Camino de Santiago: gear tested for over 600 km
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In June 2026, Iván Plaza—the Pilgrim Colonel and technical advisor at Mountain Group— tackled the Camino de Santiago from Madrid with an objective that is particularly useful for us: in addition to covering more than 600 kilometers, he was going to use the same gear for days on end and tell us how it performed outside of a weekend test.
That project allowed us to accumulate real-world experience with a backpack, sleeping bag, and sleeping pad during consecutive days of heat, wind, humidity, hard terrain, and nights in the open air. This guide gathers the main conclusions and links to the full reviews.
Rab Airox 36: over 300 km with about 9 kg of load
The Rab Airox 36 was used during the journey from Madrid, passing through Guadarrama, Castilla y León. The test focused on comfort, ventilation, stability, resistance, and organization after hundreds of kilometers with an approximate load of 9 kg.
Read the full Rab Airox 36 review →
Rab Radeon 0: sleeping outside when humidity appears
The Rab Radeon 0 was used on nights outdoors in wind, dew, and rain, including days where the bag had direct contact with humidity. During the Camino experience, the practical advantage of synthetic insulation really stood out: it continues to provide insulation when conditions are no longer perfectly dry and dries quickly.
During the test, nights around 6°C (43°F) were recorded in areas at 1,500–1,700 m of altitude. The experience does not replace the bag's official thermal ratings, but it does provide useful information about its real-world performance after many days of use.
Read the full Rab Radeon 0 review →
Rab Ultrasphere 5.5: about ten nights on very different surfaces
The Rab Ultrasphere 5.5 was tested for approximately ten nights on stone, slabs, granite, and grass. In addition to insulation, the test allowed us to evaluate aspects that are appreciated much more after several consecutive days: speed of inflation and packing, stability, comfort when sleeping on your side, and air loss during the night.
Read the full Rab Ultrasphere 5.5 review →
What we learned from the Camino
The main conclusion is simple: for multi-day trekking, it is not enough to analyze each product in isolation. Backpack, sleep system, clothing, and total weight form a system.
- A backpack that is comfortable for two hours must remain so after consecutive days of hiking.
- The sleeping bag should be chosen not only based on temperature but also on humidity, volume, and ease of drying.
- The sleeping pad influences both comfort and insulation of the sleep system.
- Reducing weight makes sense as long as it does not compromise rest, protection, or reliability.
Tested gear, not a catalog spec sheet
These tests are part of the From the Shop to the Obradoiro project. The difference compared to a conventional review is the cumulative time of use: hundreds of kilometers and consecutive nights allow us to discover details that usually do not appear on a technical specification sheet.
See the From the Shop to the Obradoiro project →
If you are preparing for a Camino, multi-day trek, or expedition and have questions about backpack volume, sleeping bags, or sleep systems, at Mountain Group we can help you configure your gear based on the time of year, how you sleep, and the weight you want to carry.
