Winter Sleeping bag (too heavy?)

[CaminoMatto]

Hello everyone,

I have a question about winter sleeping bags.

My camino begins January 15th and I will be walking until sometime around the 20th of February. I purchased my sleeping bag recently which I was happy with.....until I started reading some forum posts that is. My bag is rated down to minus 5 celcius (comfort), compresses very small and has a weight of 3.1 pounds. Is this too heavy? I have been reading posts of people taking bags weighing as little as a pound, surely this is too light and thin for a winter camino?

I am just wondering if the bag I purchased is so heavy as to merit a return and a new (lighter) purchase?

Thanks!

Matt

 

[wayfarer]

Hi Matt, I walked the Frances from mid April to end of may and it was very cold at times. The bag I used weighed 1 kilo or 2.2 lbs and with a liner and albergue blankets this was more than adequate. I have since bought a 600 gram bag but have not used it yet so I cannot give you any info on it. I would say a 1 kilo bag should be sufficient used with a liner.

 

[whariwharangi]

The albergues were sometimes cold at night but the temperature was never even close to the freezing mark ... there are issues such as pipes to keep from freezing at the least. Some of the albergues were heated to the extreme ... the one in Arzua was set at 37C.

I carried a minus ten bag and only had it zipped up once (I got incipient hypothermia on the last ten km to Hontanas) ... but otherwise it was too warm. Even as a blanket it was sometimes too much.

 

[t2andreo]

If you have a choice, I would recommend that you opt for a lighter weight and warmer temperature sleeping bag. You will NOT be sleeping outside.

Consider; however, that you MAY be sleeping in an inside space that is cold, relatively damp, and not properly heated. There will be enough heat to keep the pipes from freezing. Most likely, the heat will be set to keep the inside temperature at least about 5-8 degrees Celsius or more. Many albergues operate on a minimal cost basis, so providing abundant warmth to pilgrims is a luxury their business model cannot afford. They are more concerned about protecting their building and the pipes, etc.

If you are in a bedroom with multiple bunk-style beds and a door that closes, the combined warmth of the multiple bodies will raise the temperature to a point where a two or three season sleeping bag will be plenty of insulation.

Don't forget, for as often as you will need the extra insulation, you can sleep fully clothed (wearing the clean outfit you plan to walk in the next day) and wearing your fleece outer garment(s), gloves and hat. For winter pilgrimage, I recommend a watch or balaclava style microfleece stretchy cap. I did that on a few occasions even in April and May. It is part of the Camino experience.

This is another justification to increasing your budget if you can and opting to sleep in inexpensive hostals, private albergues, casa rurales, or small hotels. They usually will, at least , give you a shot of heat through the radiators in the evening and then again early in the morning. It DOES make a difference. Luxury is finding a sleeping place with heat that YOU control or enough clean blankets to layer on a bed with clean linens.

I hope this helps.

 

[lettinggo]

Hola

When I walked a winter Camino I had a sleeping bag around the same weight and it worked out fine for me.
To give you an idea about what I was carrying, I started out with a back pack weighing around 10-11 kg and ended up with 14 kg.
I am a man, late 40's and in good physical condition.

Here are some advices regarding sleeping bags:

• Use an inner silk or fleece liner/bag.
A silk liner adds about 5° degree celsius to the bag and a fleece 8°.
On winter camping/trekking two liners are often used as the effect adds up and the liners are light weight.

• The sleeping bag does not make you warm.
It function as a thermo and isolate you.
This mean that it contains the warmth/heat you put in, so make some gymnastic before you enter and you will sleep warmer.
Think of the difference of poring cold or hot water into a thermo.

• Wear a beanie, scarf, long johns, gloves, cloth while sleeping.

• Unpack your sleeping bag early before going to sleep as the down/synthetic needs to unfold to provide maximum insulation.

• Ventilate you sleeping bag in the morning to get rid of sweat before packing it up.

• Do use a sleeping bag that matches your size. A to large result in to much air that needs to be heated and a to small result in to little air to provide best insulation.

• Put some hot water in your 0.5 water bottle and bring it into the sleeping bag.

• Never go hungry to bed. Energy equals heat.

• Remember to go to bathroom and pee off before going to bed.
The body uses a huge amount of energy if you are in a state that needs to go to the bathroom.

Buen Camino
Lettinggo

 

[brawblether]

The weight of your sleeping bag is not the important factor, what it is made out of is. So, last winter I carried a zero deg rating bag which weighs 675 grams. It was a little bit too warm but I was glad of it on those nights when there was no heating on in the albergues. -10 is way way too warm and, in my opinion, anything over 1.2kg is way too heavy to lug with you.