Warmth of sleeping bag needed?

[Jade Ulrich]

I will be walking the Camino towards the end of September and through October.

How warm of a sleeping bag is needed for this time of year?

I know that not all of the pilgrim refuges are heated, yet I still want to try to carry a lightweight sleeping bag.

Thank you!!

 

[jsalt]

Hi, you need only a lightweight sleeping bag. If it's really cold you could wear some clothes as well. The dorms get really hot with the number of people sharing a cramped space. Jill

 

[gerardcarey]

A lightweight one should be fine. Any unexpected night temperature drops can be alleviated by albergue blankets, which are pretty readily available, combined with some extra clothing if necessary.
Regds
Gerard

 

[derrivane]

Hi - I walked in October (completed Camino in three stages as I work and could only take short periods of time) and only carry a silk liner which weighs a few grammes and have never been cold.

 

[annakappa]

In higher altitudes, there can be frost. I have never been so cold as the night I stayed in Sarria, towards the end of October. I had a sleeping bag and used a couple of blankets. You should also remember to take along a pair of gloves for that first hour or so in the early morning.

 

[gracethepilgrim]

Yes - agree with @annakappa - it can be very cold in some albergues. Last year in early October in Galicia it was super cold/damp and the hospitaleros would not turn on the heating. My understanding is that heating is only allowed to be on from November onwards (??). I have a silk liner and 10C sleeping bag that unzips to a ‘blanket’. Some nights I wore a couple of layers of clothes also and was still chilly. Everyone has a different idea of ‘cold’ though. I really feel the cold!

 

[Kablois]

Annakappa is right - do not underestimate how cold it can be. Like many things, how sensitive you are to the cold is very personal. I have recently come back from my Camino and was surprised at the cold. Although it is summer, I needed blankets in many of the albergues. One albergue only had 6 blankets for 20 beds and another had none. In many villages in Galicia, the albergues are made of thick stone walls that keep the warmth out and retain the ambient dampness in the air. Even in summer they are cold as the weather is often cloudy and damp. You can sleep in clothes and socks but in my opinion a liner won't be sufficient to help you feel warm through the night.

 

[Tia Valeria]

A sleeping bag was a must for me, plus a blanket. I also had a very lightweight long sleeve vest and long johns for nightwear when it was cold.

 

[knietz]

I walked one year with only a silk sheet, and was only caught out once, in O Cebreiro. I got dressed in the middle of the night and climbed back into my sheet. I also carried a light sleeping bag once, in 2013, and was very thankful for it, in what was one of the coldest European summers in some time. The bag adds weight, no doubt about it, but if you suffer from cold then it is probably better you have it with you. It's a miserable thing to wake-up cold in the middle of the night knowing that you can do little about it. Of course, many albergues thankfully have blankets, but not all of them!

 

[jdpiguet]

I walked late October / early November in 2012 and 2014. Both times I had a sleeping bag and was very happy to have it.
It was freezing several mornings...

Buen Camino, Jacques-D.

 

[Jodean]

I found a really light sleeping bag, Meru Goa Comfort which at just 860 grams will hopefully work well. It was tough to find a rectangular shaped bag, cause the mummy shapes are all wrong for me. It has a pocket at the top that you can use to either put a pillow inside or clothing to make a pillow and a small zipped pocket for your glasses, phone, etc.

It came with a carrying bag, but it is so tough to get it in there, (like almost impossible!) that I am putting it in a small plastic bag instead.

 

[domigee]

It came with a carrying bag, but it is so tough to get it in there, (like almost impossible!) that I am putting it in a small plastic bag instead.

Hello Jodean,
Apologies in advance if this is obvious to everyone, it wasn't to me at the time.
For the first week of my 1st Camino I really struggled every morning trying to put the sleeping bag in its stuff sack...neatly folding it as small as poss. until someone took pity on me and explained: it's called a stuff sack cos you just stuff the bag in it!!! No folding, no rolling etc. It works

 

[Jodean]

Thanks for the tip. I got excited when I read your post and immediately tried it. Unfortunately, it didn't work at all. The bag is too tiny. The plastic bag is going to be ok.

 

[pudgypilgrim]

To stuff something large like a sleeping bag into a small stuff sack, start with the foot of the bag and it helps to keep turning the sack as you stuff. It seems a couple of times during the process like no more of it will go in, but if you keep shoving and turning everything as you go, it will. My sea to summit bag goes into a sack that's about the size of a 750 ml water bottle when it's all done and I know if I were better at it I could get it smaller than that.

 

[leeann31]

I've had this same question....
Is it possible to buy a decent sleeping bag or a good wool blanket along the way and carry that if needed?
I'd love to not buy one in advance in case I can get by with just my extra clothing and silk liner.

 

[mspath]

Of course you can find everything in Spain and the large towns/cities are well equipped. Nevertheless you might not find what you need when you first need it! For example west of Burgos there are few shops for anything including food until Castrojeriz (45k). Be prepared!

 

[leeann31]

Of course you can find everything in Spain and the large towns/cities are well equipped. Nevertheless you might not find what you need when you first need it! For example west of Burgos there are few shops for anything including food until Castrojeriz (45k). Be prepared!

45 km of cold nights...not fun!
I am borrowing a lightweight bag from a friend!
Thanks!

 

[Denisealldridge]

Yes - agree with @annakappa - it can be very cold in some albergues. Last year in early October in Galicia it was super cold/damp and the hospitaleros would not turn on the heating. My understanding is that heating is only allowed to be on from November onwards (??). I have a silk liner and 10C sleeping bag that unzips to a ‘blanket’. Some nights I wore a couple of layers of clothes also and was still chilly. Everyone has a different idea of ‘cold’ though. I really feel the cold!

HI,

I walked last September o Burgos, and it was so hot, I regretted carrying my sleeping, vowed I would not take it again. Now I am going again to finish another portion starting in Astorga 4th October. reading the forum I am now not sure what to do. October is later, and Galicia tends to be wetter and colder then the section I walked last year. Will I regret once again t take it? or should I risk it and pack it... What to do... HELP!!!!!

 

[domigee]

Ok, for what it's worth.... I'd always carry a sleeping bag, albeit a light one. I have been cold in August, when the rest of the country was in a heatwave... (2012). For instance in the mountains after Rabanal and also on the way to Finisterre...
But it's up to you of course, we're all different. You know what you're like, I don't