Wayne of LaVerne
New Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- 2017 bike, solo & lost, SJPP-Santiago via Napoleon Route
Remove ads on the forum by becoming a donating member. More here. |
---|
Most Useful: Zip Ties. Rack slipped & pivoted 90 degrees. Zips worked great. Note the blue zip routed around the cable guide, hence keeping the clamp from slipping back.View attachment 40127
Most Useless: UE Boom Portable Speaker. Never used it. Visions of a party on the road?
lol!Most useless: Rain coat in 2014. Most useful: Rain coat in 2015. Go figure.
Did you not buy food from supermarcados along the way? I found my knife invaluable for cutting bread, fruit and a variety of other things.Useless: a knife - bought in SJPdP and I never took it out of the package.
Useful: safety pins - to dry clothing off the back of my pack, to hang up clothes to dry when all the clothespins were being used, to help hold pants up for the lucky people who lose weight on the camino
Actually most of our meals were purchased out of grocery store, meat, cheese, fruits and vegetables so we purchased a small pocket knife for about 3 Euros to cut our food and also for medical tape.Useful: jack knife bought in SJPP.
Not Useful: Head lamp (torch)-- never used it.
I just remembered another surprise super useful item: safety pins! They were essential for drying socks from the back of my pack between sock changes. I would change socks and reapply vaseline every few hours to keep the blisters at bay.I’m writing this from the perspective of the biggest surprise useful or useless item.
Useful: Bandana
Useless: Compass
Did you not buy food from supermarcados along the way? I found my knife invaluable for cutting bread, fruit and a variety of other things.
Wow, I used my knife a several times a day! Of course, I'm a huge fan of Spanish cheeses, so I'd buy a wedge and then slice off chunks for snacks. I also used my knife to cut the wonderful Spanish breads and sausages.Useless: a knife - bought in SJPdP and I never took it out of the package.
Useful: safety pins - to dry clothing off the back of my pack, to hang up clothes to dry when all the clothespins were being used, to help hold pants up for the lucky people who lose weight on the camino
A knife is a must. I decided to bring a little key ring LED light rather than a head lamp. I'm glad I did, although there were a few mornings right before we went off Summer time when it was pretty dark in the morning. I do have a lightweight head lamp that I'm debating bringing next time. We shall see.Useful: jack knife bought in SJPP.
Not Useful: Head lamp (torch)-- never used it.
Useful - old pillow case. Your albergue pillow may have seen 100's of drooling, sneezing pilgrims. Also gets used for dirty clothes bag.
Useless - heavy paper or book based guides. There are so many free Camino guides for the phone these days. Or if you must have, scan the paper to pdf.
Love this idea...no hooks happened often...if not the suction ones you suggest..maybe even a hook that would hang over a shower door would have been so helpful.Rubber suction hook for showers where there is nowhere to hangyour towel.
Useful: a small packet of lambs wool from drugstore - padded any and everything!I was glad to see your post. I am frantically packing and repacking my backpack. I leave tomorrow from Canada making my journey to SJPdP. I just got up and packed some zip ties! Great idea!
Yes, find or make a plastic ‘S’ hook. Suctions didn’t workLove this idea...no hooks happened often...if not the suction ones you suggest..maybe even a hook that would hang over a shower door would have been so helpful.
Useful: small phone recharger. And nylon net produce bags to put small items in. They weigh nothing and are silent.
Useless: nothing. I used every item or threw it out.
Most useful item for me would be any multi-use item and my favorite is one that combines my towel, my bandana, my neck scarf, my neck shield from searing sun, my head band, my head and ear cover from the cold, my buff, and, likely, other uses for which I may have forgotten.
That item would be just a simple large silk scarf. I bought it online from a silk supplier (Dharma) and it came a natural cream color so I dyed it to a more sedate combination of OD green and dark brown. I have used it on my last three or four Caminos and I wouldn't leave home for another without it. After drying my body it hangs on whatever I use for drying my just washed briefs and socks. It's dry in minutes. It's weight is minuscule and it crumples up into almost no space at all.
..... little key ring LED light rather than a head lamp. I'm glad I did, although there were a few mornings right before we went off Summer time when it was pretty dark in the morning. I do have a lightweight head lamp that I'm debating bringing next time. We shall see.
Why do you think fishes in the sea needed the medical better than yourself??Most Usless - a compartmented box of various vitamins and pills given to me by a nurse friend for which I lost the contents label in somewhere like Burgos, and after which I had no idea which tablet was for what !!.
All went down the WC at this point and I let my body decide what it wanted to do.
Please dont let Ela know she thinks I carried them to the end
A folded knife is not ok. And the blade must not be more than 60 mm.Useful - Multi-tool swiss army type thing
Useless - Needle and thread.
Problem with the mulit-tool was I had to check in my rucksack because of it. Not sure if it was worth the additional cost.
Dear Jo Ann, I would suggest you bring noting but a very light and simple journal. The Camino is about nothingness so the more you bring the more you bring (if you get my meaning). Listen to the silence, listen to the sun rise and the darkness. You will hear your own soul and that will speak volumes. Your prayer is the sound of your own feet and the rhythm of each step. Do nothing -- that is the way of the Camino.Useful?
Me, preparing for my first Camino, I’m wondering what I’ll bring as devotional/ prayer/ musical enrichments... that weigh little and nourish my spirit. On the path, in evening recovery, and pre-sleeps. Printed? Saved on phone or iPod? As well, what format for my journal?
