Lightweight water systems in 2025

[Smithb9841]

Maybe I missed it but is there a way to put a filter in line straight off a hydration bladder to your drinking tube on your pack?
I usually keep a befree in my pack along with my clean bladder of water. But if I could fill my bladder then filter as needed as I drink just like If I had a bladder full of clean water would be awesome.

 

[BBob]

Maybe I missed it but is there a way to put a filter in line straight off a hydration bladder to your drinking tube on your pack?
I usually keep a befree in my pack along with my clean bladder of water. But if I could fill my bladder then filter as needed as I drink just like If I had a bladder full of clean water would be awesome.

MSR makes one. It’s a hollow fiber filter like the Katadyn and HydraPak.

 

[mtnbound]

Maybe I missed it but is there a way to put a filter in line straight off a hydration bladder to your drinking tube on your pack?
I usually keep a befree in my pack along with my clean bladder of water. But if I could fill my bladder then filter as needed as I drink just like If I had a bladder full of clean water would be awesome.

Several companies make one. Sawyer, Platapus and MSR.

 

[Dave0317]

I started using aquamira drops on a big adventure hunt last year and I don’t see myself using anything else on more than a day hunt going forward. This is the system I used for it and it worked real well for me.

Aquamira: Why we like it, and how we use it - Andrew Skurka

For about twenty years and almost exclusively I have used Aquamira ($15) to purify backcountry water sources. And it’s been the only purification method used by the guided trip program that I started in 2011 and that has over 1,000 alumni. Last month two of these alumni emailed me separately...

andrewskurka.com

Thanks for posting that. I’ve looked at lots of Skurkas stuff before and never really read into his philosophy on that.

I liked the idea of the tablets for convenience, and was thinking the drops were just another unnecessary step. But I can see where there are some advantages depending on time, water cleanliness, different size bottles, etc.

 

[Pilsner]

I have 2, 3 and 4L Hydrapaks and a Katadyn filter. The size I take depends on how much water I need to carry and how far from the source I'm going.
I'm buying a 10L for a camp reservoir for a potentially dry hunt if there isn't any alpine springs this year.

I prefer using Smart Water bottles in my pack. they're tough, cheap to replace and less likely to get a hole over several days.

I have the Hardside drink tube for the Smart bottle too.

I also found the little bottle connector used to make a "tornado in a bottle" school project also connects the Smart bottle and filter. I hang them up and do something else till the bottle is full.
View attachment 924417
I also carry tablets as backup.

I was amazed that it took this long into a lightweight tread before SmartWater bottles got brought up. The lack of cross pollination between the UL long distance hiking community and the back country hunting community always amazes me.
Now we see how long it takes for someone to mention throwing away the Sawyer bags when you open the package on your Squeeze filter and replacing them with CNOC bags...

 

[WyoBC_99]

I've been using aquamira drops exclusively for probably the last 5 years, with a hydrapak seeker and a nalgene for drink mixes.
In hot weather, I also like a platy bladder.

However, I am really diggin the info shared on this thread and wondering if I should consider ways to cut weight and carry less water!

 

[Josey Wales]

I was amazed that it took this long into a lightweight tread before SmartWater bottles got brought up. The lack of cross pollination between the UL long distance hiking community and the back country hunting community always amazes me.
Now we see how long it takes for someone to mention throwing away the Sawyer bags when you open the package on your Squeeze filter and replacing them with CNOC bags...

CNOC makes really nice bladders.

 

[RojoGrande]

+1 on the cnoc and smartwater bottles. Hiked the Colorado Trail earlier this year. Used a sawyer squeeze and 2 smart water bottles with a cnoc bladder to carry for some of the dryer sections.

 

[SonnyDay]

I hunt rifle seasons and have had too much trouble with filters and freezing… I use aquatabs. They weigh nothing, are effective, and work while I am hunting. I don’t mind the taste… which pretty much goes away once it finishes out and off-gasses. I use nalgenes because they work and I never worry one is going to fail inside my sleeping bag.

 

[highcountrymuley]

I have grown weary of the Katadyn hiker pro I have been using. Relatively clean small stream that I filter from seems to trash the filter and makes it SUPER hard to pump after a short time/volume of water (a few liters) pumping. I wonder if it is the intake jumping around and stirring up sediment from the bottom? Using a dirty bottle to fill and pump from seemed to help on last trip but then I have a dirty bottle. I unscrew the system and the filter is obviously dirty AF. I have tried wrapping a bandana around the intake.... my brother keeps buying a new Katadyn each year with the same result... thoughts?
We tried Sawyer squeeze filter one year but keep going back to Katadyn pump for some reason...

