Lightweight water filter (need advice)

[Weston]

I'm sick and tired of lugging my msr filters into the wilderness to have them clog. Unfortunately here in AZ water is by far the hardest part of planning extended back country stays. Typically I can find water within a reasonable distance (2-3 miles) of my hunting areas. Unfortunately this water is almost always a small trickle in a canyon with pools of algae and bug ridden water that are often no larger than the size of a dinner plate and not much deeper. Stock tanks are also a viable water option, however typically they are very muddy and full of cow feces. I'm lucky if I get a season out of a pump filter before it's too clogged to back flush. Not to mention the filters are heavy. I'm looking to try something new.and was curious on any suggestions. So far the uv pens and the sawyer mini seem intriguing to me.

 

[Bmcox86]

The Sawyer mini is my reccomendation, you could had a prefilter with a piece of nylon stocking on the bottle you use tO collect. The thing about the uv ones is they just kill the bad stuff not remove it, so your still drinking it.

 

[William Hanson (live2hunt)]

I like the sawyer squeeze. It's worked well for me and is pretty simple to clean. I would think under those conditions a sawyer mini would clog quickly. You also might want to use a coffee filter or handkerchief as a prefilter no matter what you're using a filter.

 

[COlineman78]

Sawyer Squeeze or Sawyer Mini, they are very similar; but the mini is a lot cheaper. The mini combined with a Platty is about as light as you're going to get. I use a Geigerrig, which is fairly heavy compared to a Platty, but the ability to force water through the filter is nice. You could build your own gravity filter out of a mini and 2 Plattys, or you could just drain it right into your Nalgene. I also use a mosquito head net as a pre-filter and it works great! The downside to the mini is that there is that the tubes will slip off the filter, but I added some zip ties and it seems to be helping. Also, from what I have read I am under the impression that the threads on the one side shout fit most if not all Plattys.

 

[deadwolf]

I'm gonna try out the Vapur microfilter this year

 

[CA Karen]

I like the Sawyer Mini, You can cut the 16oz. squeeze bladder that comes with it in half and use it as a scoop or put a ziploc baggie in the seep and let it fill up...might require a little digging to make a hole for it to sit in, but it works. A re-usable coffee filter can be used as a pre-filter.

 

[Weston]

I just ordered a Sawyer Mini, I figure at 16 bucks on Amazon Prime couldn't hurt to try!

 

[yak]

Listen to the latest podcast from The Gritty Bowmen. Aaron Snyder has some good insight on his water filtration system.

 

[bobhunts]

Looking at the same thing. Debating on a Platypus 3 ltr at 3.8 ox and the sawyer in line at 1.8 oz. Still thinking about the drops or tabs combined with the Platypus small bladder type storage too.

 

[bigbob]

I recently got the sawyer mini and was pretty excited about trying it with the good things I'd heard about it. I now heard that the mini/squeeze will freeze and blow the filter tubes leaving your filter useless. Anyone else have insight on this?

 

[Becca]

I recently got the sawyer mini and was pretty excited about trying it with the good things I'd heard about it. I now heard that the mini/squeeze will freeze and blow the filter tubes leaving your filter useless. Anyone else have insight on this?

If I understand correctly, any of the hollow fiber water filters can be subject to damage if they freeze. Even here in AK we haven't found this to be an issue, as long as we take a little bit of care later in the season. Summer hasn't been an issue, in Sept and October When temps start dropping below freezing at night, we try to blow the water out of the filters, and then throw them into the foot of our sleeping bag or quilt to keep them from freezing. Usually toss them into a ziploc bag or into the dry bag we transport our sleep system in, and then just tuck it in at night to be safe. Could do something similar with a puffy jacket too if needed.

For true winter camping trips we use a steripen instead.

 

[badkneesbro]

I like the Sawyer Mini, You can cut the 16oz. squeeze bladder that comes with it in half and use it as a scoop or put a ziploc baggie in the seep and let it fill up...might require a little digging to make a hole for it to sit in, but it works. A re-usable coffee filter can be used as a pre-filter.

