Your pack matters more than your boots

The single most important piece of gear on the Camino isn't your boots. It's your pack.

Boots hurt your feet. A bad pack hurts everything else — shoulders, neck, lower back, hips — for every hour of every day for weeks. A well-fitted pack that you barely notice is one of the best investments you can make before you start.

Volume: 35 to 45 litres is the sweet spot for the Camino. Enough to carry everything you need without the temptation to fill extra space with things you don't. Anything over 50 litres and you'll almost certainly overpack. Anything under 30 litres works only if you've done this before and know exactly what you carry.

Weight: the pack itself should weigh no more than 1 to 1.5kg empty. Every gram of pack weight is a gram you carry before you've added a single item. Lightweight materials make a real difference over 800km.

Fit: this matters more than brand or price. A pack fitted to your torso length, with a hip belt that actually transfers weight to your hips rather than your shoulders, changes the experience entirely. Get fitted in person at a specialist hiking shop if possible. The hip belt should carry 70 to 80 percent of the load — if your shoulders are doing the work, something is wrong.

Rain cover: either built in or carried separately. Galicia will test it.

Final rule: pack the bag, put it on, and walk around the block. If anything feels wrong before you've gone 500 metres, it will feel much worse after 25km.