View Full Version : Sawyer Mini Water Filter?
Mr Liberty
05-11-2015, 20:54
Does anyone have experience with the Sawyer Mini water filter? It seems pretty much ideal for backpacking being only about $20, weighing 2oz, and requiring only gravity...
Is it made with good quality? Does it work well/quickly?
Just feeling it out, I've never bought a real water filter before... (always gone in groups or had to stay where there's potable water :eek:)
Sawyer Mini is great. Really easy to use. It works with the threads on most plastic water bottles. I love mine. And I am in good company - Jennifer Pharr Davis lists it as the number 1 must have item for hiking. http://www.blisstree.com/2015/05/06/fitness/trail-hiking-survival-guide/
Just don't take it out in freezing temperatures which can damage the membrane. I have to get a new one this spring after accidentally leaving mine in a pack on a very cold winter hike.
I have the Sawyer Mini, used it, like it. The Mini is super light and about as cheap a filter system as you can find.
The biggest caution, which Scrum mentioned, is do not let it freeze if you are hiking in cold weather. Freezing will rupture the filter membrane.
I would add to be sure to carry some kind of wide-mouth container (either a Nalgene or just cut the bottom from a regular water bottle) for collecting water. Collecting water from some sources with the small mouthed squeeze bags can be a test of patience or worse.
Also take care to pre-filter water with a lot of particulates or floaties. Otherwise you will find yourself having to back-flush it constantly. For this kind of water I will filter it through a bandanna first, then pour from there into the squeeze bag.
But for the cost, its tough to say the Mini is a bad option.
gsingjane
05-12-2015, 07:04
If you can, search the forums about the Sawyer, there have been lots of posts about it. And, people have posted many interesting/useful hacks as well. I have switched out to this filter, from a much heavier Katahdin, and been very happy!
Jane
bigcranky
05-12-2015, 07:13
We used the Sawyer mini for two people on a month long hike last summer. It worked well, though the setup we had was squeeze, not gravity. (If you can find a gravity filter for $20 let me know where.)
Upsides: very light, small, relatively easy to use, no hoses to get tangled or dirty. Easy to clean.
Downsides: hard to squeeze sometimes - I started sitting on the bag to filter water (looks odd but works). Sometimes hard to fill the tiny small mouth bags. Impossible to fill them from standing water (pond) without a scoop of some sort. Takes time to filter several liters of water.
We took Aqua Mira tablets and used those when we were in a hurry during the day, just to save the extended time of filtering.
daddytwosticks
05-12-2015, 07:41
I'm an Aqua Mira man, however I carry this filter and use it as a straw filter when hiking in warmer weather. I just dip my Snow Peak 600 mug in a water source (or collect drippage) and suck away. Keeps me well hydrated in the summer. I carry the filter in my hip belt pocket and my SP mug on the bottom of a Poweraid one quart bottle nestled in my pack's side pocket. Easily reached as I hike without removing my pack. :)
the Sawyer Mini is a great filter, but to be honest, IMO the original Sawyer Squeeze is better. The original Sawyer Squeeze is <1 oz. heavier than the Mini.
a. The Mini gets dirty/clogged faster, will have to be backflushed more often than the Squeeze.
b. The Mini flow rate is slower than the Squeeze. From what I've experienced with both, the Mini flow rate is almost half the Squeeze, when both are clean.
many thru hikers I met in VA this past week were using the Sawyer Squeeze instead of the Mini... in different modes. One had the Squeeze screwed on the top of a 1L Smartwater bottle, and was using the 700ml Smartwater bottle with the sport-nozzle to backflush it, instead of carrying the Sawyer syringe.
I use either the Mini or the Squeeze with the 1.5L Evernew bladders to squeeze water into my Platypus Hoser, and keep an empty 1L Smartwater bottle for extra carry. I also carry Aqua Mira, because sometimes Aqua Mira is faster and easier to use, especially in camp. The Mio water flavor works great with Aqua Mira too. There's several different sportwater bottle threads that will match the threads on the Sawyer Mini or Squeeze. Aqua-Fina bottles match it too. Some use the Mini as an "inline" filter on their hydration bladders.
Walkintom
05-12-2015, 10:38
I use the quick release inline version of the larger filter Sawyer makes (1 million vs 100,000 gals) and it works great. Have a couple of years of use on it and it still performs like new.
Very pleased with it.
This one runs about $65 instead of 20 but I like having the extra capacity. I fill my hydration bladder with water and can gravity feed from the filter easily.
perdidochas
05-12-2015, 11:49
We used the Sawyer mini for two people on a month long hike last summer. It worked well, though the setup we had was squeeze, not gravity. (If you can find a gravity filter for $20 let me know where.)
Upsides: very light, small, relatively easy to use, no hoses to get tangled or dirty. Easy to clean.
Downsides: hard to squeeze sometimes - I started sitting on the bag to filter water (looks odd but works). Sometimes hard to fill the tiny small mouth bags. Impossible to fill them from standing water (pond) without a scoop of some sort. Takes time to filter several liters of water.
