Please bear in mind that these are personal opinions and a lot depends on your personal comfort levels, level of fitness, your own body’s reaction to a wide range of variables…and the fact that we did this in August whilst it was extremely hot!!!
Less busy times probably wont necessitate a sleeping mat (for instance), colder months probably wont benefit so much from the freeflow pack (in winter I would actually advise against it as you may get colder, faster). Like I say this is just what worked for us on a 13 day trek from Leon to Santiago in the first two weeks in August. Which I will definitely do again!!!
Pack: Berghaus Freeflow IV (for me 50 Litre for my partner Shell 32 Litre..and a womens design)
I know 50 litres sounds a lot and many people do this with way less but I found it perfect for two reasons. 1. The Freeflow packs have a weird design to keep the pack away from your back so its cooler (which is fantastic!!!) it works but it also makes it harder to pack so I say go a size bigger than you would normally choose to accommodate that. 2. It allowed me to carry more food which was very useful for those lunchtime hours when everything was shut!! I thoroughly recommend these packs for the warmer climates/months.
Boots: We both used Meindl Borneo Pro’s and loved them. This is despite them eating our feet in the first week because they weren’t sufficiently broken in. They are leather with NO gore-tex lining. I really don’t understand gore-tex in shoes. With a few exceptions its usually a very bad idea. Gore-tex is a PVU sheet with small holes in it, with a membrane on the back to protect it from the damaging effects of oils and sweat from the wearer. The idea is the holes will let water vapour out but not let water drops in. That’s it. eVent is the same thing but redesigned to do away with the protective membrane. Ok there’s a bit more science here but that’s basically it…. On a very hot dusty track (as a lot of the camino is) your boots will quickly get coated in dust. The dust will clog the pores. Your feet are then in plastic bags inside your boots. Not good. Some boots manage to deal with this but I’d recommend taking good advice on them first! Even leather boots need rinsing off each night to stay breathable. Whatever you choose, unless you are a very experienced walker (in which case why are you looking here) you need ankle support. For that I think you need decent boots. Spend the money!!! They don’t need to be leather like mine (but I will say my feet were happy in them and no hotter than in fabric boots) but they do need to be good. Cordura and similar fabrics are great…very tough, lightweight, very water resistant.
For those are about to take me to task on this and say “Why I did the camino in a pair of flip flops and was absolutely fine” – I congratulate you but I think it’s dangerous to suggest sandals/running shoes or similar to people doing this the first time. Imagine you’re a relative novice walker, imagine you’re going down into Molinaseca with no ankle support and your ankles are already weakened by the trek so far. Not good…. Each to their own of course but listen to your body. If you’re doing a long haul then you will be going down some steep slopes with loose rocks. If it’s raining it will be slippery. You can drive for months on motorways with bald tyres and no problems but would you take the risk if you had the choice?
Sleeping bag: Snugpak Travel Lite’s Cheap, pack small, not too hot but warm enough when needed. Not a lot else to say really! You could get by on a liner bag in the warmer months but I welcomed the bag, especially for the little extra padding and the warmth when we got into Galicia. Some of the nights were VERY cold. Personal choice as ever, but I think unless you’re going in the depth of winter a 1-2 season bag is enough. 20+ people in a room generates a lot of heat!
Sleeping mat: In the busier months I would say this is essential. We used Alpkit Slim Airic’s – a fraction of the price of Therm-a-rest but every bit as good I think! It packs small and doesn’t weigh too much. As I said earlier you probably wont need this in quieter months though – but July-Sept it would be advisable. I only used it once but I desperately needed a good nights sleep and a stone floor wasn’t going to provide that without the mat!! It was also nice to chill on
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Clothes: All (almost) specialist technical fibres but you don’t have to spend a fortune. For men Next (a UK high street store) do a range of men’s underwear called “Ultra Active” which does the whole wicking thing. And they’re great. Used them in horrendous temperatures and they worked a treat. They don’t seem to do a women’s range but almost any modern synthetic fibre should be ok. Just don’t use cotton!!!!!! (Unless it’s specially treated and even then I’d be suspicious) Cotton holds something like 4 times its own weight in water (ie sweat) and doesn’t give it up easily.
We had three sets of clothes (each bagged separately so as not to fish around for socks, shorts, tops etc – makes washing easier too!) but you could get away with two. No really….you can. This is a camino not a fashion show and you soon wont care anyway!!
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Trespass do a good range of t-shirts and zip-offs which are cheap and good quality. (Again UK high street) For socks we used smartwool and I probably wont use anything else now. I also tried bridgedale (ok but not great – but last longer than smartwool) and 1000 Mile (love em for trainers and light boots and short treks – but not for serious stuff).
Wash bag: Toothbrush, Toothpaste, Stick deodarant (use a crystal deodorant, ammonium dioxide I think…brand name is Crystal Springs. No smell, stops bacteria growing REALLY works and is very light. One stick will do two people about a month). All in one – hair/body/clothes wash from a specialist store. That’s it. What else do you need? (Note the word NEED) For a treat I had a very small travel size Lynx shower gel – didn’t need it in the slightest but I loved having a nice smell on my body once a day!!
First Aid Kit: You can buy a lot out there and a wider choice than the UK. For instance we can get Ibuprofen gel – which is good. There you can get Diclofenac Gel which is WAY better! Over here that’s prescription territory. It is fantastic stuff for swollen ankles/knees/bruises etc.
I needed to re-stock my kit twice but then it was used for a few people. Main things were: Compeed and Needle & Thread for blisters (if the blisters persists or keeps coming back then use the needle and thread it will heal much faster…just makes sure you keep it very clean) Antiseptic Spray, Crepe bandage (for strapping up swollen ankles – yours or someone elses!) Micropore or elastic, adhesive bandage; plasters; anti-histamines (for bites as well as stings); rehydration drinks (a few sachets wont hurt and they’re cheap), tweezers and scissors (I took a swiss army knife which was all the blade/screwdriver/scissors I needed)
This is essential, travelling on foot in countryside, especially places you don’t know, without a first aid kit is just plain dumb. End of.
Water bottle – you really only need one decent sports waterbottle. Very cheap to buy – about 75cl. I took two but one was a “proper” aluminium one – which tasted weird. So I used it to keep water in and then poured it into the other bottle to drink. On a side note – Isostar tablets make a fantastic tasting re-hydration and energy drink – they’re cheap and they don’t take up much weight/space. Only found them on the internet though.
trekking poles/walking sticks - are a personal choice. I really needed a stick and was glad I waited and got one out there. If you don’t know how to use trekking poles properly then I wouldn’t bother. The key thing with whatever you choose is that it supports your arm….if it’s a straight stick a loop of leather or something then your hand should rest comfortably in that loop at about 90 degrees. Otherwise you’ll get blisters from trying to grip a straight, varnished, pole. Mine had an inverted L shape so I had a form of handle on the top which was invaluable.
Whatever you take make it as little as possible….try putting a small bag with a 1kg weight on your back and then wearing it all day. See how you feel after that and then think how you’d feel with eight or 9 times that amount. Once you get past 10-11 (unless you’re quite big) it’s going to get crippling very quickly!. To keep documents in decent ziplock bags or see thru plastic pencil cases work well.
I’m sure many people will disagree with bits of this but I think for first timers it would work ok…. Hey if nothing else we might get a debate out of it!
Buen Camino!!!!!!!
Thank god for that!! I'll be honest I was beginning to wonder if maybe you'd become one of those people who'd one camino too many... 
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