Winter packing list review help please - Dec/Jan Camino Frances

[Happy-walker-MN]

I just did the first "rough packing" of my Camino backpack in preparations for our mid December - January winter camino that my husband and I will be doing on the Camino Frances (St Jean to Finisterre hopefully). I would love some feedback if anyone would help review my list, and answer a few questions (at the bottom of this post)

We plan to stay at albergues and assume some will not have heat (or minimal heat), but we don't plan to sleep outside. We're mentally prepared to call a taxi to a bigger city if we get to a town that doesn't have anything open - we don't plan to sleep on any porches or outside except in emergency. With what we have I think we'd survive a night out but we aren't trying to pack to be "comfortable" in that situation.

There will be a few minor changes and things that I just put in something of similar weight that I'll substitute for later, but I came in around 22 lb (approx 10kg) which did include rain gear and hiking poles, but didn't include food, water, boots, or what I'll be wearing. Since my husband and I will be walking together, I made a best guess at splitting "half" the weight of what we'll be sharing so some of the items listed aren't in both packs as noted with a *.

- Backpack and pack cover: 60L is almost full and I LOVE this pack so shopping for a 45 or 50l pack is not something i want to consider
- front pouch to keep phone (doubles as camera) on my hipbelt for lots of easy picture taking
- Safety: High visibility / reflective vest, mylar sheet*
- Foam butt pad - to sit down on cold/snowy spaces for breaks
- Hiking poles
- Rain gear: Goretex jacket and pants
- snow/ice hiking: knee high gaitors, studded soles, hiking boots
- thin down jacket
- thin fleece jacket
- shirts: one each thin 150g wool and polypro long sleeve, one short sleeve
- leggings: one wool, one polypro
- underwear x 3, socks x3, liner socks
- nylon pants: one (plus one for in towns?)
- warm gear: hat, neck gaiter, neoprene gloves, thin poly gloves
- sun gear: cap with visor, sunglasses, sunscreen*, lip balm with SPF*
- in town: Fabric stuff sack that is suitable as a daypack in towns*, crocs shoes,
- minimal cooking: nalgene 1L water bottle, small titamium pot*, covered large cup*, spork, swiss knife with wine opener*
- sleeping: -20deg F (-28C). sleeping bag, compression sack, and plastic garbage bag as extra water protection, silk liner, use a filled stuffsack bag as pillow, earplugs. Treat with permethrin before going.
- toiletries: shower bag with hook*, toothbrush, toothpaste*, soap*, shampoo*, "woman things", TP, TP waste baggie, hand sanitizer, deodorant, comb, hair elastics
- vision: glasses and contacts
- small mircorfibre washcloth, pack towel pack towel (approx 0.5m x 0.75m size)
- health care: bodyglide*, tegaderm with duct tape (system I have found best for blisters in the past), antibiotic ointment*, a few pills* (immodium, cold pills, ibuprofen)
- repairs: duct tape (wrapped on hiking poles), small sewing kit*, 3 safety pins*, 2 meter length of cord*
- misc small silnylon bags for organizing clothes, etc.
- luxury items: iphone and charger, earphones, kindle and charger, power converter*
- documents: passport, ID, credit card and ATM cards, laminated card of emergency contacts
- Guide: guidebook*, app loaded on phone, GPSkit app loaded on phone

A few of the questions I have -
- is a -20deg F (-28C) sleeping bag complete and ridiculous overkill? We already own two of these: a one-sided down bag weighing 3lb 10 oz (1.75 kg). This will rely on the albergue providing a mattress or pad of some sort - we're not planning to carry a sleeping mat but in emergency our two butt pads could help keep an injured person off the snow. Or we could buy a 15degF (-9C) bag and save approximately 0.5 kg each person. I'm kind of torn here between having a bit of extra weight vs knowing we'd be toasty warm all the time. Has anyone slept in a 15F bag in unheated albergues and been too cold?
- Being winter we will rely on goretex jacket and pants also for warmth, so I wouldn't eliminate those and do a poncho instead. But, knowing nothing is waterproof perfectly should we also do a poncho?
- our knee-high gaitors are made of a pretty heavy materials (I think they weigh around 10 oz). I'm "hoping" we won't need to wear them every day, planning more for only when snow is above our boots. I'm considering making an ultralight pair from silnylon (not breathable) - does this sound like a good plan or bad?
- nylon pants: they dry quickly, but should I carry one for hiking (and getting muddy) and one to wear around town?

