water filter vs. water drops

[nathan2]

ugh. this was in response to penny pincher. I'm banned for being a moron today.

[hambone5126]

I'm tempted to just not drink water.

thats the total UL thing to do. plus, water is totally over rated

[cave man]

I carried the MSr sweetwater pump. It weighed more than aqua mira but i got the relief knowing i wasnt drinking chemicals on a daily basis. If your trying to rush through the trail and not waste time @ the source then drops might be for you. I like to watch the surroundings or people for that matter and i watched alot of people not filter their water,more power to them if it doesnt kill ya it makes ya stronger, hense the guy doing it for 30 years prob wont get sick, but trying it in the first month you might have a higher risk.. For me id rather not risk getting sick, so taking my time at the watersource was no biggie. except in the rain, and this year im going to get a sea to summit bucket so i can filter at the shelter or what not.

[peakbagger]

I used to use Polar Pur for years and then switched to Aquamira at some point and discovered that Polar pur gave me (and others) the "trots" after a week or two. (Sorry for the TMI).

I have used some pretty bad water sources with drops when I had to including spending two hours filling up water bottles from a mud pit during a dry October in VA. I had to dig a hole in the mud and let it fill up with black water. Once I had a container full I let it sit and very carefully poured off the top into another container which was then slightly gray water. One more time and I had clear water. Only then did I dose it with drops. It took awhile but we were at a logical place to use a shelter so the extra time wasnt an issue.

Some of the water in Maine has very fine suspended solids that really dont add any significant color to the water but can plug up a filter real quick, if I remeber correctly Chairback Gap was one of these water sources . In those spots, drops are better than a filter. If in doubt a double dose of Aquamira will generally kill anything, although in areas were crypto may be around, it may have to sit for quite awhile.