I made an S hook out of a metal coat hanger...perfect and used it often.Yes, find or make a plastic ‘S’ hook. Suctions didn’t work
Most useful - elasticated washing line, used daily
Most useless - first aid kit. Never used it (Now, there's tempting fate.............)
Useful?
Me, preparing for my first Camino, I’m wondering what I’ll bring as devotional/ prayer/ musical enrichments... that weigh little and nourish my spirit. On the path, in evening recovery, and pre-sleeps. Printed? Saved on phone or iPod? As well, what format for my journal?
Great ideaDuct Tape. Not a whole roll. I wrapped a few strips around my walking sticks.
Most useful - elasticated washing line, used daily
I notice a lot of people mention safety pins. One of our mentors for the trip recommends baby safety pins, the ones with the big plastic tops. those sound ideal for hanging clothes to dryI just remembered another surprise super useful item: safety pins! They were essential for drying socks from the back of my pack between sock changes. I would change socks and reapply vaseline every few hours to keep the blisters at bay.
Yes, those would be ideal. That’s what I’m bringing next time.I notice a lot of people mention safety pins. One of our mentors for the trip recommends baby safety pins, the ones with the big plastic tops. those sound ideal for hanging clothes to dry
I used those big diaper pins on my first Camino, and only found them useful on clotheslines that were perfectly straight. On most clotheslines gravity caused all of my clothes to slide down the line. Now I use miniature clothespins (pegs) from the craft store. They are strong enough to hold my lightweight clothing. I still bring some diaper pins to hand clothing from my backpack.I notice a lot of people mention safety pins. One of our mentors for the trip recommends baby safety pins, the ones with the big plastic tops f. those sound ideal for hanging clothes to dry
Most useful item I didn't take but acquired along the way: the Tape That Saved My Shoes!! I'd read many recommendations here on the Forum to take some duct tape or similar - and didn't
Doh, in my list of wants vs needs. Though, i’m walking so maybe. The other is a little gas stove + cup + coffee stuffMost useful: Zip off pants that could be turned into shorts easily. Hugely valuable when the temps were +2C in Roncesvalles and +22C in the days leading into Santiago.
Most useless: binoculars. Never took them out of my bag.
Though I have only had to use it twice on the camino, I would say that the tick key turned out to deliver the biggest bang for the most trivial weight. It weighs not much more than a quarter of an ounce. The two times I used it, both times on remote caminos not near any medical services, the consequences of not having it could have been really bad. So though it is certainly not the most useful in terms of frequency of use, I would never start walking without it tucked in my first aid kit.
Not to induce hysteria, but the number of ticks in Spain is increasing at a very fast clip, with climate change the apparent cause.
I’ve mislaid mine, you just reminded me to get another one. Thank you!Though I have only had to use it twice on the camino, I would say that the tick key turned out to deliver the biggest bang for the most trivial weight. It weighs not much more than a quarter of an ounce. The two times I used it, both times on remote caminos not near any medical services, the consequences of not having it could have been really bad. So though it is certainly not the most useful in terms of frequency of use, I would never start walking without it tucked in my first aid kit.
Not to induce hysteria, but the number of ticks in Spain is increasing at a very fast clip, with climate change the apparent cause.
I’ve always got one on me - my dog’s a tick-magnet. Out of the country I carry the first couple of days of a course of doxycycline also. Lyme disease is serious and if I saw the distinctive rash after a tick-bite I’d be self-medicating on the way to the nearest pharmacy.Added to my packing list
I agree.
There are sometimes things we might take, that would rarely if ever be used.
But that for a negligible amount of weight are worth taking.
I have a couple of medical things in that "get me to the next town" category.
REI sells a compact mini roll of about 50" intended for backcountry repair jobs (like yours) - it's not much bigger than a (thick) thumb, weighs almost nothing and useful to keep in a first aid pack. I ended up not needing it for myself, but was able to offer to other pilgrims who needed a repair.Most useful item I didn't take but acquired along the way: the Tape That Saved My Shoes!! I'd read many recommendations here on the Forum to take some duct tape or similar - and didn't. Then a couple of days before Burgos I discovered that unnoticed gentle friction had rubbed a hole clean through the lining at the back of both my shoes (Asics running shoes, otherwise super comfortable). My first thought was that the shoes were done for, and I started looking up shoe shop locations in Burgos. Then I thought of duct tape, so after rigging up a temporary "dressing" for the shoes from my first aid kit (also useful!) which got me to Burgos, I went shopping and found some strong tape, similar to duct tape, in one of those "everything" stores. Score!! Fixed it carefully to each shoe, a longish piece starting outside the heel and going up and over and onto the inner sole. I expected to have to change it regularly, even that it might worsen the damage, but it stuck like concrete, never wrinkled, and saw me to the finish line! (Well, as far as Sarria where everything ground to a halt but that's a whooole other story!) So next time I'm taking the tape!
This is one of those things that you WANT to be useless! I have a tendency to ear infections and once found myself with a GI infection in a place I couldn't find a doctor for several days. My doctor gives me prescriptions for both, I carry them with me and know I don't need to worry about (or wasting time) finding a doctor. I'm happy not to use them, but glad to take them with me - usefully uselessantibiotic tablets. But I was with a friend who regularly gets pneumonia. So they were useful to stop us worrying about her catching an infection sleeping in albergues.