Tried my new DT1 and Sawyer Squeeze Filter

Yukondog

WKR
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
Messages
320
Location
Parker, CO
I was finally able to take the DT1 and Sawyer Squeeze Filter for a test run last week. Took my 7yr old son and climbed 1,400ft in 3 miles to 11k and did some fishing for a couple days. Darn fishing was slow but Alex was able to catch a few. Good times!!

As expected the DT1 rocks! Very comfortable, adjusted easily and did a awesome job hauling all the gear. I was able to fit my bag, two pads and two pillows in the lower compartment. My Fly Creek UL3 fit nicely in the side pockets with a lot of spare room. The main compartment housed my son's brick of a sleeping bag and enough food for a hungry little man for a whole week. Plus enough clothes for him to change once daily as his tends to gravitate to the mud and water.

The Sawyer squeeze filter was a complete disappointment. I know a lot of people love them and maybe I'm simply got a bum unit, but I have never had gathering water be such a chore. The first night I was excited to use it. Pitched camp and went to the lake to fill up the 64oz bag. Well, ever try to fill up a bag under water? I have not. Very difficult task to do. Was able to get enough in the bag for a Mtn house and fill up the bladder a touch. It was miserable filling up our bladders. It took me 5 trips to the lake to fill up my 4L MSR and 3 trips to fill up my sons 2L camelbak. That sucks when you are camping for several days. Then the dang thing had almost zero flow. Flushed it numerous times and it never seemed to flow well. I would be shaking as I tried to squeeze the water out of the bag. Total nightmare for me. Last morning as I made breakfast I had had enough of the dang thing and tossed it (gently) out against a log where all the gear was living. Put a hole in the bag.

For me I will be returning it and getting a new Hiker Pro. My old PUR filter lasted me 15yrs before failing last year from the years of use. I was excited about the 3-5oz filter with bags and less bulk, but I found the pump is hard to beat. And yes, I do carry tablets as backups all the time. Prefer a filter as my first source of water whenever possible.

Anyone else have a bad experience with the Sawyer Squeeze Filter?

Matt
 

Ozz08

WKR
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
Messages
423
Location
Castle Rock, CO
Hey Yukon I used my T1 and squeeze me filter on a scouting trip a few weeks ago and kind of agree on the filter. It's really nice to pack with its size and weight but it sucks to fill the bags and really sucks to try and fill a bladder. Like you said 4 trips to fill my bladder and about 20-30 mins. Im going to use it again on my deer hunt but I'm really thinking about going back to my msr filter after that. I had my camelback bladder all set up to filter water through my msr filter through the drink tube and never even having to open my pack to fill the bladder. I thought the weight saving would cancel out the convenience but I'm not so sure anymore.
 

luke moffat

Super Moderator
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
Messages
102
I didn't try the squeeze filter, but the reasons you stated above is why I skipped the squeeze and went straight to the inline Sawyer plus a platypus big zip 3L. Very easy to fill cause the whole top comes open and you just dunk and go. Plus the filter is then so far below the bladder that when it gravity drains it does it just as fast or faster than my Hiker Pro was. Plus then you never have to actually wait to filter your water you drink during the day, it just filters as you drink. Also I thought those squeeze bags don't look very robust either. I personally will not go back to hiker pro.
 

wvtradbow

FNG
Joined
Apr 6, 2012
Messages
20
Location
Almost Heaven West Virginia
I just got the squeeze filter a while back and have yet to try it,so thanks for the heads up on filling those bags,I went to you tube for some visuals and one guy was using a sandwich bag to fill his up and seemed pretty simple..I never thought about the difficulty of filling those up..glad I didn't have to find out the hard way..
 

bellboy

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
May 9, 2012
Messages
260
For what it's worth I use a sawyer filter inline on my drinking hose, its not the squeeze filter but i think its the same filter. I essentially drink the water clean. I fill my 3l bladder with a 20 oz coke bottle, but first I cover the bottle with a piece of micro fiber rag to act as a prefilter. Apparently those sawyer filters clog quite easily so it is just as fast for me to squeeze water through the rag from the coke bottle into the bladder. By doing it this way you have to keep in mind that your bladder is now contaminated, don't drink directly from the bladder. Another little trick is to take one of the extra quick-disconnects and install it 2-3" from the bite valve on the drink tube. This allows you to remove the bite valve when it comes time to fill your cook pot with clean water. As long as gravity is in your favor the water flows relatively quickly out of the tube. You can speed it up if you squeeze your water bladder. If you like having a bladder full of clean water then you can carry two bladders, one for raw unfiltered water and one for clean purified water. You can let gravity filter a whole bladder or speed it up by squeezing. With quick-disconnects you can hook the two bladders directly through the hoses to each other to guarantee no spilling. Just make sure you identify the dirty one somehow so you don't accidentally drink the Unpurified water. This inline sawyer filter has replaced my hiker pro pump and I love it. Another thing to remember about the sawyer filters is they cannot be frozen, they are broken if frozen.
 

