In this post we’ll concentrate on what to pack for personal gear, and how to pack it — including your tent.
2. Try packing your personal gear — tent, sleeping bag & ground mat — this way:
a.) If possible, stuff your sleeping bag in the one large piece of permitted luggage/duffel bag, inside ITS OWN water-proof sack.
b.) If it does not fit, be sure to store it in its own water-proof sack, secured against opening during transport.
c.) Do the same for your ground mat and tent.
d.) Be sure to identify each of the above items as belonging to you. An indelible marker with your name is probably easiest.
If you don’t have a personal tent, or cannot afford to buy or rent one, please ask a friend or relative to loan one to you.
If you still cannot acquire one, don’t worry: no one has ever been left out in the cold — or ‘turned away from the inn’.
(That’s part of what we mean by “no one makes pilgrimage alone”.)
In any event, make sure your tent is functional, BEFORE you come to pilgrimage. In other words, take it outside and test its functionality, by setting it up.
Each pilgrim is responsible to keep dry all his own gear — especially sleeping bag, tent & ground-mat — by wrapping such gear etc. in water-proof packing throughout the pilgrimage.
When it rains, it has been known to pour. [And rain is already in the forecast, as of 00:25 A.M. today, Tuesday, Sept. 15.]
In a post to follow shortly, we’ll take up the question of what in food reserves to bring, and how to pack them.
Stay tuned.
