Taking advantage of the unseasonably awesome weather last weekend, the wife and I section hiked and camped segment 3 to test out some new gear. One thing I found annoying at camp was the energy and time used to filter water. We have a Sawyer Mini which works really well, but we figured out how to improve our (not the system's) efficiency by rigging up the system shown in the picture. We didn't like simply sitting there, holding the dirty water bag steady while water flowed through the filter into our clean water bladders, so when we got home I put two holes in the top of the dirty water bag, tied a thin line to it for hanging from a branch, removed the bite valve from the Platypus 3 liter Hoser and attached that end of the tube directly to the filter. It works great, filtering 2 liters of hands-free water in 4 minutes and saves quite a bit of money over the proper Sawyer In-Line system and water bladders costs.
Over time the filter nozzle may stretch the bite valve end of the tubing some, since it is a little larger than the tube would like, but maybe not depending on resiliency. If so, a dedicated hose and twist-on cap would only add 1.8 ounces to pack weight.
Anyway, though some of you might like this idea.
inline filter.JPG