Chuffness

FNG
Joined
May 13, 2012
Messages
73
Location
Utah
First time I tried my sawyer i couldn't fill it like others have stated. Then I just moved up the creek where a down logged had created a 8" tall tiny waterfall. Placed my bag right under it and it Filled up quick and easy then. I even moved some rocks and sticks to make one spot flow better. Took less than a min to fill up and it was a slow flowing creek. Now when I head back to the same area to hunt I use the same fill spot.
 

RosinBag

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Messages
3,100
Location
Roseville, CA.
I used my Sawyer one trip. The entire process sucked. After about 5 fillings, the bag sprung a leak at the top seal and it became a water storage unit. The filter is OK at best and the bags are a very poor design in the opening size and material.
 
Joined
Aug 24, 2012
Messages
509
Location
bakersfield ca.
I didn't try the squeeze filter, but the reasons you stated above is why I skipped the squeeze and went straight to the inline Sawyer plus a platypus big zip 3L. Very easy to fill cause the whole top comes open and you just dunk and go. Plus the filter is then so far below the bladder that when it gravity drains it does it just as fast or faster than my Hiker Pro was. Plus then you never have to actually wait to filter your water you drink during the day, it just filters as you drink. Also I thought those squeeze bags don't look very robust either. I personally will not go back to hiker pro.
Hey Luke; whats the difference between sawyer & the platypus gravity feed. Also, dont u have to use something else in freezing temps? Wont that sawyer freeze?
 

luke moffat

Super Moderator
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
Messages
102
The main difference is the durability of the bag itself and the ease of filling the big zip even in small puddles of water and its already setup as a water bladder with drinking hose and all so just dip in a creek to fill and filter as I drink.

As far as freezing go that could be a concern and on late season hunts where freezing might be an issue I can still use my Katadyn hiker pro. Or just sleep with it in my sleeping bag as the quick connects make that very easy.

There is no perfect system for everyone, just gotta find what works best for you through trial and error yourself.
 

Wrongside

WKR
Joined
Jun 3, 2012
Messages
667
Location
AB
There is no perfect system for everyone, just gotta find what works best for you through trial and error yourself.

True. That being said, the Sawyer Inline filter I bought this summer has been one of my favourite gear purchases in a long time...
 

seand

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Sep 22, 2012
Messages
257
Location
Tigard, Oregon
I used the sawyer squeeze on both my wilderness trips this year. The first trip backpacking, first time I used it, I brought along a small water bottle to fill the squeeze bag. Worked great to get enough water to refill two bladders and do mountainhouse and oatmeal. I agree, unless you can fill the squeeze bag under a small waterfall, it it darn near impossible to fill it. Filling a small 16 oz water bottle was easy though.

The next trip was not really backpacking, we had horses and a collaspable water jug. I bought a $5 inline adapter from REI and cut a 3L platypus zip bag tube and ran the filter from it as a gravity filter. It worked GREAT. I was able to fill a 5 gallon collaspable water jug in 20-30 min or so, just hang it and let it drain, then refill. Flow was great.

Next time on warm weather backpacking hunts I will just use the platypus zip bag and the inline filter in my pack daily, and then pull the bite valve and tube and use it as a gravity filter at camp to refill my partners bladder and do mountainhouse or whatever. The squeeze bags do suck (popped one already) but the filter as an inline works really well IMO.
 

seand

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Sep 22, 2012
Messages
257
Location
Tigard, Oregon
We were below freezing at nights on the horse pack trip so I just kept the filter in my sleeping bag at night, and in my pocket during the day.

I was amazed at the flow actually, I filtered 10+ gallons of water with sediment, pine needles, etc., and it never slowed down or got clogged.
 
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