Thank you in advance for any feedback and suggestions anyone can offer!

 

[Kanga]

I'd like to help out with a response but as I've never walked the Camino in winter don't feel qualified. We really need one of our experienced winter walkers to respond!

 

[SYates]

Ok, I give it a go. First of all the Camino is not a wilderness walk, you will cross multiple villages/towns each day. For a list of albergues open in winter see http://www.aprinca.com/alberguesinvierno/ They all have beds, so no worries there. Most of them have some sort of heating, not always very effective but existent. I copied part of your packing list below and added my comments in italics.

- Safety: High visibility / reflective vest, mylar sheet*

I never used nor needed any of this, unless you plan to walk at night (and why would you?) I would leave all of this at home. The mylar sheet isn't necessary either. As I wrote, you are not out in the wilderness and the response time of emergency services is usually excellent. Worst case scenario pack injured person in your sleeping bags.


- snow/ice hiking: studded soles

Snow you will most likely encounter, but ice rarely, as long as your hiking boots have soles with a good grip you don't need extra studded soles.

- thin down jacket
- thin fleece jacket

Leave the fleece jacket at home, the down jacket plus your Goretex jacket should be plenty.

- shirts: one each thin 150g wool and polypro long sleeve, one short sleeve

I would only take long sleeves ones, you can roll up the sleeves if it really gets to hot.

- nylon pants: one (plus one for in towns?)

Not sure what you are referring to, I would simply take two hiking trousers/pants, no extra town outfit.

- minimal cooking: small titamium pot*, covered large cup*,

Unless you are on a real tight budget I would leave those at home.

- sleeping: -20deg F (-28C). sleeping bag, compression sack, and plastic garbage bag as extra water protection, silk liner,

Complete over killl, you are not going to Antarctica nor do you plan to sleep outside. I would take a light weight three-season bag with comfort temperature around 0-5C and that would be plenty. I also would think twice about taking a silk liner.

- toiletries: shower bag with hook*, soap*, shampoo*, hand sanitizer, deodorant

How heavy is the shower bag empty? Also I would only take shampoo which doubles as soap, washpowder and shower gel, no need for hand sanitizer (we rarely use them in Europe and are still alive ;-) ) and the deodorant will not make much of a difference. Pilgrims do smell a bit at the end of the day, deo or no deo.

- repairs: duct tape (wrapped on hiking poles), 2 meter length of cord*

Duct tape, just make sure your gear is in good shape before you go. In emergency case you can always buy it on the road. And for what do you need the cord?

- luxury items: kindle and charger

Put the Kindle App on your iPhone instead.


- is a -20deg F (-28C) sleeping bag complete and ridiculous overkill? See above.

But, knowing nothing is waterproof perfectly should we also do a poncho?

I am a Poncho person, so I always take one.

- our knee-high gaitors are made of a pretty heavy materials (I think they weigh around 10 oz). I'm "hoping" we won't need to wear them every day, planning more for only when snow is above our boots. I'm considering making an ultralight pair from silnylon (not breathable) - does this sound like a good plan or bad?

You can buy a pair of light weight gaiters instead. Whilst there are days with deepish snow they have never been typical in my experience.