 

[BBob]

thoughts?

Hydrapak squeeze or same in a gravity system. To clean them you just swish them around in water.

 

[Dave0317]

I hunt rifle seasons and have had too much trouble with filters and freezing… I use aquatabs. They weigh nothing, are effective, and work while I am hunting. I don’t mind the taste… which pretty much goes away once it finishes out and off-gasses. I use nalgenes because they work and I never worry one is going to fail inside my sleeping bag.

Exactly my line of thought lately.

I did a rifle season once with a platypus gravity works, and had no issue. But I just didn’t like having to be cognizant of where I stored the filter at all times.

 

[SonnyDay]

Exactly my line of thought lately.

I did a rifle season once with a platypus gravity works, and had no issue. But I just didn’t like having to be cognizant of where I stored the filter at all times.

Yep. We did one year with a Sawyer but had to go through some ice to get to water.... the water was just at the freezing point (or maybe was below it but something about the pressure of the ice over it kept it liquid? Air temp was below freezing, and it just kept freezing up. After a few tries, I no longer trusted it.

I had to hike out to the truck to get more stove fuel so we could melt snow instead. NOTE: That was the last time I used isobutane in cold weather as well! It's white gas for me...

 

[sargent]

My system is two one liter Deer Park water bottles (0.7 oz each), one five liter collapsible water bag (2.2 oz), and Aquatabs. Total system weight without water is about 3.5 ounces and cost $15.

 

[Sawitrightoff]

Lot of good ways to cut weight, here.

 

[Ajsomp]

Depending on season - lightweight Nalgene on my hip, sea to summit 3L, another Nalgene or a smart water bottle. I carry a befree and purifying tabs. Depending on the hunt dictates what I take or leave. The tabs always come with.

Late season it’s nice to have boil some water and put into a nalgene at night for warmth and have some water for the morning.

In the past I’ve had some of the collapsible bags, Katadyne gravity filter, titanium canteens and cups etc. In the end, boiling water and tabs works any season

 

[denverangler725]

CNOC makes really nice bladders.

Also really like the CNOC bags. I use the biggest one as my dirty bag (I think 4L). Love how the top unzips for easier fill. I can pack that dirty bag with me and filter into my drinking vessel as I use it.

 

[Dave0317]

Did CO 1st rifle this year. Most days I brought two 1-liter Smart Water bottles and one 16 ounce nalgene. The small Nalgene was very useful for measuring water amounts for freeze dried meal cooking and for holding coffee.

This worked well, and the MP1 tabs work fine. Taste is not too bad to handle for a few days on the mountain.

Overall this was almost a pound lighter than carrying a couple Nalgenes and a Platypus Gravityworks like I used to.

I usually ran across enough water that refilling before running out of the 2.5 L was not a problem.

 

[CMF]

We mainly backpack hunt early seasons, so I would probably do something different for late season hunt with freezing temps.
I also don't bring a bottle any more for electrolyte, I just pour it in my mouth. For coffee, if I'm solo, I drink it straight out the jetboil, otherwise I bring a gsi mug. I plan to try out the Zoji thermos on some hunts in the future.

I carry the below. I believe the weight comes out to around 12oz or less.
4L platypus clean
4L platypus dirty(with quick connect)
Sawyer mini (with quick connects)
The16oz. Sawyer squeeze bag that comes with the filter(mainly for emergencies)
Aquatabs in emergency kit
Flushing syringe

Bladder hose - I put a quick connect on my hose at the top of the pack with a shut-off valve on the pack side of the quick connect, and another angled valve at the mouthpiece to shut off and prevent drips while hiking.

The valve on the pack side of the bladder allows me to fill at home the night before heading out and not have to worry about leaks in the pack or the truck. The valve on the mouthpiece prevents the constant drip that seems to occur anytime my pack is full and sinched tight.

I mosty use it as a gravity setup and filter at lunch if needed or otherwise at camp at night. I usually try and get a full dirty bag at night so I have water for breakfast, coffee, and still enough to make through most of the next day.

I have occasionally, on long hikes in and out, stuck the small squeeze bag in an accessible outside pocket. I can grab and fill it and squeeze a half liter into my clean bag inside my pack withouth unbuckling anything.

The wife and daughter have the similar setups, except their clean bladders are 3L. If five of us are camping, three filters and dirty bags is plenty. The quick connects make it easy to switch up filters and dirty bags while flushing slow filters.

 

[justinspicher]

I have finally used my hydrapak filter in some colder weather/water and didn’t have any issues. In fact, I was nothing but impressed with it. I’ve often thought about just carrying tabs for backcountry excursions, but I haven’t committed to it yet.