You know it's too heavy, but you pack it anyway

[Dutchwalk53]

I brought a pair of lightweight (500 g.) Nike shoes, in addition to the boots that I walked in. No forum post that I can remember suggested extra shoes, except for plastic shoes for the shower that might be worn around the albergue or in towns. I wanted a pair of shoes for town use and took the shoes that I wore for that purpose in New Zealand last year. As I finished my camino ahead of schedule and had to wait for my return flight, I got a lot of comfortable all-day use out of these shoes as well as every evening after my shower. But there is no question that their weight added to an already heavy pack.

I brought 4 !!!! pairs. and will go it again next June. Hiking shoes, Hiking sandals, trail runners and flip flops. Best treat for my feet ever and no blisters. (and no my pack was not overweight at 18 lbs)

 

[Victoria_Peregrina]

On my first Camino I have not brought with me any electronics, but I had a heavy notebook with a sturdy cover and 300 good quality pages. I finished the notebook a few days before I finished the Camino and had to buy another one. But that's not the guilty part.

The guilty part is that I got starved for reading and bought a book at an English-language book store in Leon. The book was "The Broken Road" based on an unfinished manuscript of the third volume of Patrick Leigh Fermor's account of his walk across Europe. Fermor's walking experiences were quite different from mine on the Camino, but they still have strongly resonated with me.

It was extra weight but I could not resist it.

Victoria

 

[Stivandrer]

Six bars of soap. Well, I tend to go the other way. Hair shampoo & shower gel I bring in small bottles that will easily be bought or resupplied through the kindness of others, who bought too much. These detergents will also serve easily as clothes wah ! My woolen items and everything else. There must be a middle ground between washing every darned day and being stinky. Walking socks of wool do not deserve to be washed everyday, as are slow to dry properly. No need to be that cleanly & godly !!
But I will not dispense with the weight of a proper first aid kit 500 grms), a lenght of string for clothesline or emergencies and at Astrocarpet emergency bivuak (145 grms), a third pair of socks, an extra woolen jumper, woolen fingergloves, Buff and knitted cap when it is nippy and my 2 liter camel bay in the rucksack....

" String,
is a very important thing.
- Rope is thicker,
but string is quicker"

Spike Milligan

 

[Rob the Slob]

The guilty part is that I got starved for reading and bought a book at an English-language book store in Leon. The book was "The Broken Road" based on an unfinished manuscript of the third volume of Patrick Leigh Fermor's account of his walk across Europe. Fermor's walking experiences were quite different from mine on the Camino, but they still have strongly resonated with me.

It was extra weight but I could not resist it.

Victoria

I'm reading A Time of Gifts just now, the first book in the series. It's incredibly beautifully written, very evocative. (And because it's on my Kobo the weight isn't a concern.

 

[saiprem]

I have a condition of my back which requires me to have to sleep on a very soft surface which most albergues don't have. Therefore I have to travel with a cot size air mattress and an inflator. It's bulky and heavy, but what to do? I haven't decided yet, but I also might be taking a travel sized sleep apnea machine. It will help me sleep better and will give the people around me a break from my snoring.

In my younger and wilder days while backpacking through Mexico I actually carried lead weights in my pack so I wouldn't float like a cork while trying to dive in the Caribbean. I'll leave the lead weights behind to walk the Camino.

 

[Rob the Slob]

like Jimabfalter I like to have a coffee whenever I feel like it- so i take an espresso pot when cycling (have cooker onboard already) but managed to talk my husband into buying me a Handpresso (like a bike pump) as it is much lighter for walking.

I have a Handpresso too, and it's been on several of my hiking trips and has in fact been a wonderful luxury: I'm not an espresso drinker, so I add extra hot water to the cup, but it's lovely to have fresh coffee and take some time to unwind and enjoy the moment. Sadly, though, I don' think the Handpresso will be going with me on the Camino: even with a small thermos, the total weight and bulk of the device, the hot water and enough coffee pads to last the trip is prohibitive.

 

[Gabe]

Since it is the off season (for most of us) and we are coming up with items for discussion, here is one to consider.

Do you have an item that you know weighs too much, and that you shouldn’t put in your backpack, but you bring it anyway?

I’ll go first. Six bars of Dove soap. Why? I only brought one on my first camino, knowing that I could buy a bar of soap in a market. Given that I use the bar soap for not only personal use, but also for washing my clothes, my clothes began to take on the scent from the soap I had purchased. For me it’s worth the weight to not pull on my shirt and have it smell heavily like scented soap.

I also bring unscented deodorant for the same reason.

One positive thing. My pack gets lighter the closer I get to Santiago.

A huge heavy converter so I could charge my phone. It was ridiculous but my being cheap, or as I like to say, thrifty, kept me from upgrading my technology from the 90's to the lighter weight outlet converters you can get today.

 

[Stivandrer]

I have a Handpresso too, and it's been on several of my hiking trips and has in fact been a wonderful luxury: I'm not an espresso drinker, so I add extra hot water to the cup, but it's lovely to have fresh coffee and take some time to unwind and enjoy the moment. Sadly, though, I don' think the Handpresso will be going with me on the Camino: even with a small thermos, the total weight and bulk of the device, the hot water and enough coffee pads to last the trip is prohibitive.

I must admit, my luxury on the Camino has been the endless line of Cortados and excellent coffees in the ever abundant cafés along the trail. Never have I been able to reach this level of excellence, and will rather do without coffee makers from home...

" ...and if I cant get a proper cuppa coffee from a proper copper coffee pot, I´ll have a cup of tea !!"