Hope that helps a bit and Buen Camino! SY

 

[Happy-walker-MN]

Thank you SYates for the wonderful response (and Kanga for the kind note). I think you've helped me to decide to eliminate a few things and save some weight: We'll do the lighter sleeping bag and lighter gaitors, eliminate mylar and compass (gps on phone should also cover this need), cord, sanitizer, soap, mylar sheet. My shower bag is a tiny nylon and mesh pouch- very lightweight. I really appreciate your response and don't want to behave like I am not listening to it, but I guess I'm still considering a few items based on what I've read on on this forum from others. I'd love additional thoughts on these items if anyone is willing to help add your opinions:

- safety high visibilty vest and blinking light: I thought I had read somewhere that it is now a law in Spain that to walk on a road in "inclement weather" that these were required? And based on the maps I've seen (and mspath mentioning that if a trail is impassable the road my be the only route) it seems likely that we need to be prepared for road walking during rain or snow?

- small titanium pot (size of a very large coffee mug, purpose is for the immersion heater which I think would melt our water bottles and plastic cup), covered large cup, immersion heater: i think it was mspath and reference to sillydoll who said they really enjoy having some cooking capability. Especially since we'll be walking over the Christmas holidays, New Years, and Three Kings Jan 6th - my main reason for bringing this is that I wonder if we will have times where no bars are open and we may be in an albergue that doesn't offer kitchen supplies? Is this a possibility or unlikely? We will likely be between Los Arcos and Belorado for Christmas, I'd love it if we can make it to Granon but I think that will be too many km per day based on when we can start.

- studded soles: i live in a place that gets a lot of snow, and at least here when snow gets packed down/walked on, and then slightly warmed up from the sunshine it can be very slippery. Will the snow in Spain melt completely off in a few days so that this icey-packed-snow is not common? I wear these for winter walks around my neighborhood - they are not necessary but I find I can walk more smoothly and with a more fluid gait with them. While I'm not worried about weight at home it seems like if I wear them at home I should also bring them on a camino? I can't find a published weight for them but I think they are around half a pound (o.2 kg).

Thank you!

 

[Happy-walker-MN]

I wanted to do a followup on my gear list, now that I'm home and had a wonderful time on the Camino Frances from Dec 8 - Jan 21 from St Jean Pied de Port to Finisterre. We had a wonderful time, a BIG mix of weather, and of course learned a few things about our gear (and other pilgrims gear) along the way.

Going back to my original list, with comments on what worked, what didn't, or things I may change next time:

