What size backpack to take on the Camino?

You don’t need all that much when walking one of the Camino’s to Santiago, and the choice for a backpack reflects that.

Around 40 liters is plenty for most. Lets take a look at the backpack choice in this article.

No camping = less stuff to carry

On nearly all the Camino’s, you don’t need to bring camping gear. A sleeping bag I recommend, but a sleeping mat, tent, and all that comes with it is not needed.

This is only not the case for when you are trying to keep costs down when hiking down to Saint Jean Pied de Port on the French way, when starting from your home turf. The Netherlands, Germany, France, etc. You will find the infrastructure lacking in that aspect, and will need to improvise with campsites.

40 Liter backpacks

There are a lot of choices out there for a backpack, and I recommend taking a look at the different Osprey models out there. At your local outdoor store, or online, you have several different options to choose from. The links below are affiliate links, which have no extra cost to you, but help support the site. Thanks.

It is often joked that Osprey is the unofficial sponsor of the Camino, because you can see a whole lot of pilgrims rocking them. For a solid an trusted model, take a look at:

Osprey Stratos 44 L (Men’s)

Osprey Kyte 36 L (Women’s)

If you want to take a look at a more budget friendly option, Decathlon is your friend.

Myself, I used what I had, which is a MacPac Torlesse that comes in at 65 liters on the Camino Portuguese, and Camino Frances. My gear ended up weighing only around 8 kilos, which I can carry pretty comfortable. The golden rule here that you will encounter often is to carry a max of 10% of your bodyweight. There are a lot of ifs and buts however with that number, and it depends on your overall fitness.

Bigger backpacks do tend to fill up with stuff, so if this is your first Camino or long distance hike, I would recommend sticking with the backpacks on the 40 liter size. So you don’t overpack, and carry stuff for ~800 kilometers without using it once.

If you want to see a detailed list of what to bring, I invite you over to read my previous article on the subject:

Camino Packing list

What to watch out for in a backpack

When shopping for backpacks, I recommend paying attention to some areas. Which I consider a must have:

• Adjustable and comfortable hip belt, you should carry a hiking backpack for the large amount of the weight on your hips. A pouch is also nice to have at te ready in the hip belt.
• Osprey backpacks mentioned have nice back ventilation, which can help during the scorching parts of the Meseta.
• Rain cover, in Galicia and at the start on the Camino Frances you can get caught in the rain quite quickly and often. Wet gear is heavy gear.
• Water bottle pouches, I always use water bottles instead of water bladders. Decide and look out for easy access for those.

Organize and get intimate with the contents

I highly recommend packing your different categories of gear into waterproof and lightweight drybags, use different colours for this. And have them always in the same place inside your backpack.

That way you don’t have to spend 10 minutes digging for your headlamp in the dark and disturbing all your fellow pilgrims. And it will help tremendously with getting up and leaving or arriving at an Albergue.

So train, decide, and adjust the gear you have inside your backpack.

What backpack did you end up walking a Camino in? Please let everyone know down in the comments!

Happy hiking and Hike for Purpose