The ten essentials for hiking

[Whizzer]

Mine dad and I took a Seirra Club class for hiking. It is basic and now it $350 for the class. In the class they tell you to always to have your the ten essentials. I forgot what the list was so I found a copy of the class book. Maybe their some info that you don't know so take a look.

http://sandiego.sierraclub.org/wbc/nc/H ... tebook.pdf


The ten essentials
TO FIND YOUR WAY
1. Navigation: map and compass
2. Illumination: flashlight or headlamp
FOR YOUR PROTECTION
3. Sun protection: sunglasses, sunscreen,
and hat
4. Insulation: extra clothing
5. Nutrition: extra food
6. Hydration: extra water
FOR EMERGENCIES
7. Fire: firestarter and matches/lighter
8. Repair kit and tools
9. Emergengy shelter
10. First Aid Supplies

 

[dutchpilgrim]

Looks to me as "over the top"
Map and Compass on the Camino?
Not necessary. There are those yellow arrows, and lots of people to show you the way.
Flash-light or head-lamp?
I did my Camino without.
Extra food?
Well, perhaps some nuts & raisins for the one day that there is no breakfast available. Lots of bars, restaurants, shops on the way.
Extra water?
My bottle of 1 liter never ran out of water, sufficient places to keep it filled.
Fire-starters/lighter?
Only if you smoke.
Repair kit and tools?
Emergency shelter?
On the Camino?
It is the Camino, not a survival experience.
There are always the hospitaleros, fellow-pilgrims and other people on the road to help.
Travel light is the best advice I can give.
And for emergencies I am missing the whistle, which allows you to make a lot of noise for hours and hours, where your voice will last for only a short while.
Ultreya,
Carli Di Bortolo.

 

[andy.d]

over-the-topness might depend on the route. I guess it would be for the Frances, but on the Levante, for example, there are 40km days with nothing between when you start and finish. Once, I got stopped by Forest Rangers who checked I had sufficient water (5 litres), a map, etc before they let me proceed. I met no one else that day. So, depends which route you go for,

Andy

 

[+@^^]

hmmm
imho anything that starts with EXTRA is not essential

 

[Kitsambler]

This list of ten essentials is from the Sierra Club, a US hiking organization originating on the west coast with activities in, well, the Sierras, a very rugged chain of mountains (peaks at 3000 - 4300 m) running along the California-Nevada line. Due to the nearby Pacific Ocean, weather can change quickly, posing another set of problems. In terrain like this, it is quite common for day-hikers to get in trouble. Even in the mountains near here, a 62-year-old woman fell down a cliff during a hike yesterday and required medical evacuation by helicopter. Add to that the American propensity for thinking we can do anything, so that unprepared and ill-equipped people undertake the ill-advised trek.

So, for its intended purpose, the Ten Essentials are no joke. They can fit in a pocket and they can make the difference between life and death.

That being said, the Camino experience was not their intended purpose. So let's make our own list of Ten Essentials for the Camino! I nominate:
1. Sleep sack or sleeping bag
2. Water container
3. Sun protection
4. Soap
5. Money
6. Earplugs
7. Rain protection
8. Blister care kit
9. Change of socks
10. Credential

 

[Caminando]

Actually this book is a wilderness notebook and inappropriate for caminos. 'The' camino is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a wilderness.

The list below does not take into account the time of year nor the particular camino taken, and like others, I can see a fair number of items which are not required. Especially the fire making equipment.

If you need info, then you'll find much more relevant stuff on this site. Happy reading.

Lighten your pack, leave this book behind and a number of the items it suggests! Enjoy .

Buen camino

Mine dad and I took a Seirra Club class for hiking. It is basic and now it $350 for the class. In the class they tell you to always to have your the ten essentials. I forgot what the list was so I found a copy of the class book. Maybe their some info that you don't know so take a look.

http://sandiego.sierraclub.org/wbc/nc/H ... tebook.pdf


The ten essentials
TO FIND YOUR WAY
1. Navigation: map and compass
2. Illumination: flashlight or headlamp
FOR YOUR PROTECTION
3. Sun protection: sunglasses, sunscreen,
and hat
4. Insulation: extra clothing
5. Nutrition: extra food
6. Hydration: extra water
FOR EMERGENCIES
7. Fire: firestarter and matches/lighter
8. Repair kit and tools
9. Emergengy shelter
10. First Aid Supplies

 

[grilly]

