Water Filtration

[dmath010]

I have an REI gift card I need to use up and I'm looking to upgrade my water filtration. I'm torn between Aqua Mira, sawyer, and a steripen. This will be used in warm weather hikes out west (grand canyon trip coming up, other NM and CO hikes until I move back east in May) and the rest on the AT ( 2 week section in June and possible 2015 thru). Anyone have any input on the pros and cons of each?

I'm leaning sawyer and have a few specific questions. Can any of their models fit platy bags? Is the mini good for 2? Can the mini be fitter to a larger bag, platy or sawyer? Would that be efficient?

Thanks!

[CarlZ993]

For the GC, a lot depends on what water source you're planning to filter/purify from. It if is from the usual sources of streams & springs, any of your three options would suffice. If you have to filter/purify from the Colorado River, that can alter the plan. If there is heavy flow, the water is chocolate brown in color. It really clogs up the filter. When filtering water out of the Colorado River @ Tanner Beach, I saw countless people having problems w/ their filters. I was there with some Boy Scouts with MSR ceramic filters. We were able to pump 1/2 L of water before we needed to break down the filter & clean it. Fortunately, we had two similar filters & an assembly line going to hasten the process.

As far as AT hiking, all three will work just fine. You'll need to pay attention to freezing weather w/ the Sawyer Squeeze. That can ruin the filter. I used Aquamira for my entire thru-hike & was pleased with the results. But, I looked longingly at the Sawyer Squeeze. Alas, it ended up in my collection (the 'Mini' version). I have yet to use it in the field. Probably on an upcoming GC trip. Definitely on my Colorado Trail hike.

[HooKooDooKu]

The Sawyer Mini has barbed inputs and outputs. That means you can easily use it with things like the platy hoser (http://platy bags if you get a platy hoser). Other wise, the mini (and original) have 'standard' water-bottle female threads. The size of the openning matches that of platys, but platypus decided to customize the angle of the threads. As a result, a platy can only partly connect to a Sawyer.

About the only serious cons to the mini is that it's not freeze safe and is not impact safe (inside are glass-like rods that can break if water freezes inside or if the filter is struck hard enough).

The steripen has the down side of requiring batteries... from what I've seen/heard, many hikers are leaning toward the Sawyer because it's so small and light and doesn't utilize and "consumables".

[Sarcasm the elf]

1) Wash your hands! Especially after going to the bathroom and before eating. Most of the people who claim they got sick from bad water actually caught something due to poor personal hygiene.

2) Sawyer Mini water filter

[lonehiker]

Not an issue on the AT as the water sources to a great extent are "clear". But my issue with aqua mira and the steripen is that if you have dirty water, you are still drinking dirty water. Personal preference but I opt for filtration.

[elray]

I just broke down and purchased a Sawyer Squeeze for my upcoming thru and I'm wondering if anyone has tried using it in gravity mode? It's been so cold here I haven't taken the time to play with it yet. Thanks.

[Baldbaron]

The only problem with Sawyer is that it is slow

[atmilkman]

I just broke down and purchased a Sawyer Squeeze for my upcoming thru and I'm wondering if anyone has tried using it in gravity mode? It's been so cold here I haven't taken the time to play with it yet. Thanks.
Yes you can use it in gravity mode. It's slow - 16oz. takes between 5 an d 6 min. But you have to start it first with a "squeeze". If you have blown all the water out of it to pack and carry it will take near forever to do anything. You have to get it flowing first.

[hikerboy57]

For the GC, a lot depends on what water source you're planning to filter/purify from. It if is from the usual sources of streams & springs, any of your three options would suffice. If you have to filter/purify from the Colorado River, that can alter the plan. If there is heavy flow, the water is chocolate brown in color. It really clogs up the filter. When filtering water out of the Colorado River @ Tanner Beach, I saw countless people having problems w/ their filters. I was there with some Boy Scouts with MSR ceramic filters. We were able to pump 1/2 L of water before we needed to break down the filter & clean it. Fortunately, we had two similar filters & an assembly line going to hasten the process.

As far as AT hiking, all three will work just fine. You'll need to pay attention to freezing weather w/ the Sawyer Squeeze. That can ruin the filter. I used Aquamira for my entire thru-hike & was pleased with the results. But, I looked longingly at the Sawyer Squeeze. Alas, it ended up in my collection (the 'Mini' version). I have yet to use it in the field. Probably on an upcoming GC trip. Definitely on my Colorado Trail hike.
any filter can freeze, not just the squeeze.

