To Walk Far, Carry Less : Camino de Santiago (16 page)

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Now let’s look at how to organize the contents within your backpack.

It’s much easier to live out of a backpack when its contents are well organized. Try to organize backpack contents by category:

• Store blister treatments with the first aid kit.
  
• Combine all toiletry items.
  
• Put socks with underwear.
  
• Keep all rain gear in one bag.
  
• Stash a pocketknife and spoon in the food bag.
  

Keep categorized items in bags or sacks, using drawstrings to secure the contents. Use whatever size is needed for each category of items, and choose different colors for easy identification.

Although sacks or bags are not essential, most backpackers find them very helpful. After assembling your gear into categories, you’ll know how many bags to get and in what sizes.

Compression sacks
squeeze the air out of items to make them as small as possible, creating more space inside the backpack. Although compression sacks work well, especially for bulky sleeping bags, the straps and buckles used to cinch the sack tight do add extra weight. A lighter option, such as a stuff sack, can also compress fluffy things.

Stuff sacks
are lighter than compression sacks because they use a drawcord, instead of straps and buckles, to secure contents. They’re available in a variety of fabrics, such as siliconized fabric for waterproofness or mesh fabric for visibility (great for storing clothes).

Ditty bags
or sacks are smaller stuff sacks. If you want to protect a camera or mobile phone, a waterproof ditty bag works well. Or group together various small items—a snack bar, a box of mints, lip balm, a vial of sunscreen—in one ditty sack and store it in the backpack’s outside pocket for quick access.

Ziplock bags
are great for seeing contents at a glance. Current airport security guidelines require using a quart-size ziplock bag for liquids, so you’ll need at least one anyway if you’re flying to France or Spain. They’re also great for keeping maps and guidebook pages dry. I use a ziplock bag to separate emergency food from the other contents in my food bag. A ziplock bag could also be used to hold your money belt while showering in a pilgrims’ refuge, instead of leaving valuables somewhere you can’t keep an eye on them.

Ordinary plastic bags
can be useful, but choose the least crinkly type you can find: fellow pilgrims might be sleeping while you rummage through your backpack. Recycled-plastic shopping bags are often the least noisy choice. I use a “quiet” shopping bag from a clothing store to hold my alternate footwear and dirty laundry. A thin cellophane bag holds all my rain gear, which helps prevent the waterproof repellent from being scraped off the fabric when I pull the rain gear out of my backpack.

Accessory pockets
or pouches clip onto a backpack’s hip belt. Don’t forget to weigh them, because they still count as weight being carried. I once tried two clip-on pouches, but soon mailed them home. They’re awkward, especially when taking off the backpack. Keeping small miscellaneous items in a pants pocket or in a ditty bag kept in the backpack’s side pocket works better. Also, many backpacks now have small side pockets built into the backpack’s hip belt, perfect for holding the little things.

Balance

Walking with an out-of-balance backpack is like carrying two grocery sacks, one heavier than the other, for many kilometers. That imbalance could eventually cause strain or injury on the back, hips, knees, or feet.

Be sure that the load is spread equally across the body. Shift items inside the backpack and in the side pockets so the pack doesn’t tilt to one side while you walk. It should also feel like the weight of the pack is pushing you forward, rather than pulling you back. Keep the heaviest items toward the top and against your back. That helps prevent the shoulders from straining backward from the weight.

Aim for the overall feeling that the backpack is a comfortable part of your body, worn without much thought.

Access

Keep what you’ll need for the day’s walk close at hand: water, food, rain gear, sunscreen, sunglasses, guidebook, and maps. If you take a sleeping pad, carry it strapped to the outside of your backpack. Then it’s accessible for breaks, lunch, or an afternoon siesta.

Look for Camino gear at travel, outdoor, and/or sporting-goods stores. If you’re shopping online, be sure the company offers a liberal exchange policy. This especially pertains to footwear. It’s difficult to know how comfortable footwear is until it’s been tested by walking several kilometers with a fully loaded backpack.

Google is helpful when searching for specific items, such as a backpacker’s towel or a backpacker’s first aid kit. A search under the general category of “lightweight backpacking gear” will bring up a variety of online and local bricks-and-mortar stores that carry these types of items.

It can be overwhelming to sort through the many choices for backpacking gear. Knowing what others use often provides a shopping shortcut.

Before buying anything, visit pilgrims’ websites (a Google search will help you find the most up-to-date websites, and then you can click on their links to find more Camino-related websites). Many experienced pilgrims have even posted their Camino packing lists on their websites. Pay attention to the brand names or models of specific backpacking items that are mentioned by these experienced pilgrims. (Check the dates of the posts so you know if you’re getting the latest information.) If you’re not finding what you need to know, post a question yourself on the Camino pilgrimage forums or send an email to an experienced pilgrim through their website.

I’d recommend starting at the following English-language resource sites.

Confraternity of Saint James (
www.csj.org.uk
) doesn’t have a pilgrims’ forum, but they offer helpful links to additional information on planning your Camino pilgrimage.

Other general-information sites, with pilgrims’ forums for questions and answers about the Camino pilgrimage, are
www.caminodesantiago.me
and
www.caminodesantiago.me.uk
.

