CLOTHING
You want to look decent, stay comfortable, and trust what you're wearing. Spend some time on it and wear it on your training walks. You'll be a happier camper… er, pilgrim.
Embrace tech fabrics
What you wear is up to you, but smart choices make for a more enjoyable Camino. Modern tech fabrics are light, dry fast, and wick sweat away, so you stay cooler and have fewer skin problems.
Don't fall for big-brand hype. The store-brand versions from big-box stores often work just as well for a quarter of the price. Save that money for snacks on the Camino.
Tech underwear and shirts are easy to hand-wash and dry in just a few hours.
So what do you need?
Most pilgrims make do with a couple of pairs of shorts or pants, shirts, underwear and socks, worn in rotation. That plan has gotten an awful lot of people to Santiago just fine.
Think about your own Camino. Do you want something nicer for evenings in the big cities? Do you plan to run or bike some sections? Do you have something appropriate for visiting churches? Covered shoulders and knees are appreciated.
Start with the Packing List page and add or subtract from there. Forget something? You can probably buy it along the way.
Underwear
Tech underwear is your friend. Really. Wear it for a while before you start training. You may decide it's your new everyday underwear.
Guys, make sure your new tech underwear has a working fly. Some don't, and that's an unwelcome surprise at the worst possible moment.
Feel a draft?
In cold weather, merino wool base layers are your friend, assuming you're not allergic. Merino is light, washes and dries quickly, and is surprisingly warm under other layers. Good, warm base layers can save you from needing a heavy, expensive winter coat.
For outerwear:
Down puffy jackets are warm and light, but useless once they're soaked. Keep one dry under your rain shell.
Synthetic-fill jackets stay warm even when wet.
Wool, cotton and heavy natural-fiber coats are heavy dry and miserable wet. Leave them home.
Layers beat one big coat. Runners have a rule: dress as if it's 10 degrees warmer than it is. You'll start the morning a little chilly, and 15 minutes later you're warm and sweating. If your only layer is a big puffy coat, you're stuck choosing between sweating in it and freezing without it.
A light fleece or insulated jacket under your rain shell can be just as warm as a heavy coat, and far more flexible. Try it on a cold, windy training day. You'll be surprised how warm a simple layering system is.
Socks
Few things start a fight in the Camino community like socks. Simple, humble socks. Everyone has a theory, shaped by their shoes, their sports background and their feet.
Too many pilgrims find out their socks don't work a week into their Camino. The fix is to walk lots of training miles in your full kit. See the Training page.
A lot of walkers swear by a two-sock system to prevent blisters: a thin liner sock under a cushioned hiking sock. Merino liners made for marathon runners are comfortable in any weather, dry fast, and fight the bacteria behind serious foot funk. Not fun in a crowded albergue.
Keep your feet dry. Take your shoes and socks off at lunch and on long breaks. Don't worry, you won't be the only one.
Whatever socks you choose, test them on long walks before you go.
