How do we prepare for a Pilgrimage Hike like this?

In the first post about our preparations I wrote about our spiritual and physical training. As promised, today I think I’ll tell you about a heavy subject -pack weight. Now this might sound like a boring subject, but I promise you it has a real life application.

Every Camino we have a balancing act to accomplish. The challenge pack everything you absolutely need, optimize the weight of those items and leave everything else behind. Why is this so important? Well beyond the obvious comfort issue i.e. it is certainly more comfortable to have to carry less weight around, there is the matter of health. Every ounce, or fraction of an ounce really adds up in terms of bodily abuse over the hundred of miles we will cover. Admittedly, some of our efforts seem really silly, but the “competition” to drive weight from our packs is kind of fun, particularly when you discover a weight savings that costs you nothing.

Some of the things we do are just obvious. We try to find lightweight gear. While lightweight gear is not cheap, ULTRAlightweight gear gets really expensive. Cost can become a major factor. But if cost was the only thing to consider it might be an easy series of trade-offs, but there is also durability and comfort to consider.

But the wisest advice I received about pack weight was,

“When you first pack your bag, 1/2 of the weight is ‘fear’. Leave the fear at home.”

You tend to pack unnecessary things that start with the justification “What if…” Getting rid of that fear is the easiest way to lighten your pack. This simple fact goes well beyond ultralightweight backpacking advice. In our insulated first-world bubble, we have grown dependent on so many unnecessary things. So many of our “wants” are described as “needs”. If I had to tell you the greatest gift that walking these pilgimages has given me it is that I recognize this more easily now and I live daily with more peace than I otherwise would have as a result.

So I might offer you a question: What in your backpack is fear? How many “what ifs” do you carry around every day? How much lighter would your burden be if you learned to have faith and drop those weights?

Ok, back to our weight challenge…

One cool way of reducing weight without cost is to make things dual-use. For example: your pack liner can be used as a ground cloth, your rain coat can be an insulation layer, and your neck gaiter can double as a pillowcase. Taking an item that can be used in many ways is a quick way to lighten your pack. Sharing items is also a quick way to drop weight i.e. if you’re travelling with others you both don’t need to bring a corkscrew.

But to be a true gram-weenie you need to get out the kitchen scales and start breaking down items into grams or ounces. Weigh everything. There shouldn’t be an item called “toiletries”, but rather several items like, toothbrush, toothpaste, medicine bottle, medicine bottle cap, pills, etc. Always remember that finding an ounce of savings in sixteen places is an entire pound that you don’t have on your back.

Here’s a list of the more “ridiculous” things that we have done to reduce weight:

• choose your ATM/Credit card wisely (some are lighter than others)
• reduce the size of safety pins (use to pin clothes on the back of your pack to dry when necessary and in lieu of clothes pins) and find some without the little curley-q on the bottom
• do you REALLY need all those bristles on that toothbrush?
• saw off the end of that same toothbrush handle and/or drill holes in it
• cut all the tags out of your clothes
• drop all of those convenient little storage/stow bags that items like sleeping bags, camp stoves, inflatable pillows and sleeping pads come in
• cut down the length of your backpack straps if your have extra
• cut down the length of your hiking poles if you’re not 6ft tall.
• use disposable water bottles and just refill them vs a dedicated water container
• use ziplok bags vs dedicated storage bags and to store your prescriptions
• if you really need a medicin bottle weigh them and the caps separately and choose the lightest combination
• leave that backpack rain cover at home and use a trash-compactor bag as a liner in your backpack
• bring those “stylish” convertible pants with zip off legs in lieu of both shorts and long pants
• if you’re travelling overseas buy dedicated chargers vs carrying our own and carrying a converter
• weigh the advantage of a water filter system vs carrying too much water
• check-out reusable zip ties vs caribiners – very handy

Before we leave we will post a gear review video to show you everything we are bringing.

In the next post I’ll talk about how we chose and planned our route across the Czech Republic, Germany, Switzerland and France.