Gear Guide

Tip: Do a search on Google for “[item name, brand name, or trademark] problem.” That will guide you to discussions that offer a good starting point to research the quality of a particular brand, piece of gear, or type of fabric.

Some of my gear comes from local resources, but some of it I buy from companies that sell internationally. I’ve been pleased with the following items and companies. I don’t mention specific model names unless the item seems to be a product that the company continues to sell over the years. That’s because it’s not unusual for backpacking gear to be changed slightly, then renamed for a new product launch—or discontinued altogether.

GoLite

www.golite.com

• Jam Pack backpack
  
• Rain jacket
  
• Long-sleeve silk T-shirt
  

GoLite also sells sleeping bags and other well-made lightweight gear.

Western Mountaineering

www.westernmountaineering.com

I love Western Mountaineering’s Flight Series Vest. They have another vest, called the Flash Vest, that is even more lightweight: average total weight is about 99 grams (3.5 ounces). The Flash Vest weighs less than the Flight Series because it doesn’t have pockets or a collar. They carry other quality lightweight backpacking gear too.

Rick Steves

www.ricksteves.com

• Water-resistant paper map of western Europe, includes rail transportation information
  
• Pocket Pack: tiny backpack for carrying items in the evening while sightseeing, also handy for carrying groceries back from a store or bakery
  
• Money belt
  

The Rick Steves store carries a variety of travel-related items. Email to find out if they deliver to your country (they process orders outside the U.S. differently).

J. R. Liggett’s

www.jrliggett.com

Multipurpose body soap, shampoo, and laundry soap in an all-in-one bar. Don’t let the laundry-soap part scare you: it’s a very mild soap. There is a fragrance-free option.

Feet Relief

www.feetrelief.com

I buy toe gel caps from this company. They also carry a wide variety of other foot-care products. It’s not easy to find the toe gel caps from the main page. Click on “Products” at the top of the home page, then scroll down to “Feet Relief,” and finally click on the link “Toe Caps & More.”

Other Suppliers

I’ve also been happy with footwear, clothing, and other backpacking gear from REI (
www.rei.com
), hiking pants and shirts from ExOfficio (
www.exofficio.com
), and alternate footwear from Crocs (
www.crocs.com
). These companies have a limited sales range outside of North America; contact them for details.

It’s helpful to know something about the fabrics used in outdoor clothing and other gear like sleeping bags, although one could write an encyclopedia on this topic alone.

Serious backpackers frequently debate the best fabric choices for their gear. Look for discussions in lightweight-backpacking books or magazines or on websites that provide articles and/or reviews on outdoor gear. Read comments from the readers of those reviews too, as they might share their own experiences about specific gear or clothing. Google “lightweight backpacking magazines” to find many sites to choose from.

If you are (or want to be) fabric obsessed, visit
www.fabriclink.com
. Click “Trademark” on the left side of the website’s home page to access the Alphabetical Trademark/Brand Name Index. This is a descriptive list of almost 200 fabrics by trademark name, many of which you’ll see on labels for outdoor clothing and sleeping bags, such as Gore-Tex and Polartec. This list shows every trademarked variation for those two names and many others.

I don’t need so much detail; it’s good enough for me to know that Gore-Tex has provided me with decent rain protection for years, along with some degree of breathability in the garment fabric or footwear. I also find it good enough to know that the Polartec umbrella term, and whatever their latest generation of that substance, provides a decent synthetic insulation in clothing or sleeping bags when natural down fill is too expensive.

Remember that many of the established and trademarked fabric names have rivals worth considering. New products and technologies are invented and released into the marketplace every year. As mentioned earlier, you can do a Google search to learn more about the quality of any product with an unfamiliar name.

General Fabric Qualities

Most people are familiar with natural fabrics, such as cotton, wool, or silk. These fabrics are often blended with synthetic materials in backpack clothing or gear. Combining the much-loved properties of natural fabrics with fabric technologies can alleviate some of the drawbacks of the natural fibers and improve the performance of an outdoor garment—for example, through enhanced wicking properties and ease of care.

Other products are made entirely of synthetic materials, including some old standbys such as nylon. New synthetics are frequently invented, and many of them are especially targeted for backpackers, travelers, and those who participate in active sports.

Natural Fabrics in Outdoor Clothing

Cotton
holds moisture and takes a long time to dry. Even in cold weather you’re likely to perspire, and a constantly wet cotton T-shirt or even cotton pants next to your skin will make you feel miserable. Pure cotton is also heavier in weight than other fabric choices. Not recommended.

Silk
is lightweight, warm for its weight, and insulating, and has better wicking properties than cotton. Caution: silk items might have fussy wash-and-dry instructions. This is less of a concern if you choose silk blended with a synthetic fiber.

Microweight merino wool
is lightweight and less bulky than other wools. It’s also less likely to retain odors than other fabrics, and is more durable than cotton or silk. Some have reported that microweight merino wool is even comfortable to wear in hot weather. Use caution when drying a merino wool garment in a hot dryer; some brands might shrink. Read care labels and choose a dryer-friendly merino wool (it does exist) when possible.

Down Feathers
provide the best warmth-to-weight ratio. And down compresses well, so it takes up less space in the backpack. But a caution: down fill provides no insulation when wet. It’s especially not recommended for your outermost layer.