- Backpack and pack cover: 60L is almost full and I LOVE this pack so shopping for a 45 or 50l pack is not something i want to consider.
- front pouch to keep phone (doubles as camera) on my hipbelt for lots of easy picture taking. The velcro broke so I ditched it, I could reach side pocket of my backpack which worked great, with ziplock baggy for rain protection.
- Safety: High visibility / reflective vest , mylar sheet*. We didn't bring the whistle with compass or mylar sheet and we didn't feel we needed them. We ditched the high vis vest in Pamplona, and only my husband kept his blinking LED light. It's a safety comfort decision I think: our ponchos were very bright and had reflective strips on them (and could be unzipped to avoid overheating if it wasn't raining) so in heavy fog and when we did our one before-the-sunrise dark start those worked fine. The blinking light was very light and gave an extra sense of visibility on the roads but only used twice. Headlamp - I would definitely bring one - good for dark albergues at night, and gives you the option to do some night / before the sunrise hiking.
- Foam butt pad - to sit down on cold/snowy spaces for breaks. I would bring this again.
- Hiking poles: My husband often times doesn't use poles on other hikes, and he never used his. I usually use two poles on a lot of hikes, and I used mine maybe for an hour or two for 10 different sections. They were nice on the downhills which some are moderately steep and go on for several km which can wear on your knees. We did a light-pack finish to Finisterre (left a lot of things in Santiago), and for that I decided to only bring one. Depending on your knees and how your body likes downhills I'd say you could skip them, but I'm in favor of bringing at least one to help take the wear off of your body. Also for me, I wouldn't go without one because I felt safer having one available for some unpolite dogs. We didn't get bit or need to use the pole on any dogs, but we had 3-4 occurances that were pretty unpleasant and having a pole made me feel like I could at least try to defend myself if the dog situation got bad.
- Rain gear: Goretex jacket and pants. We added some silnylon ponchos that I made which were AWESOME. Without them our trip would have been very different and much less pleasant because we had a lot of rain, but temperatures were not really cold enough for Goretex to work well without making you very hot and sweaty (this is a personal opinion, but I like cold weather so hiking in Goretex in any temperature above freezing is too warm for me unless it is really windy. Our ponchos also doubled as a pack cover, and had a full zipper in the front, snaps under the arms so good ventilation, and long sleeves to help keep our arms and hands out of the wind. We saw others who had thin cheap plastic ponchos which didn't work (too hot due to no front zipper ventilation, or one guy who had two of them rip in the wind so we loaned him ours or he was going to call a cab down fro O Cebriero because he was cold and getting wet.). I highly recommend getting a good poncho. With our ponchos we didn't wear the Goretex often - only when it was colder windy rain or when we had snow on Foncebadon and O Cebriero. I would definitely bring pants again. We used the pants a bit more because they kept us warmer with the poncho on top when it was some quite windy days in the 2-3 deg C temps. The Goretex jacket made us very comfortable so we really enjoyed the snow (see my other post for pictures), but I think with a good poncho and warm layers you could survive without a Goretex jacket.
- snow/ice hiking: knee high gaitors, studded soles, hiking boots. Gaitors not needed; we had shin high snow in a few places on Foncebadon but with goretex pants we didn't get too wet in the ankles. Also - even if you do get a bit wet you can just keep walking and be in a warm albergue in a few hours anyways. We ditched the studded soles halfway - we did have 2-3 places where if I had them with me I would have put them on (we each fell one time on ice) - this was in cities when the morning frost had left a glare coating of ice on sidewalks or a steeper road section. I think this type of ice coating is somewhat uncommon so I'm not sure if it's worth carrying the extra weight - and I guess if it is a problem you can not walk until the ice clears, or we were able to walk in the road that was less icy. I would consider bringing the studded soles again but it seems likely you wouldn't need them. I wore a lightweight boot the whole way, my husband had boot problems and bought new vibram-soled hiking shoes which worked good. Other than a few areas of deeper snow and/or deep puddles that made shoes a bit less ideal, the shoes worked great for him but I'd strongly recommend getting a shoe with a "hiking sole" like Vibram - I think a basic running shoe wouldn't grip good enough.
- thin down jacket: Would bring again: Too warm to wear when hiking (would have gotten too wet and sweaty), so it was only used mostly only at breaks and around town after stopping walking for the day. Also is a good piece of mind that if you do have a problem (sprained ankle, etc.) you have some extra warmth available.
- thin fleece jacket: would bring again - we both wore our fleeces almost every day. Full zipper was nice so allow for adjusting temperatures.
- shirts: one each thin 150g wool and polypro long sleeve, one short sleeve polypro. I added another wool (200g?) long sleeve along the way - that way I could wear two while hiking and still have a dry one to change into at the albergue. I think I'd probably swap the long sleeved polypro one for another wool one next time around - I found I preferred the wool since the temps were slightly cooler (but I love polypro in summer hikes)
- leggings: one wool, one polypro. I'd probably just go with the one wool leggings, the other polypro I wore a few times around albergues at night, but my second nylon pants were good for that too.
- underwear x 3, socks x3, liner socks. I got a new pair of lighweight (non-hiking) socks that I preferred to wear around the albergues/ at night in the towns. So change that to 2x hiking socks, 1x lounging socks.
- nylon pants: one (plus one for in towns?) I ended up with two which was good for me: one for hiking, one to change into at the end of the day for around the albergue/town.

