Filter V. pills

[keepinitsimple]

So I dont have the 80 bucks for a filter, and the pills that clean the water dont taste that bad. If I 1st filter the water through my bandana or coffee filter, then wait the 4 hours for the pills to react and clean, anit I doin all right? Any expereince here would be appreciated. The pills are made by the leading filter manufacturer and weigh nothing. I would be getting water from springs near shelters.

[RedBeerd]

Yea thats right. I went from a filter to pills and im back at a filter. My problem is I drink more than a liter every four hours. So while drinking one liter the other is filtering and there would always be time to wait. Also, buying tabs will be more expensive. I bought a sawyer squeeze filter for $50. $50 worth of tabs would be gone in no time. Of course depends on how much water you drink.
Some springs dont require filtering..if it comes from the ground dont bother.

[keepinitsimple]

Thanks, what do you mean by "If it comes from the ground dont bother"

Kev

[RedBeerd]

Theres a few threads on here about filtering water. Some do, some dont, some do only when they think its necessary. I cant pull any up from my phone but do a search and youll find good info. There are springs where youll see some pipe coming out from in between rocks or right out of the ground..i personally dont bother treating that

[dla]

The wait time with Micropur is temperature dependent. Unless your water is 35*F, you don't need to wait 4 hours. I typically wait 1 hour.

[Bucho]

If you want to go the cemical route here's the popular solution :
http://www.amazon.com/Aquamira-Water-Treatment-Drops-1oz/dp/B000OR111G (http://www.amazon.com/Aquamira-Water-Treatment-Drops-1oz/dp/B000OR111G)

Alternatively here's a .1 micron filter that costs $38.83:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sawyer-Inline-Water-Filter-with-34-Ounce-Bottle/8283710#rr

[Rocket Jones]

I use the Aqua Mira drops. Mix the chemicals, wait 5 minutes (good time to fill your bottles), pour the chemicals in, then wait 15 minutes. There have only been a few times when I've waited longer, once for really murky water (that I strained through a coffee filter to get rid of the floaties), and a few times when the water source was snow meltoff and really cold.

[rocketsocks]

So I dont have the 80 bucks for a filter, and the pills that clean the water dont taste that bad. If I 1st filter the water through my bandana or coffee filter, then wait the 4 hours for the pills to react and clean, anit I doin all right? Any expereince here would be appreciated. The pills are made by the leading filter manufacturer and weigh nothing. I would be getting water from springs near shelters.And if you can't find coffee filters along your way,you can use tampons,just stick one in the open end of an upside down cut off bottom of a water bottle,and wala,you now have a trail made filter.....for sediment.cheers

[Jim Adams]

I now use aqua mira but on my 2 thrus I used iodine tabs and only treated water from "sketchy" sources. I did the entire trail each time on 2 of the small bottles. Only have to wait 20-30 minutes dependent on temp.

geek

[Spokes]

1+ on Aqua Mira. Why gamble on your water?