I find the Sierra Club list interesting. As it has been pointed out, it is for hiking, more or less in the wilderness, several days without seeing anyone. It may be relevant for the Levante. For the Camino Frances, not really. It reminds me, however, of the backpack my husband and best friend bought for their first Camino -- a backpack perfect for the a Sierra Club hike, but much too big for the Camino Frances... So it's all a question of understanding and expectation. Thank you for the list though

 

[Whizzer]

I am sorry everyone say it is wilderness but all hiking and treking is all the same. You not at home watching tv. There is a Canada couple this winter that took a dirty road and got stuck in a snow storm. She lived for 30 days and he died looking for help. They drove in to the wilderness but there was on a a road.So where to draw the line? You will use the same pack for the Camino as you do for a day hike. Plus maybe use it for a car trip or a swapmeet. You never want to come out with a Camino pack only. Waste of money.
You plan a trip and read book like you would do for wilderness hiking. If you go off the trail and in the the tree that will be wilderness hiking. Make a wrong turn is wilderness hiking. There was two girl that turn off the trail and if it was not for a farmer yelling in Spainish they would walk for miles lost.

When you walking in to a hiking store will many type of sleeping bag to packs and clothing. The sale person will bark out what it it is and you will say WHAT? If you don't have any base of all the function for your trip and future trip you maybe just wasting your money. Some sale people don't know nothing and you can be wasting money.
Some place rent and let you try it out before buying it. You use the same shoe for both and it up to the person what he/she want to wear. Also the weather. When you cross the mountain from France to Spain it look more wilderness do to the storms that come in and it 50 km one place to other. I am looking to do mine Camino in later April and early May so the weather is going to be colder. I will be checking in to wool pants do to when wool get wet it will self drying where cotton will stay wet. Yes you can say the Camino is not wilderness hiking but you use the same stuff and the same theory.

1.Map is the book for the place to stay. Compress is the sun is always on the left side.
2. flashlight.
3. sun protection for skin cancer.
4. extra clothing. wool cap in case it rains plus a bag to hold stuff in.
5. extra food in case I would like to seat and enjoy the day longer.
6. Buy the pack with the water camal bag.
7. have a lighter and a candle to warm mine hands in case I get stuck in a heavy rain storm.
8. Knife with a cork screw like the books say. But I am not a wine person.
9. Get the poncho like everyone is getting and space blacket to lay on the bed for keep bed bug off. OR make a bag to cover up your pack so I don't have to carry a plastic bag.
10. mole skin-pill - bandaid and phone number so someone call that I died.

The list above you may already have it with you on the Camino. Two thing is to have and safe trip and no one call the phone number. The book is in mine mind so when I buy stuff It is the right stuff to do cross over with the hobby I do and plus not to over pack for a trip. I have did the 14 day 50 pounds pack trips, but like every trip will train for it.

 

[+@^^]

so heres my list of 10 essentials
that i discarded on the camino
.
gaiters
thermo mug
extra fleecy top
towel
foldup water container
digger
sunglasses
extra tech shirt
plate
and spork
.
when i set out walking they were essentials
100kays later they were unnecessary burdens
?

 

[Rebekah Scott]

depends on the trail and the season.
On the Salvador (and even the Frances!) in winter the gaiters are essential! In summer? No way. You don´t even need a sleeping bag.

 

[Br. David]

Of course, it depends where you are and what you are doing.

A complete first aid kit is an absolute nonsense when you are just emptying blisters - but if someone falls over an edge high up - then you might find that it is a lifesaver.

A whistle on the Camino? pointless - unless you go off Camino in some awful weather, become dehydrated and then twist your ankle - then it is a godsend.

Compass and a foil shelter bag? - what a waste of time. Unless you are on the Pyrennees and it snows so you cannot see one foot ahead of you, and the snow rises above the markers and you are lost - absolutely lost - then you will pray that you find them in your backapck.

In the last few years a number of experienced people have died - dead, quite dead - on the safe Camino up high on the Pyrennees ..

Let us not be to off-hand about safety - people die on the Camino. Some die of heart attacks. Some could still be alive if the nearest pilgrim had known what to do.

The Caminos, all Caminos - they appear safe because many walk along them, but in the sense of being away from the city support system, they are wilderness.

Things do not go wrong that often, in proportion to the numbers walking - but when they do they go wrong in a big way and there is usually not an ambulance - let alone a cell phone signal - at hand.

So, yes, I agree about the list to some degree - but let us not pretend that the Camino is 'safe' - it is not 'safe', it is a place where pilgrims regularly die.