We took Aqua Mira tablets and used those when we were in a hurry during the day, just to save the extended time of filtering.
You should be able to set up the Mini for gravity filter. I set up a Sawyer 3 in 1 that way. I bought a cheap drybag, some fittings, and some plastic tubing.
Sort of like this: 30726
It also works as a squeeze filter if you close the top, and twist it closed, holds a couple liters.
Rain Man
05-12-2015, 11:59
The Sawyer Mini is my "go to" filter/treatment option for the trail these days. I use it gravity feed with quick-connect adapters for the line to my Platypus bladder. For gathering water, a zip-lock bag works fine and pours nicely into the dirty water bag.
You can buy a faucet adapter to back flush it easily at home. Don't forget to clean after each trip with a diluted bleach mixture. Not only can particulates clog it, so can mold growing it there during storage.
I have read of a couple of cases recently of folks going on hike/kayak trips and finding their filters would not work. So, a word to the wise, double-check your filter at home just before throwing it in your pack and heading to the woods. Not to mention, take a back-up. I carry tablets in my first aid kit for that.
Sawyer Mini is great. My main warning is to not over-tighten the dirty back to the filter. It will dislodge the foam 0-ring glued to the inside the attachment point of the filter. It will cause dirty water to leak over the sides of your filter when you're filling up your drink container. If you do jack the filter up, the good thing is that it's inexpensive to replace.
BuckeyeHiker
05-12-2015, 12:54
I like it, works well. The only drawback is the bag is small and I have heard of people ruining bags because they squeeze them too hard causing them to bust. Field and stream has a 3 pack of larger replacement bags.
Mr Liberty
05-12-2015, 15:53
Related note: I'm looking to bring this on a thru. How would you go about backflushing on the trail, without bringing the syringe? If you had a bladder securely attached to the output, could you try to squeeze/roll it, or is that not enough pressure?
swisscross
05-12-2015, 15:57
Related note: I'm looking to bring this on a thru. How would you go about backflushing on the trail, without bringing the syringe? If you had a bladder securely attached to the output, could you try to squeeze/roll it, or is that not enough pressure?
You can but I would be concerned about popping my bladder.
I use a Smart Water bottle and carry an extra SW sport cap. The sport cap slips onto the nipple perfectly.
HooKooDooKu
05-12-2015, 16:16
Related note: I'm looking to bring this on a thru. How would you go about backflushing on the trail, without bringing the syringe? If you had a bladder securely attached to the output, could you try to squeeze/roll it, or is that not enough pressure?
Sawyer indicates that back flushing needs to be "FORCEFUL", otherwise you will only form paths of least resistance instead of blowing out the particulates that may be trapped in your filter.
My guess is that on a thru hike, you're either going to eventually rupture the bladder squeezing it hard enough to properly back flush the filter, or the filter's efficiency (flow rate) will seriously degrade from not squeezing the bladder hard enough.
Mr Liberty
05-12-2015, 16:22
You can but I would be concerned about popping my bladder.
I use a Smart Water bottle and carry an extra SW sport cap. The sport cap slips onto the nipple perfectly.
Okay. I'd do it with my Vapur Eclipse (imo by far the best collapsible bottle, the 1L is only 40g), and I could stand on it and it won't pop so I think it would hold up to it. I'll try it at home after I get the filter :)
bigcranky
05-12-2015, 20:38
I just carry the syringe. It doesn't weigh all that much, seriously. Plus you could use it as a wound irrigation syringe if you have to make everything dual-use :)
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I use a Smart Water bottle with a tornado tube used to attached it to the Sawyer Squeeze... I force water out with greater reverse pressure force, than I could get with the syringe.
I also use the drinking spout on the Smart Water Bottle brand to mate with the nipple on the squeeze and match the force of the syringe. Search "you tube vids" for 2014 and you will find video examples of individuals using this method with the Sawyer Mini.
I really feel there is no need for the syringe on the trail. But just my opinion.
bemental
05-12-2015, 21:32
I just carry the syringe. It doesn't weigh all that much, seriously. Plus you could use it as a wound irrigation syringe if you have to make everything dual-use :)
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Triple Use: enema delivery system
Don't forget to clean after each trip with a diluted bleach mixture. Not only can particulates clog it, so can mold growing it there during storage.
Rain Man - what is your dilution mixture ratio of bleach to H2O?
Triple Use: enema delivery system
Probably don't want to use it on the clean end of the water filter after that third use.:-?
Rain Man
05-13-2015, 09:57
Rain Man - what is your dilution mixture ratio of bleach to H2O?
Honestly, I wing it. I read somewhere that Sawyer recommends a cap-full (cap from the dirty water bladder) of bleach ... and I assume in a liter of water.
bemental
05-13-2015, 10:25
Probably don't want to use it on the clean end of the water filter after that third use.:-?
Honestly, I wing it. I read somewhere that Sawyer recommends a cap-full (cap from the dirty water bladder) of bleach ... and I assume in a liter of water.
What he said :D