[Slosteppin]

I have an REI gift card I need to use up and I'm looking to upgrade my water filtration. I'm torn between Aqua Mira, sawyer, and a steripen. This will be used in warm weather hikes out west (grand canyon trip coming up, other NM and CO hikes until I move back east in May) and the rest on the AT ( 2 week section in June and possible 2015 thru). Anyone have any input on the pros and cons of each?

I'm leaning sawyer and have a few specific questions. Can any of their models fit platy bags? Is the mini good for 2? Can the mini be fitter to a larger bag, platy or sawyer? Would that be efficient?

Thanks!

I use a Steripen for hikes where I think the water will be clear of sediment. I always start with new batteries and carry a spare set of new batteries If I'm at all doubtful I use a filter.
I just bought a Sawyer Mini and hope to use it for a seven day hike in Florida soon. I have an old 4 L Platy water tank I hope to use as a dirty water part of a gravity system. The threads seem to fit OK. Tomorrow I try it in the kitchen to see if it works. The components are several ounces lighter than the MSR filter I would use otherwise.

[psyon27]

The water isn't as dirty if you do a quick prefilter through a bandana.

Ken

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk

[Ercoupe]

Just purchased my second full sized squeeze, already have barbed connectors. Use it mainly as a gravity to my playty. May need to squeeze to evacuate air. I may have frozen it, have to be careful to carry on person or in bag at night. Works great refill at lunch breaks in less than ten minutes, at night when time is plentiful. Doubt the million gallon claim, as it will slow down, even with flushing, the mini at 540 gallons makes me really suspicious. Considering the cost and wait time of aqua mira, a filter makes more sense to me. A foldable bucket to allow colorado river water to settle is recommended buy some GC hikers. Check the Grand Canyon group on Yahoo.

[lonehiker]

The water isn't as dirty if you do a quick prefilter through a bandana.

Ken

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk

You obviously haven't gotten water from Muddy Creek in WY.

[lonehiker]

Yes you can use it in gravity mode. It's slow - 16oz. takes between 5 an d 6 min. But you have to start it first with a "squeeze". If you have blown all the water out of it to pack and carry it will take near forever to do anything. You have to get it flowing first.

My mileage varies. I use the original squeeze and gravity feed about a quart in 1.5 to 2 minutes. It does require an initial squeeze and I elevate the dirty water as high as my bladder tube allows.

[psyon27]

No I haven't but you won't have crunchy hunks. It will probably still be brown.

Ken

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk

[lonehiker]

More an ugly yellowish dark urine like color. I just prefer to filter, as mentioned earlier, for this reason. Plus, filters have become very light in the last within the last few years.

[Weather-man]

Cloudy or "dirty" looking water has never really bothered me. Contaminated water does concern me or more accurately, my body's response to the contamination is what troubles me. Diarrhea just takes the fun out of life.

I know it's not popular with the ultra-lighters but I carry both a Sawyer, now the mini, and some Aqua-mira or sometimes the Katydyn pills. The Sawyer can't be beat for drinking "on the march" or in other words, water that I want to drink quickly. I love the Sawyer but have had problems with the bags. In fact I even had an Evernew bag split on me. Hopefully the new sawyer bags hold up better and I suppose I'll need to stop Gorilla griping the bags.

The aqua-mira is perfect for camp water....gather your water and treat as your first chore, get camp ready and the water is usually ready to drink or cook with. For shorter section hikes I down load the A-M into the smaller, lighter plastic bottles from AntigravityGear. These hold enough for about a 5-7 day hike.

If you do choose a filter I'd still recommend that you carry some of the Katydyn pills as back-up. A sheet of 10 weighs a few grams and is worth the piece of mind if the filter fails.

The BL is that AT water in the springtime, especially the artesian water high in the hills, is wonderful water. I'm often guilty of drinking it unfiltered or treated and have never suffered ill effects. Nonetheless I still carry the gear described above.

[atmilkman]

My mileage varies. I use the original squeeze and gravity feed about a quart in 1.5 to 2 minutes. It does require an initial squeeze and I elevate the dirty water as high as my bladder tube allows.
That may explain your better rate. I connect my filter directly to the platy and my bottle directly to the filter via 2 bottle tops glued together with a hole drilled through them. I'm also using just over a liter in the platy.

[HooKooDooKu]

any filter can freeze, not just the squeeze.
The MSR Sweetwater filter can withstand freezing.

I know Campmor used to always hype that the Sweetwater is freeze safe and impact safe. I find it interesting that MSR doesn't hype these qualities... but I think that's because they are trying to avoid detracting from their HyperFlow system. However, the Sweetwater instruction manual even suggests keeping the filter in the freezer between trips.

[dmath010]

Went with the sawyer mini. I hope it is enough for 2 people. Do most carry the syringe or are there other ways to backwash?