My 7.8 kg backpack for crossing the Pyrenees, piece by piece

You asked me a lot about the backpack configuration, so here it is, already assembled and ready to go.

I'll start with the fact that everyone is asking: weighs 7.850 g. My plan was for 6 kg, so I went over it. Still, I think I beat my absolute record.

And an important nuance before opening it: this is the starting weight. When it reaches the first aid station, where I have things hidden, it will go up to almost 9 kg.

Why I can go so light

The short answer: because I buy my supplies in the villages.

The weight of the food is what really decides a long backpacking pack. I currently carry just under a kilo of food, and I’ve even taken out some nuts because in this first part I pass through villages almost every day.

The sections without a town are three days at first, and then, after the second resupply, a few more. I'll see that as I go along.

Water doesn't worry me either: I have two water bottles, which are empty until I need them, plus a half-liter bottle in my purse.

What goes up and out

• The solar plate, In the upper part
• The mat, Also up here
• On the outer grid, by hand: raincoat pants and waterproof coat

The latter is non-negotiable for me. If it starts raining suddenly, I don't want to be unpacking my backpack.

The top cover

Everything I need without opening the main body:

• Compass
• Front
• A ballpoint pen
• Three fast charging cables
• Eight memory cards, Because I'm going to be recording every day
• Mint gums

The chewing gum thing is an experiment. Mint repels mosquitoes, and they bite me. I've already tried sleeping with a strong gum in my mouth, so let's see if it does anything. And that's even though I put garlic in all my food: whether you want it or not, you sweat it out and something happens.

The first thing to have on hand is the first aid kit

• Gauze and bandages
• Stitches
• Chlorhexidine
• My homemade blister pills, which I make with makeup-removing cotton and wax (you can see the process in other videos on the channel).

Hygiene

This is where you can most clearly see that a long journey is planned in detail:

• Toothbrush and toothpaste
• Compresses for 10 days
• Salvaslips for 10 days
• A lime, To go and clean my feet and calluses
• A natural bar of soap, already cut into the piece I'll need, with a piece of mesh sponge inside to scratch with

The thing about the lime looks like a joke and it’s not. If you laugh, it’s because it hasn’t happened to you yet.

The sleeping clothes

• Thermal T-shirt
• Thermal pants
• Buff
• Thick merino wool socks, just for sleeping, because I get very cold in my feet
• A pair of spare socks
• Some replacement panties

Cover and protection

• A waterproof polar fleece: waterproof on the outside, lined on the inside
• A light scarf, for when the sun gets really strong. I put it on, cover myself, and I feel much more comfortable.

The store

I run a store that weighs a total of 920 g, but I don't wear it all the way.

I copied the system that Eli del Pirineo and Enric Luz started using in their transpirenias: mounting only part of the trail and complementing it with Polycro. I tested it in Núria and it works quite well.

The sleeping bag

450 g, a summer bag of 15 degrees.

If it gets cold at night, I don't think it's a problem: I sleep in a thermal shirt, thermal pants, a blanket, and a jacket. If necessary, I put on my whole outfit and crawl into the sleeping bag with my sneakers on. That's just the way it is.

However, in one of the supply points I have prepared a 10-degree bag to change it when the temperatures drop.

What I haven't ordered yet

One honest thing: the internal weight distribution is not well set up. I know the order in which a backpack should be assembled inside and I didn't quite follow that here.

If you want a specific video on how to assemble the backpack and distribute the weight, just ask me. Although I guess in this channel almost everyone is into mountain climbing and we already have that covered.

The summary

7,850 g at the start. Almost 9 kg after the first refueling.

And what really makes that figure possible are three decisions: eating only enough to keep going, refueling in towns almost daily, and a summer bag that assumes it will be hot.

Each of those three decisions has a limit, and it’s worth knowing which one is the right one before you leave.