Just a point of view :wink:

 

[Corwen]

My ten essentials for summer Camino on Frances:

1.rucksack, no more than 30 litres, maybe a back system.
2. very light sleeping bag, would say just a liner but you can sleep outside if you have to with a light bag.
3. something to lie on, thermarest or rollmat, in case there are no beds or you want to sleep outside.
4. just enough clothes that if you wore them all you'd be warm enough on a cool autumn day in UK. One pair trousers, one pair shorts, T shirt, long sleeved shirt, everything polyamide, and a pertex Windshirt, maybe a microfleece. 3 pairs socks. So two minimal outfits to allow you to wash one and wear other. At least one long sleeved top for sun protection and a hat which has neck protection or a broad brim is essential.
5. Poncho (pelerine type with sleeves and zip up front).
6. Documents, money etc and Credencial and guidebook
7. 1 litre bottle.
8. minimal wash kit, just toothbrush, toothpaste, no need for soap or shampoo, its everywhere abandoned or left in refugios. No need for towel really, dry yourself with your microfleece if you don't bring a towel.
9. Footwear: Light trail shoes and very light sandals.
10. Loads and loads of time. Time enough to start slowly and have rest days in the cities, this will hopefully avoid the need for blister treatments and knee braces...

 

[Tia Valeria]

...........
The ten essentials........

Broadly this seems a good list, it just depends on what we read into it. Most of our kit fit into one of the categories Whizzer mentions.

TO FIND YOUR WAY
1. Navigation: map and compass - The Camino guide and a mini compass
2. Illumination: flashlight or headlamp - A mini 'led' torch
FOR YOUR PROTECTION
3. Sun protection:sunglasses, sunscreen, and hat - Mini suncream, wide brim hats (also screen eyes)
4. Insulation: extra clothing - One complete change plus an extra shirt and underwear.
5. Nutrition: extra food - Enough food for the day ahead where the guide says it is needed. Otherwise snack bars/bocadillo
6. Hydration: extra waterAs with the food, and always at least 1lt
FOR EMERGENCIES
7. Fire: firestarter and matches/lighter - Not needed on the Camino IMHO
8. Repair kit and tools - Our mini Swiss card has scissors, tweezers, file/scewdriver and small knife weighs just 68gms
9. Emergency shelter - Our ponchos open out to form an emergency bivvy
10. First Aid Supplies - Knee support, needle and thread , mini size Savlon and sticking plaster.
and
11 We do carry a whistle, tied to the rucksack.
12 A good lightweight sleeping bag for the albergues, no bed roll or liner.
13 Toothbrush, mini soap, pot of toothpaste and a trecking towel.
14 Good lightweight walking boots

If out for the day on Dartmoor or the Brecon Beacons we would not carry the 'extra' clothes, or 12 and 13, but on the camino they are part of the kit not an extra. However when walking we would always, for example, take water, waterproofs the whistle and an 'extra' fleece - the weather can change unexpectedly. We also have a foil blanket but do not take that on the Camino as our ponchos would do instead.

Think light and think safe and Buen Camino

 

[+@^^]

imho
most of the debate about which kit is best
is magnified by a number of factors unrelated to the kit itself
threads debating equipment generally dont cater for
route
season
.
so an innocent question asked about a sleeping bag
will have utterly confusing information for the newcommer
because they will not know that Sevilla in July requires totally different kit to Astorga in January
as i said - imho

 

[chris m]

Can I bring a donkey ?

 

[Sojourner47]

Can I bring a donkey ?

Only if it fits in your pack, and you can carry it.

 

[Susannafromsweden]

Can I bring a donkey ?

Only if it fits in your pack, and you can carry it.

I have actually met a pilgrim who was walking with a donkey.
He was going to walk vdlp and then back to Germany where he lived. But something happened to his knee, so he couldn't carry his rucksack anymore. And he could only walk very slowly. So he bought the donkey, to carry his things.
I remember he had a tent with him, as the donkey wasn't allowed to stay near the albergues.

 

[na2than]

first thing in the morning there are horses led into the square of the cathederal at Santiago...it is quite a sight to behold...police escort etc

 

[na2than]

I have actually met a pilgrim who was walking with a donkey.
He was going to walk vdlp and then back to Germany where he lived. But something happened to his knee, so he couldn't carry his rucksack anymore. And he could only walk very slowly. So he bought the donkey, to carry his things.
I remember he had a tent with him, as the donkey wasn't allowed to stay near the albergues.[/quote]




the closer you get to Santiago the more 4 legged friends you see....as a fun game...look for the albergues that also advertise rates for stabling horses.There is one in the stop before O,Ceberio...and another in Samos