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saltysack
09-29-2015, 08:58
I just tossed my mini as I've had it a year or two since it came out and suspected it had frozen.. I'm curious if the flow rates are any better on newer minis as I'm debating on going back to std squeeze. As for Mylar bags I had one fail on JMT...is better option still evernew bags?


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SteelCut
09-29-2015, 09:03
I will never go back to the Mini. I've tried a newer Mini and I still had the slow flow rate. I believe that the extra pressure on the bag trying to get a good flow with the Mini over-stresses the Sawyer mylar bags. I've not had a bag blow out with the Standard filter .... I get a good flow with very little pressure so I'm happy with the Sawyer bags and have no interest in switching to a different bag currently.

HooKooDooKu
09-29-2015, 09:20
I use the mini in gravity feed mode. Prevents undo stress on the bag, and super-high flow rate isn't required as I'm busy doing other camp chores while the water filters.
For those times I'm waiting on the filter (such as watering up in the middle of the day), I find the flow rate to be just fine, less than 5 minutes to filter 2L of water with a 2' hose, no priming and no squeezing.

saltysack
09-29-2015, 09:36
I use the mini in gravity feed mode. Prevents undo stress on the bag, and super-high flow rate isn't required as I'm busy doing other camp chores while the water filters.
For those times I'm waiting on the filter (such as watering up in the middle of the day), I find the flow rate to be just fine, less than 5 minutes to filter 2L of water with a 2' hose, no priming and no squeezing.

Dumb ? But I assume u attach string to bag and hang? How long per 1 liter? What is 2" hose for?


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Rain Man
09-29-2015, 09:53
Dumb ? But I assume u attach string to bag and hang? ... What is 2" hose for?


I use the mini in gravity feed mode. Prevents undo stress on the bag, and super-high flow rate isn't required as I'm busy doing other camp chores while the water filters.
For those times I'm waiting on the filter (such as watering up in the middle of the day), I find the flow rate to be just fine, less than 5 minutes to filter 2L of water with a 2' hose, no priming and no squeezing.

Same here. I screw my Sawyer mini directly to the Sawyer 2L dirty water bag. Have a shock cord attached to the bottom. (I punched holes with a hole-punch.) Ran shock cord through as a single loop to both sides of the bag, thus I can hang it as a single loop or double the loop to shorten it. Flexibility.

To the Sawyer mini I attached a very short hose piece and a CamelBak adapter (as that's what I have on my Platypus bag). I had extra CamelBak adapters, thus the brand.

Anyway, it's a snap (pun intended) to fill my dirty water bag, screw on the Mini, connect it to my bladder, hang the dirty bag from a limb or lay it on a boulder, lay the bladder on the ground, ... and go about my business. Takes no time to get 2Ls.

I will add that sometimes I have to squeeze the dirty water bag to get the air out of the hoses and to get the flow started.

I started with the original Sawyer (still have, never use any more), but switched to a mini to save weight and space. I suspected it may have frozen, so bought a new one recently. The flow was improved, so I suspect the old one was getting clogged.

Another thing I did was to buy a faucet adapter and I backflush the mini after every trip, plus sanitize it. No problems with flow at all so far.

As far as a Sawyer bag failing, that happened once, magnificently, when my new puppy "Boone" found it within his reach after I had partially sorted gear here at home after a trip.

HooKooDooKu
09-29-2015, 10:23
Dumb ? But I assume u attach string to bag and hang? How long per 1 liter? What is 2" hose for?
The dirty water bag is a 2L Evernew bladder.
A hole punch was used to make holes in the margins of the bladder tie a string thru so it could be hung.

The clean water bag is a 2L Platypus bladder. The Platypus is attached to the Mini's output nipple using a Platypus Hoser with the bite-valve removed. Actually the entire hose of the Hoser was replaced with the thinner (easier to store) hose from an old Sweetwater filter.

The hose is 2 feet long. The longer the hose, the more gravity will 'suck' the water thru the filter. Actually, the more height difference between the filter/dirty water bag and the clean water bag, the greater the water pressure to move the water thru the filter. A height difference of 10 feet creates 4psi of water pressure. So a 2' height difference gives about 0.8psi of water pressure.

saltysack
09-29-2015, 10:24
Ha....cute pup...damn marmots tried to get mine nest Whitney on jmt. [emoji16]http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/29/f3545f15e003be7406b3f91ca2b42f0d.jpg


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saltysack
09-29-2015, 10:26
The dirty water bag is a 2L Evernew bladder.
A hole punch was used to make holes in the margins of the bladder tie a string thru so it could be hung.

