Testing your backpack before the Camino
Try your pack exactly as it will be on your first morning, with full bottles, lunch and room for the layer you will take off when you warm up. A short walk near home is a good place to discover a loose bottle or a jacket buried under your clean clothes.
Published on · Edition of
Pack for the walk between two overnight stops
Lay out what you need at night, a dry change of clothes and everything you expect to use during the day. Wear your starting outfit. Check that the bulkiest layer you are wearing will also fit inside the pack.
The Xunta’s Camino guide recommends trying the loaded backpack before departure. Weigh yours with the bottles full and record the figure so you can compare it with your next packing attempt.
Make three stops to use your gear
Have a drink, put on the rain jacket and take out a snack. If you have to lay clean clothes on the ground to find the jacket, give it a different pocket. Try a short descent or some steps and feel for a bottle swinging sideways or a hard edge pressing into your back.
Change one thing and repeat the awkward stretch
At home, separate weight problems from packing problems. If the bottle swung on the steps, secure it and take the same steps again. If you packed two jumpers for the same job, try the second setup with one jumper while keeping your rain protection and your dry change of clothes.
Your plan, step by step
- Fill the bottles and pack lunch
- Leave space for the layer you start out wearing
- Retrieve water and jacket on the walk
- Repeat the test after one change
Continue planning your trip
How to pack out picnic waste in Gran Paradiso
Take your walk with you: download Appy
Explore maps, stages and elevation in the app, and plan your train or bus journey.