What she said. Here in California I have often had the same issues as the o.p. & Karen has obviously experienced the same. A lot of times I do the same thing Karen does, but if Im going someplace new & I suspect finding good water sources may be a problem, Ill take my heavy but dependable msr water works pump filter. At least when it clogs, & it often does in these conditions, I can wipe the filter clean & continue pumping.In below freezing temps, I know of no filters that are not subject to damage from freezing,& I wouldn't rely on any gravity filters.What Ive done is use a pre-filter screen you can buy for the steripen by putting it on a Nalgene bottle & scoop the water from the source & then through the filter & into the bottle. I then dump the water into my dromedary & use the proper amount of iodine tablets to purify. The screen doesn't filter every thing as I still end up with cloudy water so you might use Karens method of filtering to get less dirt & particles. If I can find a
fairly clean & deep enough source I might take my pump filter & use it in conjunction with iodine tablets in case the filter is damaged from the freezing temps, because I may not be able to tell if it has been damaged, but at least it will still filter the big stuff & then Ill replace the filter cartridge at the end of the season. Of course I take the recommended precautions for taking a pump filters into freezing temps by keeping it buried deep in my pack or close to my body or in my sleeping bag at night. I know of no easy way to filter & purify water in these conditions & its always time consuming. Or you can just ignore everything I just said & read Beccas post instead. Her & Luke rank supreme in my book.

 

[moxford]

I went Steripen. Prefilter into a 1L Nalgene with a bandana or similar, 60 seconds later you're done. No clogging. No "dirty hose/clean hose." No freezing issues (with lithium-ion batteries). Smaller. Lighter. Less work. Less unpacking/setting-up/repacking. No iodine after-taste / secondary effects.

Winter camping you're usually melting snow so you don't need to filter that - melt enough to get a full pot, bring it to a full-boil for a 20-30 seconds and you're done.

But you know what the best part about UV is? It works against viruses (such as HepA) whereas a filter won't. =)

I do carry iodine tabs as a backup, but even with a filter you should have a backup so that's a wash.

-mox

 

[bobhunts]

I might be alone but have just about all of these water filtration systems. Tried out all of them and then was trying to go Ultra Lightweight so I ordered the Aqua Mira drops. How do you do to fill your hydration container without contaminating the mouth of the said container? Even when I started off with the Steri-Pen I wondered about contamination ? Went to a Pump and knew all of the water came out the end of the hose was clean and into my bladder or bottle. So if you are gonna do some other method how can you believe the water you are drinking is clean? Just thinking an in-line filter on a Plytapus bladder is best for lightweight use but limited to temps and I am open to other ways??

 

[michaelc10]

ive had most of the systems , for lightweight the sawyer mini or squeeze systems are very good , But i keep going back to my sawyer 4 liter gravity feed system with 2 bags , one for dirty and one clean water. its a bit heavier at 18 ounces but a great system i dont have to pump or squeeze and works very fast once you burp the air before hooking to second bag.If your still worried about it being safe to drink , the steripen afterwords works great as well. But i would never use the steripen as my only means of drinkable water, as ive had a few times when cold that my steripen batteries acted up , not letting the light come on.

 

[badkneesbro]

I just came back from a 4 day trip in the sierras with the sawyer mini, & I think Im gonna go back to the 3-way. Too hard to suck water outta that thing. Maybe Im doing something wrong. Anybody have any ideas?

 

[COlineman78]

I just came back from a 4 day trip in the sierras with the sawyer mini, & I think Im gonna go back to the 3-way. Too hard to suck water outta that thing. Maybe Im doing something wrong. Anybody have any ideas?

Flow rate through a mini is pretty slow. If I were going to truly try to drink with it inline I would hook it up to a Geigerrig. I would only use a Sawyer in either a gravity or Geigerrig system. If necessary in a gravity system you could force it through by squeezing the dirty bag if in a rush.

 

[zeroforhire]

Steripen with aqua Mira backup. Best system ever.

 

[neverquit]

I just spent 4 days with my homemade sawyer mini gravity filter. Filtering from cow tanks in an Arizona wilderness. 10oz total and worked great.

 

[Hunt'nFish]

I've used a handful of different filters and currently use the Sawyer mini due to cost and size. At $20 I can buy a new one each year should I screw up an let it freeze. So far that hasn't happened.

Yes, flow rate is an issue. Particularly when setup "inline", but again size & cost trumps.

What works best for me is to set it up as a gravity system at base and fill a MSR Dromedary bladder for camp water. I try to always return to camp with my pack bladder full of dirty water and let it settle before grav filtering it into the Dromedary bladder. Letting the big stuff settle out helps keep the filter from clogging up and slowing.

Anway, by just observing some precautions, I'm able to keep it flowing until I get home for a back flush.
Hope this helps,
Hunt'nFish