Sensible Weight Reduction · All Things Camino

I’ve met pilgrims who go to extremes to lighten their load. One lady cut off half of her toothbrush handle to save weight. There really is no need to sacrifice to that extent!

Here are a few sensible weight-saving strategies:

Use multipurpose items. A buff, for example, can keep your neck warm in cold weather, cool you down if you wet it, and serve as a headband, balaclava or beanie.
Eliminate the ‘nice-to-haves’ and ‘might-need’ items. Be honest with yourself about what you are likely to use. If you discover that you really need something, you can usually buy it in a town or village along the way. Just don’t leave behind something important on the assumption that it will always be easy to replace.
Avoid carrying unnecessary books. Some pilgrims carry printed guidebooks, journals and paperback novels. A phone can replace much of this with route-guidance apps, e-books and digital journalling. Since you’re already carrying the phone, these functions don’t add any physical weight, although you’ll need to consider battery life and charging.
Ladies, this one is for you. Leave the make-up bag behind. I few essentials are OK, but keep the weight down. In Bill Bennet’s book ‘The way, my way’ he mentions a young lady who admitted to carrying 2kg of makeup. That’s excessive.
Minimise clothing and gear. Be selective about how much you take. The camino is not a fashion parade - You don’t need a different outfit for every day. We’ll discuss this in more detail in the Gear Selection and Packing List sections.
Pay special attention to the weight of items you move repeatedly. This is particularly important with footwear and hiking poles. A small difference in weight may seem insignificant when you pick it up in a shop, but you will be moving that weight thousands of times over the course of a Camino.
I recommend paying particular attention to the weight of your footwear. You may have heard the often-quoted statement that 1 kg on your feet is equivalent to 5 kg in your backpack. The exact comparison is debatable, but the underlying principle is sound: weight attached to your feet has to be lifted and moved with every step.

Example

The effect of weight on your feet

Suppose you have to choose between two equally comfortable pairs of shoes or trail runners, with one pair weighing 100 g more than the other. That’s only 50 g per shoe.

Now let’s assume you plan to walk the 780 km Camino Francés, with an average step length of 70 cm. You will take approximately 1,114,000 steps.

By choosing the heavier shoes, you will be moving an additional 50g with each step. If we add that repeated movement together, it amounts to more than 55,000 kg — or 55 tonnes — of cumulative additional weight moved over the course of the Camino.

Of course, you aren’t carrying 55 tonnes at any one time. This isn’t a measure of energy expended, either. It simply illustrates how a seemingly insignificant difference in weight can accumulate through repeated movement over time or distance.

So, when two pairs of shoes are equally comfortable and suitable for the terrain, I’d choose the lighter pair.

The same goes for hiking poles, provided you aren’t sacrificing comfort or reliability.

We’ll cover shoe and hiking pole selection in a lot more detail later. In my opinion, choosing your shoes is one of the most important choices you will make.