which sleeping bag for a camino in winter?

[Carli]

Dear caminere,
I need your previous advice, I am planning to do the Camino in winter. Which sleeping bag do you recommend, the one I have is not warm enough.

 

[Bradypus]

I like to be warm and some albergues are not well heated in winter. Occasionally not at all on some of the quieter Caminos. So in winter I carry a four season down sleeping bag. Quite heavy and bulky but I think it is worthwhile. This is the model I bring.

Oex Leviathan EV 900 Sleeping Bag | GO Outdoors

A very warm, lightweight and protective 4-season down sleeping bag, packable to a compact size.

www.gooutdoors.co.uk

 

[RJM]

You will need a winter rated sleeping bag in order to be warm enough to get a good night's sleep. There's a lot of them on the market. Of course they will be bulkier and heavier but there's some out there that weigh less than 4 pounds.

 

[RJM]

I would carry something like this.

 

[J Willhaus]

Will you be sleeping outside? It should not get below 0 C even in an unheated albergue so look for a bag rated to temperature and try to find the lightest one with the warmest rating.

 

[Bothydave]

Remember when buying a bag that although they may give a ‘low end rating’ that is generally at ‘extreme‘ and assumes that you will also be wearing all your clothes. In essence a bag with a -3 to -5 rating will ensure a comfortable non clothes wearing night!
try ALPKIT who sell good bags and do mail order.

 

[JabbaPapa]

I need your previous advice, I am planning to do the Camino in winter. Which sleeping bag do you recommend, the one I have is not warm enough.

This is a great question -- and the only one-size-fits-all answer to it is : you need a sleeping bag on a Winter Camino.

From there, it's variables.

If you're sure to sleep indoors along the whole of the Way, then a relatively light one plus Albergue blankets and duvets may be sufficient ; the weasel word here being "relatively", as people's susceptibility to the cold is a variable.

I use a French military one -- but that's because my own circumstances lead me to sleep outdoors with some frequency. So that is NOT a recommendation !!

Having said that, it does need to be one that's warm enough relative to your own needs, as there are some Albergues with little heating and few blankets.

Some people have suggested down sleeping bags, which might work when you can keep them opened and aerated in the warmer places to sleep, and zipped up and cozy in the cooler ones.

 

[willydp]

I concur what was said before.
I have a Thermarest quilt and is rated 20 -6°C, but it is written in the specs comfort 0°C.
Read the small letters
A quilt is lighter when you are sure to have a mattress.

 

[Bothydave]

I concur what was said before.
I have a Thermarest quilt and is rated 20 -6°C, but it is written in the specs comfort 0°C.
Read the small letters
A quilt is lighter when you are sure to have a mattress.

Spot on. I have a down jacket rated to -5. On reading the small print it is -5 with 3 thermal layers on underneath it.

 

[mspath]

During earlier years when I walked in winter I stayed in municipal albergues and used a lightweight sleeping bag ecumenically named Little Buddha and separate polyester liner.

There was no norm in the fittings of albergues; some had heat, others heat partially and some no heat at all.
.
In cold weather I never chose a bunk placed against an exterior wall since old walls are often uninsulated and thus frigid. Since all night heating is not a standard I made a cozy 'sandwich' for sleeping by folding a blanket in half the long way, placed the sleeping bag on top of the bottom half and pulled the top half over all. If there were no blankets a dry poncho beneath the bag blocked the cold air from rising.

Runner's winter tights, a long sleeve runner's shirt and loose socks were great to wear to sleep topped with a wooly hat when it was really cold.

 

[J F Gregory]

I walked Camino Frances during winter an a 40 degree quilt served me well. Some of the albergues were colder than others.

 

[J Willhaus]

I use a 40 F down bag (which I think is about a 5 C degree bag). It is fine for me a and I am toasty warm. My husband has the same bag and he is usually freezing and very uncomfortable. He also wears a wool hat on his bald head and wool clothes in his bag. I might wear a pair of wool socks but otherwise I am in a short sleeve shirt and maybe some tights.

My point is that we are both really different and you will be different from either of us so if you have time to experiment with what helps you be comfortable take the time to do it.

 

[konnie]

Dear caminere,
I need your previous advice, I am planning to do the Camino in winter. Which sleeping bag do you recommend, the one I have is not warm enough.

I haven’t walked the entire Camino in a while. But I wonder what the situation is with blankets. You could carry a lighter bag and hope. The few albergues I stayed in on my short Camino last year had them. Of course you don’t want to be caught out. But I bet the Hospitaleros have some blankets hidden away. I know that as a hospitalera we have a few tricks up our sleeves we don’t always pull out.
Also, looks like you’re from Switzerland. What some people (not to mention people from mediterranean countries) think is cold…..

 

[J Willhaus]

Hope is not a plan...we did not have blankets at 4 of the 5 albergues where I served. Unless that is part of your criteria about where to stay, I would not chance it.

 

[JabbaPapa]

Anything rated beyond 0°C is probably unnecessary on the Francès, Portugues, and other Iberian routes.

Mine is rated ~ +5°C IIRC, and I did have two more unpleasant nights outdoors on my last Camino ; one in January 2019 near Cannes when it was about 0°C and wet, one in November last year near Burgos just under 0°C and wet (there was a fair amount of frost in the morning).

But then , both times it was because I was unable to find a well-covered spot. On other occasions with similar conditions, but I was able to find somewhere covered and protected, I've been fine, even if still outside.

I *do* though also have my woollen pilgrim cape which doubles as a blanket, so it's not just the sleeping bag ... but then there are usually blankets in the Albergues open in Winter, so it's the same more or less.