what to take (copy of file in Santiagobis list author Ruth Potterton)

[pieter pannevis]

13 From: Ruth Potterton  <rpttrtonatcd.ie>
Date: Fri Jan 12, 2001 7:39am
Subject: Rucksack keeping the load light
Many people have asked exactly what I carried that kept my weight down
to 15 lbs so here is the list which may help others,  included in the
weight was my rucksack which was a 45 litre Lowe Alpine, no frame.
Well here it is, as we say here warts and all:
3 Shirts (The very light kind made by Lowe Alpine, that dry overnight)
2 Pairs of Shorts.
1 pair of track suit bottoms (For the evenings and if it was very cold)
1 pair of walking sandles for evenings etc.
4 pairs of thick socks.
4 pairs of very thin liner socks, this means that the thick socks don't
need to be washed each day, just wash the liner socks.
Basic undercloths, 4 pairs pants 2 Bras.
1 Very light cotton nightshirt, this so useful, put it on when you have
had a shower to walk around it, lovely to lie on your bunk relaxing in
etc.
1 very light rain jacket, (Lowe Alpine) I did not bring rain legs but
just let my legs get wet easy to dry them.
1 Fleece again Lowe Alpine.
1 travel towel, one of those ones that dries you but is tiny and light.
1 hat.
1 cotton neckscarf, mops the sweat, keeps the sun off, keeps the rain
from running down the back of your neck.
6 Clothes pegs, essential for drying clothes in Refugios etc.
1 very light sleeping bag (Lowe Alpine)
Basic wash things (Toothbrush, facecloth, nailbrush (Which also useful
for scrubbing socks and mud off booths/shoes) small quantity of shampoo
(buy more as you go) small amount of soap (Buy more as you go)
1 small torch
Swiss army knife.
Camera, mine is a very compact Olympus, takes zoom and panorama shots
which everyone says are good I hope to scan some of them in for the list
maybe even this weekend, I have a small pouch which it fits in clipped
around my waist so it is always at hand.
Basic medical kit ...second skin and plasters for blisters, sterile
needle, just enough for emergencies as every place in Spain has
excellent chemists, a bandage also useful mine got used for all sorts of
emergency sprains by Pilgrims along the way bith in 1997 and 2000.
Bum Bag or something light for your money, passport, credit cards etc.
Also a plastic zip lock bag in which I carried a notebook for my diary,
my pilgrim credentials, my Pilgrim guide from the Confraternity in
London (light small costs about £5 brillant) and my one book Alison Raju
Le Puy to Santiago the new edition.

Everyting in my rucksack was contained in plastic bags, essential as it
can rain a lot, I also had a light Lowe Alpine rucksack cover, my
rucksack was also Lowe Alpine.
Re water carried: I did not carry any sort of fancy water bottle,
gave that up years ago, I always carry two 500 ml bottles of water which
I
buy in Spain at the start of each trip, I fill them at fountains as I go
and buy fresh bottles when needed, I have two sort of open slit type
pockets either side of my rucksack and one fits in each, so I don't have
to take my rucksack off to get at water it is to hand whenever needed.

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Ruth Potterton