*** the website won't let me post the full response - too many words - continued in second post below ****

 

[Happy-walker-MN]

*** the website won't let me post the full response, so this is continued from the post above ***

- warm gear: hat, neck gaiter, neoprene gloves, thin poly gloves. Hat, neck gaitor and thin poly gloves were good. I used the neck gaitor as a headband A LOT when the hat was too warm. We didn't bring neoprene gloves - the thin poly was fine: there was a few days where our hands got a little colder but we could pull them up in our goretex sleeves or ponchos and with the wind blocked it was warm enough. If you are someone that will be hiking with poles where you need your hands out more, I'd recommend a warmer / waterproof pair of gloves though.
- sun gear: cap with visor, sunglasses, sunscreen*, lip balm with SPF*. All good - we also found the visor on the cap very useful to help keep rain off of your face and eyes when it is windy. It was surprising how the rain often times is blowing straight in your face.
- in town: Fabric stuff sack that is suitable as a daypack in towns*, crocs shoes. I would trade the crocs for a lighter simple sandal next time: the crocs were nice but I would prefer something lighter and if it is snowy/rainy just wear hiking boots around town at night.
- minimal cooking: nalgene 1L water bottle, small titamium pot*, covered large cup*, spork, swiss knife with wine opener*. A couple weeks in we ditched the pot, immersion heater, and covered large cup after realizing that we just weren't using them very much and didn't really NEED them. If you are traveling on a tight budget it may be good to have more cooking options, but we found that we could either use albergue cooking tools or we were happy to go out and pay at a restaurant/bar. We did use the army knife and spork to spread Nutella or pate on bread for lunches - in winter a lot of places didn't have anything open so having some basic ability to eat food while sitting on a rock or a bench is needed.
- sleeping: -20deg F (-28C). sleeping bag, compression sack, and plastic garbage bag as extra water protection, silk liner, use a filled stuffsack bag as pillow, earplugs. Treat with permethrin before going. We brought -7 deg C rated down bags and no liner. There were times I was way too warm so I wished I had a liner (next time I will probably bring a thin silk sheet also), but there were also times when it was very cold and I was glad I had that temp rating in my sleeping bag. But I saw folks that didn't have as thick of bags, and they just used the extra blankets at the albergues and they were fine. We did have two minor cases of bedbug/flea issues so the blankets didn't seem like something I wanted to use a lot, but I know a lot of people used them without problems too.
- toiletries: shower bag with hook*, toothbrush, toothpaste*, soap*, shampoo*, "woman things", TP, TP waste baggie, hand sanitizer, deodorant, comb, hair elastics. All were good. Also add nail clipper. As a woman with long and thick hair, I would also consider getting a small hairdryer. It sounds like an unnecessary luxury item, but I found that I would be cold for hours if I showered and got my hair wet in many albergues: even ones with heat may only be 14 deg C which makes for a cold wait for your hair to air dry. A few places had hairdriers that you could borrow which was great, and I was comfortable not shampooing for several days sometimes so it wasn't a major problem, but I really would have enjoyed having a hairdryer and would consider bringing on one a future winter camino.
- vision: glasses and contacts.
- small mircorfibre washcloth, pack towel pack towel (approx 0.5m x 0.75m size). Good, smaller packtowel (0.25m x 0.6m size) was enough for drying, but not good for modesty so go with what you are comfortable with. Most places had small private areas for dressing, but not all (but you could also dress in the shower I guess).
Small size (10" x 24" or so) was good for drying but not for modesty so take a size that you are comfortable with.
Small size (10" x 24" or so) was good for drying but not for modesty so take a size that you are comfortable with.
Small size (10" x 24" or so) was good for drying but not for modesty so take a size that you are comfortable with.
- health care: bodyglide*, tegaderm with duct tape (system I have found best for blisters in the past), antibiotic ointment*, a few pills* (immodium, cold pills, ibuprofen). Good items. Both my and my husband had a few issues (blister for my on my arch, blister under his toe joint) that prompted us to buy a different (gel) insole just to make a change in how the boots worked with our feet. For us this was a good way to change things to allow a bit of blister healing while still walking, but may not be very common.
- repairs: duct tape (wrapped on hiking poles), small sewing kit*, 3 safety pins*, 2 meter length of cord*. Good items - we didn't bring the cord and didn't feel like we needed it.
- misc small silnylon bags for organizing clothes, etc.
- luxury items: iphone and charger, earphones, kindle and charger, power converter*
- documents: passport, ID, credit card and ATM cards, laminated card of emergency contacts
- Guide: guidebook*, app loaded on phone, GPSkit app loaded on phone. I would definately bring all of these again next time. Our international phone plan would have made using the GPS app very expensive to have on all of the time and it wasn't needed most of the time. But there were several cases where it saved us from doing some significant backtracking when we missed a turn (in a vineyard before Burgos, we ended up around 1.5 km off the camino but could see a more direct farm road that would take us back to it), and when the camino wasn't marked very well (or had conflicting markings since it seems like they are in the process of rerouting it before Portomarin and O Pino).

