no shortage of sleeping bags left at albergues.
 
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.
I don't mean vital stuff. I mean the 'it could come useful one day' stuff e.g. rain paints or sweater. if something is really vital people probably don't leave it on the trail ;)
 
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I don't mean vital stuff. I mean the 'it could come useful one day' stuff e.g. rain paints or sweater. if something is really vital people probably don't leave it on the trail ;)
Take what you really use along the way. When you need something whatever it is, you can by it. Wish you well, Peter.
 
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
Take what you really use along the way. When you need something whatever it is, you can by it. Wish you well, Peter.
The issue is there are things that I'm unsure I will use :p Like the mentioned sweater. Or a normal sleeping bag. I know I can always buy stuff but if there are things that people leave anyway then why not make use of that?
 
Ah @mbart one person's detritus is another person's treasure. Re-use, re-cycle, re-purpose. All good.
 
The issue is there are things that I'm unsure I will use :p Like the mentioned sweater. Or a normal sleeping bag. I know I can always buy stuff but if there are things that people leave anyway then why not make use of that?
I wouldn't count on finding any specific item at an albergue to equip yourself with. It's not like every albergue has what amounts to an outdoor gear store of left behind gear.
You might find stuff, you might not. No way to predict it. Certainly don't plan your trip around gear you might find.
 
Technical backpack for day trips with backpack cover and internal compartment for the hydration bladder. Ideal daypack for excursions where we need a medium capacity backpack. The back with Air Flow System creates large air channels that will keep our back as cool as possible.

€83,-
I have left two sleeping bags; cheap ones, I admit, but I didn't need them. I never took a sleeping mat, but after about a week into the pilgrimage, the donations boxes are full of them. Along the Valcarce valley there was even a very expensive Thermorest.
 
I would not bank on finding anything you will need in albergues. Shampoo, tooth brushes (yuk!), feminine hygene products get left behind ( but you can bet not in the albergue you'll end up on day 1!). I lost a bra in an albergue, but what are the odds it's your size. Buy and carry your gear, and hope that is so ething unexpected comes up you'll be at the right albergue at the right time to find a replacement.

BTW, this also applies to shops. Umless it's something you can find in a tiny grocery store bring it with you, you are walking through rural Spain with only a few stops in larger centers where everything is available.
 
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.
There are FREE BOXES in almost every albergue with a variety of lotions, creams, underwear, outer wear, jackets, gloves, socks, shoes, shirts, books, camping dishes, sleeping mats, and (fill in the blank) because people pack WAY too much crap and once they walk over the pyrenees, they "get it" that you don't need all of that.

In addition to THAT free stuff, there are shops in all major towns and villages along the Way where you can pick up other items.
The "China Shops" which are like dollar stores in the USA have pretty much anything you can think of - from nail clippers to shampoo to socks and underwear for €1.
There are open markets.
There are pharmacies and hardware stores.
Spain is not a 3d world country - it has everything we have in the USA plus more!

My advice is to look at each item you want to put into your pack and if you question, "Do I need this?" then leave it home!
 
mbart,

While I was on the del Norte, I didn't notice much abandoned/donated equipment on the first two to three stages. After that point, I started to norice more and more equipment left behind. I would imagine that the equipment that gets left behind would be a function of injury or realization that something wasn't worth the pain of carrying it. I started in Irun on April 28, a little over three months ago. It was supposed to be the rainy season still. The night before I left the pension in Irun, it was raining in torrents and cold. Pilgrims went by my hotel (Bar Pension Restaurante Bidasoa) as I looked out the door from the bar, the occaisional pilgrim would stick his/her head into the doorway to get out of the rain for a few minutes, grab a cup of cafe con leche, ask where the Way was (the sidewalk right outside the door) and press on. I was so glad I brought my rain and cold weather gear. As I left the hotel the next morning, the sun was out, the sky was clear and the long sleeve thermal shirt I was wearing was way to hot. From then till I finished, I had one day of light showers for the next 39 days. When I got to Bilbao, I sent home tent, tarp, sleeping bag pad. By the time I got to Comillas (for me, Stage 14), I sent home my cold weather gear. For the same time frame, start to finish, the temp never got below the mid 50's F or above the high 60's F. About the same time, or slightly before, I donated my trail sneakers. My feet had spread out enough on the camino that they no longer fit, and were the footgear I wore on Stage 1 when I incurred most of my injuries.

The long and short of it is, in my opinion, the items left behind are a fuction of anticipation versus reality. As the old saying goes: Too soon old, too late smart. In the second half of my del Norte, it was get up, dress up, gear up, the same equipment every day (Vaseline, socks, shorts, boots with removeable over the counter orthotic pads, short sleve base layer T-shirt, hat, sunglasses, trekking poles and rain jacket outside of backpack readily available, filled water bottle up front.

On my next excursion, my gear list will be different than the first one. I will take a set of rain gear, but much lighter. No tent, tarp and pad except during the high season when a bed my not be available (I started and finished before the high season). Cold weather gear will be what I have normally now, but lighter and in more layers. One pair of footwear, new but properly broken in (1 1/2 sizes larger than my normal shoe size now) with SmartWool socks.

Anemone, everybody learns from the first camino. That learning curve is much steeper on the del Norte as opposed to other caminos, especially the first half dozen stages. The steeper the curve, the more the equipment
Gets left behind/donated.

I did a practice overnight camino, with all my gear, to a campground I frequent about 50 miles away. I rode a train to about 15 km from the campground, and hiked in and out. I found out the sleeping bag I had was not going to work. Trying to go through my gear in the tent in the morning taught me what I later found out to be true on the camino; it's impossible to get ready for the day without making a lot of noise. Too much small gear, headlamp, tooth brush, sunscreen, packing backpack, sleeping bag, getting dressed, etc. at some point, you finally say "do I really need this?". Your feet will tell you, and you too will become a donor of un-needed gear at some point.

Take what you need, buy what you want. Above all, protect your feet and legs.
 
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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.
Ah @mbart one person's detritus is another person's treasure. Re-use, re-cycle, re-purpose. All good.
The re-use recycle is the way to go if not using give it to someone or leave it in the bin. The best thing I picked up was a plastic soap container on my first trip as I got sick of using all those cheap soap ideas and finally picked up the soap container someone left and bought a nice soap as my Camino luxury still have it and along with my walking sticks will come on my third trip....yeah
 
If I pack it in, I pack it out! Buen Camino

Happy Trails
 
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I wouldn't rely on lost and founds to keep you supplied on the Camino.
 
Hello,

reading various threads on this forum (mostly packing lists) I quite frequently come upon advice like: "Don't take X with you, you can find plenty on the Camino" or "If you take Y with you, you will most likely leave it along the way". So my question is: could someone list all the items that are commonly left at albergues during the Camino and as such there's no point in taking them from home?

A good book. I expected the albergues to have good libraries of used books to take or trade. And they do, just not in English. I finished my book in Pamplona and I could not find any book stores with quality English novels until Leon. But if you like pulpy crime fiction, you can probably find that in a few towns.

You also can't get toe socks here.
 
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.
Aaawww, let's give the poor guy a break; he's a good soul. And I did have second thoughts about posting that comment in the first place.

:D:D:D

Lets face it; anything beyond a spare pair of underwear in a plain brown manila envelope is optional and a fair target for debate.
 
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.

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