The clean water bag is a 2L Platypus bladder. The Platypus is attached to the Mini's output nipple using a Platypus Hoser with the bite-valve removed. Actually the entire hose of the Hoser was replaced with the thinner (easier to store) hose from an old Sweetwater filter.

The hose is 2 feet long. The longer the hose, the more gravity will 'suck' the water thru the filter. Actually, the more height difference between the filter/dirty water bag and the clean water bag, the greater the water pressure to move the water thru the filter. A height difference of 10 feet creates 4psi of water pressure. So a 2' height difference gives about 0.8psi of water pressure.

How about gravity into a water bottle?


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HooKooDooKu
09-29-2015, 10:57
How about gravity into a water bottle?


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Gravity still works with water bottles... but there are other potential problems you will need to solve.


If you use a sealing screw-on attachement like the hoser I use for the badder, you have to provide some way for the air in the bottle to escape.


If you don't attach the hose to the bottle, then you're left either holding the hose to the bottle or trusting that nothing gets knocked over if you simply place the hose inside the bottle. But the gravity concept still applies. The amount of pressure moving water thru the mini will simply be based on the height difference between the water level in the dirty water bag and the open end of the hose.

saltysack
09-29-2015, 11:02
Ok...ill try using lil hose filter comes with into water bottle hanging..thx


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RangerZ
09-29-2015, 12:28
I use the mini in gravity feed mode. Prevents undo stress on the bag, and super-high flow rate isn't required as I'm busy doing other camp chores while the water filters.
For those times I'm waiting on the filter (such as watering up in the middle of the day), I find the flow rate to be just fine, less than 5 minutes to filter 2L of water with a 2' hose, no priming and no squeezing.

+1

I gravity filter, there are always chores to be done. I use the Sawyer bags and haven't had a problem. I drilled a hole in a soda bottle cap and fit it tight over the nipple on the output end - that allowed me to go from bottle to bottle (bag to bag) - you do have to unscrew the bottom bottle a little to let the air out. I added a short piece of tubing to the nipple and then a quick disconnect to allow me to filter right into my reservoir, and you can drink right from it.

I didn't want to hole punch the bags so I just duct taped a short piece of cord to my dirty water bags to hang the whole assemblage.

Neemor
10-01-2015, 20:10
A friend i met on the A.T. Had the best "portable gravity filter" using a sawyer mini, two smart water bottles and a platypus tube that attaches to a bottle.

Both bottles were upside-down and the top bottle had a small air hole drilled in it and the lower bottle had A hole the side of the sawyer nipple. He carried them stacked on the side of his pack. It was pretty cool.

The only downside was his pack had to remain upright or it would leak out the air holes.

I hope that made any sense. But his set up made worrying about flow speed disappear.

Neemor
10-01-2015, 20:12
Sawyer also makes a bigger version filter in its gravity kit.
My mom has this one. Its pretty fast.

donthaveoneyet
10-01-2015, 21:46
I spent a lot of time (and money) trying to get the Sawyer system to work for me. Various connections, direct feed into Camelback bladder, etc. It all worked fine, but in the end, the thing that drove me nuts was trying to fill the Sawyer dirty bag. Real PITA. I ended up deciding that the Katadyn gravity filter was the easiest/best option, for me. I had a "Base Camp" version that I used for car camping and canoe camping, e.g. on the Allagash etc., and it worked well and was simple and fool-proof. I got the smaller 6 L version for backpacking, weighs 12 oz. When you factor in all the stuff, almost any system weighs about the same, and this thing is super easy to use, and easy to fill. I regret the $ I spent on the Sawyer stuff. I mean, it works, but filling that stupid bag is just not worth the trouble, for the small weight savings. YMMV, as the saying goes...

theoilman
10-02-2015, 10:47
The first generation Sawyer bags were really flimsy. The current ones are much better. You still need to remember to punch holes in the bottom margins to hang (they have 'dimples' where they need to be but no holes).

I carry a cut off water bottle (the super thin disposable) as a dipping cup to fill the bags. Rarely can I fill the bags without the cut. Then I use the cup to carry the rolled up empty bag and filter in. Maybe a 1/4 ounce added weight but well worth it for the added convenience.

Five Tango
10-03-2015, 00:09
JRB makes a really fine screw on funnel that fits my Sawyer & Evernew bags and can be rigged to fill a bag from the rain off your tarp.It is more durable than just cutting a bottle I think.