Sorry for the super-long post - but hopefully this helps someone who may have questions about how to plan for their winter camino! It was a wonderful experience, and while we may have carried more weight than some people do, and more than is really necessary to "survive" it, we were very happy to be well prepared and comfortable in the wide range of conditions we saw. Our packs with poles and water and snacks probably weighed around 11-12 kg on average (or more when the Nutella jar and mustard bottle were full, haha). On our last 3 days to Finisterre where we knew the temps were warmer and we only had a few days to go we dropped the pack weight down to probably around 8-9 kg which felt nice, but it wasn't SO much better that I would trade that lower weight for our comfort in all of the other conditions earlier in the camino: We had some sunny temperatures of 18 deg C, and some very windy and snowy temperatures of maybe -7 deg C (felt colder due to the wind), and A LOT of rainy days - like 15 of 18 days after Leon had at least some rain if not nearly all day rain - which were in the 4 to 12 deg C temperature range (we were told that in Galicia at this time of year you should expect a lot of rain).

It is a great experience - we loved our winter camino and would recommend it to anyone considering it!

 

[katie@camino]

*** the website won't let me post the full response, so this is continued from the post above ***

- warm gear: hat, neck gaiter, neoprene gloves, thin poly gloves. Hat, neck gaitor and thin poly gloves were good. I used the neck gaitor as a headband A LOT when the hat was too warm. We didn't bring neoprene gloves - the thin poly was fine: there was a few days where our hands got a little colder but we could pull them up in our goretex sleeves or ponchos and with the wind blocked it was warm enough. If you are someone that will be hiking with poles where you need your hands out more, I'd recommend a warmer / waterproof pair of gloves though.
- sun gear: cap with visor, sunglasses, sunscreen*, lip balm with SPF*. All good - we also found the visor on the cap very useful to help keep rain off of your face and eyes when it is windy. It was surprising how the rain often times is blowing straight in your face.
- in town: Fabric stuff sack that is suitable as a daypack in towns*, crocs shoes. I would trade the crocs for a lighter simple sandal next time: the crocs were nice but I would prefer something lighter and if it is snowy/rainy just wear hiking boots around town at night.
- minimal cooking: nalgene 1L water bottle, small titamium pot*, immersion heater*, covered large cup*, spork, swiss knife with wine opener*. A couple weeks in we ditched the pot, immersion heater, and covered large cup after realizing that we just weren't using them very much and didn't really NEED them. If you are traveling on a tight budget it may be good to have more cooking options, but we found that we could either use albergue cooking tools or we were happy to go out and pay at a restaurant/bar. We did use the army knife and spork to spread Nutella or pate on bread for lunches - in winter a lot of places didn't have anything open so having some basic ability to eat food while sitting on a rock or a bench is needed.
- sleeping: -20deg F (-28C). sleeping bag, compression sack, and plastic garbage bag as extra water protection, silk liner, use a filled stuffsack bag as pillow, earplugs. Treat with permethrin before going. We brought -7 deg C rated down bags and no liner. There were times I was way too warm so I wished I had a liner (next time I will probably bring a thin silk sheet also), but there were also times when it was very cold and I was glad I had that temp rating in my sleeping bag. But I saw folks that didn't have as thick of bags, and they just used the extra blankets at the albergues and they were fine. We did have two minor cases of bedbug/flea issues so the blankets didn't seem like something I wanted to use a lot, but I know a lot of people used them without problems too.
