Camino Walking And Preparation Guide
Camino Walking And Preparation Guide
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    • Solo Vs Companion Walking
    • Training for Long Distance Walking
  • Training
  • Essential Equipment
    • The Right Boots, Trail Walking Footwear & Sandals.
      • Salomon Hiking Shoes and Boots.
      • Hanwag Boots
      • Lowa Boots
      • Meindl boots and hiking footwear
      • Scarpa Footwear
      • Skechers Footwear
    • Walking Poles
      • Black Diamond Trekking or Walking poles
      • Leki Walking and Trekking Poles
    • Backpack Essentials
      • Backpacks
        • Aarn Backpacks
        • Lowe Alpine Backpacks
        • Osprey
  • Walking Poles
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    • Socks
    • Shirts and Blouses
    • Trekking Trousers Underpants and Knickers
    • Rainproof Jackets, Ponchos, Rain pants and Gloves
  • Essential Aids
    • Sleeping Sheets & Sleeping Bag Liners
    • Sleeping Bags
    • Water Bladders and Bottles
    • Valuable Accessories
    • Blisters & Bed Bugs
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Camino Walking And Preparation Guide

Camino Preparation and Walking Guide

Backpack Essentials

What Weight will be on your feet?

In the book “Camino Ready. Backpacks, Boots & (no) Blisters” I provide a table showing the weights of essential items; it’s scary when you see how little weighs so much!! Also included are tips on choosing and packing your backpack as well as links.

I have learned the hard way the condition I arrive in is a function of

  1. both my total loaded backpack weight and
  2. how fast and far I walk each day.

Let’s face it: there are many things we would like to take with us and we make up our minds they are essential for security or comfort or health or personal hygiene. Uncertainty and fear can override all the advice you can get so I will try and put it in perspective for you.

Facts. Pressure on the hips, knees, ankles, tendons, and feet is determined by 1) our body weight, 2) the clothes we wear, and 3) the weight of our backpack. This ignores additional pressure from the terrain we are walking on. Steep up hill and downhill walking also has gravity pulling you backwards or forward.

This can be partly offset with walking poles and “why I like walking poles” in Chapter 8.

There is also a suggested packing list in Chapter 6 which cautions about carrying too much in your backpack. It is a very common problem as fear of something going wrong or not being prepared overrides all the advice about keeping weight down.

That’s why I called the Chapter “weight creep-a killjoy”. It is so tempting just to add extra clothes, toiletries, snacks and to take unnecessary items. We all do it, I certainly did on my first Camino. I have even seen middle age women and men getting ready to cross the Pyrenees for the first time with massive backpack loads full of makeup, books, extra clothing and all manner of stuff including a blow up airbed.

The pilgrims office in St Jean has a weighing scale and many have put their packs on there and just about collapsed having really only brought them from the aircraft and not having tried to carry them any distance. In these instances we urge them to post the excess to Santiago or send it home.

The albergues over the first 200-300 km are full of discarded items!

For more information please read my book  based on a certain amount of painful person experiences and lots of learnings from thousands of kilometres of walking.

 

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Info Topics

  • Aarn Backpacks
  • About Us. Camino Walking Guide.
  • Beginners Guide To Walking
  • Black Diamond Trekking or Walking poles
  • Blisters & Bed Bugs
  • Boots Made For Walking
  • Camino de Santiago
  • Camino Travel Agencies
  • Choosing The Right Route
  • Clothing, Shirts and Blouses, Buffs and Hats
  • Contact Us
  • Essential Aids
  • Essential Equipment-Overview
    • Backpack Essentials
    • Backpacks
    • The Right Boots, Trail Walking Footwear & Sandals.
    • Walking Poles, Reduce Strain on Joints.
  • Experience A Spiritual Journey
  • Hanwag footwear
  • Introduction To “Camino Ready. Backpacks, Boots & (no) Blisters”
  • Leki Walking and Trekking Poles
  • Lowa Boots
  • Lowa Packs
  • Lowe Alpine Backpacks
  • Meindl boots and hiking footwear
  • Osprey
  • Preparation
  • Rainproof Jackets, Ponchos, Rain pants and Gloves
  • Salomon Hiking Shoes and Boots.
  • Scarpa Footwear
  • Shirts and Blouses
  • Skechers Footwear
  • Sleeping Aids
  • Sleeping Bags
  • Sleeping Sheets & Sleeping Bag Liners
  • Socks
  • Solo Vs Companion Walking
  • The Camino Preparation Guide. How to successfully prepare for a Camino (and avoid failure!)
  • The North Face
  • Training
  • Training for Long Distance Walking
  • Trekking Trousers Underpants and Knickers
  • Valuable Accessories
  • Walking Techniques
  • Walking the Camino Frances from St Jean Pied de Port
  • Water Bladders and Bottles
  • Aarn Backpacks
  • About Us. Camino Walking Guide.
  • Beginners Guide To Walking
  • Black Diamond Trekking or Walking poles
  • Blisters & Bed Bugs
  • Boots Made For Walking
  • Camino de Santiago
  • Camino Travel Agencies
  • Choosing The Right Route
  • Clothing, Shirts and Blouses, Buffs and Hats
  • Contact Us
  • Essential Aids
  • Essential Equipment-Overview
    • Backpack Essentials
    • Backpacks
    • The Right Boots, Trail Walking Footwear & Sandals.
    • Walking Poles, Reduce Strain on Joints.
  • Experience A Spiritual Journey
  • Hanwag footwear
  • Introduction To “Camino Ready. Backpacks, Boots & (no) Blisters”
  • Leki Walking and Trekking Poles
  • Lowa Boots
  • Lowa Packs
  • Lowe Alpine Backpacks
  • Meindl boots and hiking footwear
  • Osprey
  • Preparation
  • Rainproof Jackets, Ponchos, Rain pants and Gloves
  • Salomon Hiking Shoes and Boots.
  • Scarpa Footwear
  • Shirts and Blouses
  • Skechers Footwear
  • Sleeping Aids
  • Sleeping Bags
  • Sleeping Sheets & Sleeping Bag Liners
  • Socks
  • Solo Vs Companion Walking
  • The Camino Preparation Guide. How to successfully prepare for a Camino (and avoid failure!)
  • The North Face
  • Training
  • Training for Long Distance Walking
  • Trekking Trousers Underpants and Knickers
  • Valuable Accessories
  • Walking Techniques
  • Walking the Camino Frances from St Jean Pied de Port
  • Water Bladders and Bottles
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