Free To Walk Far, Carry Less : Camino de Santiago by Jean-Christie Ashmore

pilgrims do that anyway, and some will do so even if it’s cold inside the pilgrims’ refuge.
Finally, a tip that may be obvious but is worth mentioning: if it’s too warm, unzip your sleeping bag all the way and arrange it so it covers only part of your body.
Sleeping Pad
    Necessity or Luxury?
    Some pilgrims take a sleeping pad. It’s a good idea if you’re worried about the possibility of sleeping on a hard floor during the crowded Camino walking seasons.
    Every time I packed for a Camino journey, I considered taking a sleeping pad because I worried about that hard-floor scenario. Then, I’d remember Vidal’s words: “We carry our fears in our backpack.” So I’d throw away the fear and not take the sleeping pad.
    So far, I’ve never needed it.
    But I had the fear once again before walking the Vía de la Plata route. I’d read that the route was increasing in popularity, and that some refuges had few beds. For the first time, I carried a sleeping pad—just in case.
    The no-bed-for-me-tonight fear was never realized.
    But that sleeping pad became a delightful luxury. I sat on it every day while eating a picnic lunch, and sometimes unrolled it during the hottest part of the day to take a little siesta. I kept the pad strapped to the top of my backpack for quick and easy access.
    Still, I consider the sleeping pad an option, not a necessity. I’d eliminate the sleeping pad if my backpack’s total weight needed to be reduced.
     
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    Lightweight Notes
    Pillows
    Don’t carry one. Your sleeping bag’s stuff sack filled with extra clothes makes a satisfying little pillow.
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    An Inexpensive, Lightweight Sleeping Pad
    If you choose to take a sleeping pad, consider a closed-cell blue foam pad. It weighs and costs far less than other sleeping pads. (Some closed-cell pads come in other colors, such as gray, but these often weigh more than the blue ones.) “Closed cell” means that it doesn’t need air—the material’s density provides the padding.
    Most sleeping pads weigh well over a half kilogram (a pound). After I cut my blue foam pad to fit my body, it weighed 130 grams (4.6 ounces).
    A pad that reaches from the shoulders to the knees is long enough. If you need to sleep on a refuge floor, use a stuff sack filled with extra clothes for a pillow. Use your emptied backpack to cover the floor below the knees.
    Use Velcro straps to hold together the rolled-up pad; they weigh less than straps with metal buckles.
    A disadvantage of the blue foam pad: it’s not likely to last beyond one Camino journey, even if you don’t use it very much. That’s because it easily compresses and loses its thickness.
    Heavier and thicker sleeping pads often require someone (you) to blow air into them to inflate them. These pads are thick, long, wide, made of durable fabrics, and more comfortable than a blue foam pad—and they weigh too much. They’re best used for wilderness camping, where there’s no chance of finding a bed at night.
     
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    Gear Guide
    Accidental Smart Shopping
    I searched for “blue foam pad” on the website of a store where I’d recently bought such a pad.
    There were zero matches for the search.
    Over 200 “similar” items were listed, however.
    They all appeared to be the expensive (heavy) sleeping pads.
    Puzzled, I clicked on the very last page of the similar items.
    Voilà!
    The blue foam pad.
    Listed as “Blue Foam Pad.”
    Inexpensive option, listed last.
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    A friend’s blue foam pad. Velcro, rather than metal buckles, will eliminate a few grams (ounces) of weight from the straps wrapped around the pad.
    * * *
    Staying well fed and hydrated on the Camino is just as important as making sure you have a good setup to get some rest at night. We’ll take a closer look at food and water in the next chapter.

Chapter 7 Food and Water: Advice about the Heaviest Stuff You’ll Carry
    Food and water add more weight to the backpack than any other category of items. That weight diminishes