- toiletries: shower bag with hook*, toothbrush, toothpaste*, soap*, shampoo*, "woman things", TP, TP waste baggie, hand sanitizer, deodorant, comb, hair elastics. All were good. Also add nail clipper. As a woman with long and thick hair, I would also consider getting a small hairdryer. It sounds like an unnecessary luxury item, but I found that I would be cold for hours if I showered and got my hair wet in many albergues: even ones with heat may only be 14 deg C which makes for a cold wait for your hair to air dry. A few places had hairdriers that you could borrow which was great, and I was comfortable not shampooing for several days sometimes so it wasn't a major problem, but I really would have enjoyed having a hairdryer and would consider bringing on one a future winter camino.
- vision: glasses and contacts.
- small mircorfibre washcloth, pack towel pack towel (approx 0.5m x 0.75m size). Good, smaller packtowel (0.25m x 0.6m size) was enough for drying, but not good for modesty so go with what you are comfortable with. Most places had small private areas for dressing, but not all (but you could also dress in the shower I guess).
Small size (10" x 24" or so) was good for drying but not for modesty so take a size that you are comfortable with.
Small size (10" x 24" or so) was good for drying but not for modesty so take a size that you are comfortable with.
Small size (10" x 24" or so) was good for drying but not for modesty so take a size that you are comfortable with.
- health care: bodyglide*, tegaderm with duct tape (system I have found best for blisters in the past), antibiotic ointment*, a few pills* (immodium, cold pills, ibuprofen). Good items. Both my and my husband had a few issues (blister for my on my arch, blister under his toe joint) that prompted us to buy a different (gel) insole just to make a change in how the boots worked with our feet. For us this was a good way to change things to allow a bit of blister healing while still walking, but may not be very common.
- repairs: duct tape (wrapped on hiking poles), small sewing kit*, 3 safety pins*, 2 meter length of cord*. Good items - we didn't bring the cord and didn't feel like we needed it.
- misc small silnylon bags for organizing clothes, etc.
- luxury items: iphone and charger, earphones, kindle and charger, power converter*
- documents: passport, ID, credit card and ATM cards, laminated card of emergency contacts
- Guide: guidebook*, app loaded on phone, GPSkit app loaded on phone. I would definately bring all of these again next time. Our international phone plan would have made using the GPS app very expensive to have on all of the time and it wasn't needed most of the time. But there were several cases where it saved us from doing some significant backtracking when we missed a turn (in a vineyard before Burgos, we ended up around 1.5 km off the camino but could see a more direct farm road that would take us back to it), and when the camino wasn't marked very well (or had conflicting markings since it seems like they are in the process of rerouting it before Portomarin and O Pino).

Sorry for the super-long post - but hopefully this helps someone who may have questions about how to plan for their winter camino! It was a wonderful experience, and while we may have carried more weight than some people do, and more than is really necessary to "survive" it, we were very happy to be well prepared and comfortable in the wide range of conditions we saw. Our packs with poles and water and snacks probably weighed around 11-12 kg on average (or more when the Nutella jar and mustard bottle were full, haha). On our last 3 days to Finisterre where we knew the temps were warmer and we only had a few days to go we dropped the pack weight down to probably around 8-9 kg which felt nice, but it wasn't SO much better that I would trade that lower weight for our comfort in all of the other conditions earlier in the camino: We had some sunny temperatures of 18 deg C, and some very windy and snowy temperatures of maybe -7 deg C (felt colder due to the wind), and A LOT of rainy days - like 15 of 18 days after Leon had at least some rain if not nearly all day rain - which were in the 4 to 12 deg C temperature range (we were told that in Galicia at this time of year you should expect a lot of rain).

It is a great experience - we loved our winter camino and would recommend it to anyone considering it!

Thanks for all this detail - i am planning of a winter Camino in Dec18/Jan19 and this is really useful info!