Last week I went on a four day canoe trip on a river through the badlands in ND. We used an MSR trail shot, Sawyer Squeeze, and a Steripen Quantum for water purification. The water was pretty dirty so we wanted to filter it regardless, but we used the steripen anyway, to test and just because.
Here is how they worked out best to worst.
1. Sawyer Squeeze
Didn't know much about it, but my partner brought it along. It is a bit of a pain to fill the bag, but if you have something like a titanium stove pot or something other than your drinking bottle it should work well. We did about 10 liters a day and back flushed once a day. It was fast and easy, and could work as a gravity filter, but we just squeezed it. A few more pieces and parts than might be necessary for other trips, but worked well for a dirty river canoe trip.
2. MSR Trailshot
I used it the first day and it filled 3 liters pretty quickly. The filter become clogged and it slowed way down. No amount of shaking and flushing was helping much. I was crouching by the river pumping over 100 times for a few minutes to fill a liter. I put it away for the rest of the trip.
3. Steripen Quantum
I had a set of rechargeable batteries in it at the start. I had messed around with it a bit at home a week before to make sure it worked. It was not working when I went to use it in the field. Ok, maybe the batteries weren't fully charged for some reason. I put a brand new set of alkaline in (yes, I know lithium are better). In 2 1/2 days we treated 13 liters and it stopped working. Apparently because of weak batteries. Maybe mine was defective or maybe it just eats batteries. Either way it failed. I am not going to bring a sack of batteries to use this item. I still like the idea of the steripen. Maybe I will try the ultra that has the rechargable battery because I always have a battery for charging electronics anyway.
So for a dirty river canoe trip it was the Sawyer Squeeze all the way. Although I am sure any gravity type system that is easy to flush would have worked well.
The MSR Trailshot would be great for somewhere with small clean water sources. It is light and could be quick and easy.
I still think a Steripen would be the best solution for clean water or with some sort of prefilter if the water is dirty, But the Quantum version failed me and it might just be because it is very hard on batteries.
If anyone else has any experience or anything to add please do.
Here is how they worked out best to worst.
1. Sawyer Squeeze
Didn't know much about it, but my partner brought it along. It is a bit of a pain to fill the bag, but if you have something like a titanium stove pot or something other than your drinking bottle it should work well. We did about 10 liters a day and back flushed once a day. It was fast and easy, and could work as a gravity filter, but we just squeezed it. A few more pieces and parts than might be necessary for other trips, but worked well for a dirty river canoe trip.
2. MSR Trailshot
I used it the first day and it filled 3 liters pretty quickly. The filter become clogged and it slowed way down. No amount of shaking and flushing was helping much. I was crouching by the river pumping over 100 times for a few minutes to fill a liter. I put it away for the rest of the trip.
3. Steripen Quantum
I had a set of rechargeable batteries in it at the start. I had messed around with it a bit at home a week before to make sure it worked. It was not working when I went to use it in the field. Ok, maybe the batteries weren't fully charged for some reason. I put a brand new set of alkaline in (yes, I know lithium are better). In 2 1/2 days we treated 13 liters and it stopped working. Apparently because of weak batteries. Maybe mine was defective or maybe it just eats batteries. Either way it failed. I am not going to bring a sack of batteries to use this item. I still like the idea of the steripen. Maybe I will try the ultra that has the rechargable battery because I always have a battery for charging electronics anyway.
So for a dirty river canoe trip it was the Sawyer Squeeze all the way. Although I am sure any gravity type system that is easy to flush would have worked well.
The MSR Trailshot would be great for somewhere with small clean water sources. It is light and could be quick and easy.
I still think a Steripen would be the best solution for clean water or with some sort of prefilter if the water is dirty, But the Quantum version failed me and it might just be because it is very hard on batteries.
If anyone else has any experience or anything to add please do.