Sleeping bag rating for the mountains in spring...

[alexat]

Hallo,

First of all - thanks to all of you in this warm and generous community. Every time I have had a question, I've found a thread where someone else asked the same question years ago and it was answered helpfully, with a lovely mix of practicality and care

This question has too many general key words, though - so I'm putting it out there on its own thread.

I'm planning for my first Camino, next April-May. My plan is to start from SJJP on the Frances, turn right at Leon to Oviedo via San Salvador, and then follow the Camino Primitivo to Santiago/Finisterre.

It's my first Camino, but not my first multi-day hike - I've done a lot of wildnerness thru-hiking in Australia and New Zealand. So in some ways I'm experienced (feels like a luxury to not need to take a tent/stove/fuel/water purification system/week's-supply-of-food!!!) and in other ways there is a LOT that I don't know.

I'm navigating what gear to save up and get Camino-specific things for – and what to use what I already have and use.

I saved up for a new smaller and lighter backpack, as my usual big hiking pack is 2.5kgs on its own.

Am trying to figure out if I also need to do the same with sleeping bags. The blogs/forum suggest that while it might be warm or hot for sections – in the mountainous routes (San Salvador and Primitivo) in April/May it could also be snowing.

If I was camping in the snow, I'd take a sleeping bag rated at -10. I have one of these. It's on the heavier side (1.7kgs).

While I've mostly camped, I've done a couple of hikes with huts - one, the Overland track, the night I didn't tent it and stayed in a hut, the walls were thick and the room was warm and I was SWELTERING because the sleeping bag was far too hot for a room full of warm bodies.

The other time I stayed in a hut was in some mountains in New Zealand - I was in a borrowed sleeping bag, it was a less new hut, and inside the hut that night I was the coldest I've been in my life (spend the night violently shivering, and woke up with my water bottle a solid iceblock by my head).

What should I prepare for in the Asturias

My existing options are:

~ my OG hiking-in-mountains down sleeping bag, rated to -10, 1.7 kgs.
~ newer





I've been here quietly dreaming of Caminos for many years (even had flights booked in 2015 one that I had to cancel, and another in early 2020... third time lucky?)

 

[alexat]

Hahaaaaa ok this is clearly my first post - I have now discovered that pressing 'return' twice quicky posts the post!!

To quickly finish my half-written quesiton, my existing options are:

~ my OG hiking-in-mountains down sleeping bag, rated to -10, 1.7 kgs.
~ newer goose-down hiking quilt, about 1kg packed weight, rated to -8. Lighter, but I am worried about ruining it in a hot dryer if it ends up being bed-bugged (I LOVE IT, it is quite new, and was not cheap - am I being paranoid?)
~ purchase a new, lighter sleeping bag (about 600gms to carry) rated to +5 rather than designed for camping in snow, because this is not camping and the albegues are indoors (and that freezing hut in NZ was an anomaly).

It feels silly to purchase new gear if I have a good bag already and it is temperature-appropriate. BUT ALSO - it seems silly to carry a whole extra kg of sleeping bag if the huts are warm and a thin light bag is enough even in cold weather?

Those who know the route and what the albergues are like do you have advice?

Thank you so much for your time! From my stray thought sitting at the end of my wasn't-meant-to-be-posted-yet post – I have been dreaming of this and gently trying to plan for a long time – very excited to be putting concrete plans in place

 

[RJM]

Since you'll be sleeping indoors and at times with a lot of fellow pilgrims in the room/dorm I suggest and would personally bring a warm weather sleeping bag and one that does not weigh more than about 680 grams.
The quilt will work, and I wouldn't worry about it being infested by bedbugs.

 

[roving_rufus]

I have a sleeping bag rated for 0°C which I take on winter caminos - it is too warm most nights but quite lovely. As for spring - it would be too much! I'd take something lighter for summer season- plus an extra layer to wear if weather in mountains is cooler.

 

[alexat]

I have a sleeping bag rated for 0°C which I take on winter caminos - it is too warm most nights but quite lovely. As for spring - it would be too much! I'd take something lighter for summer season- plus an extra layer to wear if weather in mountains is cooler.

Thank you both. Where i live it is flat and warm even in winter - so so I have limited experience of snow that is hiking/camping in it! Great to hear that something lighter will be warm enough indoors

 

[Anhalter]

My 240g down sleeping bag is rated 13°C for comfort and has so far been enough for all but one night (which was not horibble and i could have put on more clothes). Have walked 3 caminos in May/June with temps dropping down to 0°C some nights (outside). Can't talk of the Salvador however, but i figure they got heating or blankets just as well as everywhere else.
I have a link in my signature where i talk about my sleep system. I added a liner this year for more comfort and i love it.

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

Whilst I agree that it is always preferable to take what you have and make do, I appreciate your concern about having to stick your quilt in the dryer. And I certainly wouldn't want to carry the larger, warmer one.

You're absolutely correct the Albergues are definitely warmer than the older uninsulated NZ camping huts. Which is what my original sleeping bag is designed for. For the Camino shoulder seasons I purchased a cheap lightweight sleeping bag in the local supermarket for I think roughly 20 euros. Including compression sack it weighs 700 grams, from personal testing is good down to seven degrees (I think the label says 10), and is 14 centimeters by 25 centimeters - I can compress it into a 14 by 14 brick, but find it packs well at the current size. It fully unzips, and I've used it far more often as a quilt than as a sleeping bag.

I also have a silk sleeping sheet (120g) which gets used year round.

Personally I would consider looking out for a cheap light sleeping bag good to approximately 10 degrees, rather than either of the two options you currently own. It does not have to be flash, you may be lucky and find something second hand.
.

 

[RJM]

If you know someone who owns a spring/summer rated lightweight sleeping bag perhaps you can borrow it for the Camino.