View Full Version : question on filtering water when temp below freezing..
hello...
sorry in advance if this question seems silly but..
when the mornings are cold (ie March on southern AT with temps 20 or less) can I use my MSR mini works filter effectively to get water? or will things freeze in the filter?
I guess another way to put this is..at what point will my filter stop working due to cold? I hesitate to use the tablet treatment method..cause you have to wait 20-30 min before drinking the water and when I am thirsty I want to drink right away!
nhhiker
hello...
sorry in advance if this question seems silly but..
when the mornings are cold (ie March on southern AT with temps 20 or less) can I use my MSR mini works filter effectively to get water? or will things freeze in the filter?
I guess another way to put this is..at what point will my filter stop working due to cold? I hesitate to use the tablet treatment method..cause you have to wait 20-30 min before drinking the water and when I am thirsty I want to drink right away!
nhhiker
i keep my filter under my sleeping bag at night,deep in my pack at day
on my person in camp:cool: neo
it works for me
hello...
sorry in advance if this question seems silly but..
when the mornings are cold (ie March on southern AT with temps 20 or less) can I use my MSR mini works filter effectively to get water? or will things freeze in the filter?
I guess another way to put this is..at what point will my filter stop working due to cold? I hesitate to use the tablet treatment method..cause you have to wait 20-30 min before drinking the water and when I am thirsty I want to drink right away!
nhhiker Sorry if this answer seems silly but...
I would guess right around 32 degrees fahrenheit (0 degrees celsius):bse . My biggest problem has always been they clog way to fast, even with a siltstopper prefilter. I have since gone back to chemicals. that is until the filter output approaches 50% of what they advertise. As it is right now.....It's a long long long way off!
BlackCloud
08-18-2005, 10:29
My experience has been that the filter will freeze, & fast. I have never backpacked below 20 when there wasn't plenty of snow, but my thinking is that you have to try & keep it warm. perhaps w/in a sock w/ one of those hand warmers.
Incidentaly, my friend once actually kept his water from freezing by putting his water bottle in a sock w/ handwarmer ducktaped to the side of the bottle. (he didn't have an insulated OR water pouch). The high for the day was -4! I was shocked that it worked...
tlbj6142
08-18-2005, 10:52
I use my MSR mini works filter effectively to get water?I would be more concerned about water in the filter freezing and breaking the ceramic filter piece, thereby, ruining the filter.
The Solemates
08-18-2005, 11:04
Is the miniworks ceramic?
We enjoy winter camping and have had hundreds (maybe thousands) of days in the backcountry below freezing. We have had dozens of trips below 20F and a handful of trips below 0F. My wife is 5'2", but has a regular 6' bag. Therefore, we put tons of stuff at her foot to keep it warm. In goes my boots, her boots, our stove fuel bottle, all our water, and our water filter. This works fine for us and we have never had a problem filtering water. We also find that if you are extra careful to get all the water out of the filter after each use and bury it deep in your pack, that it will not freeze during the day either. We have a PUR filter. I dont have any experience with ceramic, which would obviously be more brittle and more susceptible to cracking. Hope this helps...
The Solemates
08-18-2005, 11:05
the miniworks is ceramic.
http://www.msrcorp.com/filters/miniworks_ex.asp
Toolshed
08-18-2005, 11:10
I used to do a lot of winter camping when I lived near the Adirondacks, now it is only 3-4 times a year, bu my first question is - Do you mean intermittent freezing temps, where yo get a freak day or two of very cold weather such as late fall or early spring? If so, I would just carry an extra couple of gallon ziplocks and double bag it and put it in the foot of my sleeping bag if you know it will be a cold night. During a bitterly cold day, you can take the filter element out of the filter and put it in a ziplock and keep it inside your jacket.
Otherwise if it is true winter conditions, skip the filter and bring extra fuel to boil your water every night and morning. I start with a hot nalgene water bottle and keep adding snow as I drink it during the day (clean snow that is).
Cheers
dje97001
08-18-2005, 11:35
Hey all, with respect to having your water freeze over night, this works with soda, don't know about water, but if you bury the 2-liter in the snow (assuming there is snow) it won't freeze overnight... in the morning it will be ice-cold, but not icy. If instead you just leave it out, it will most definitely be frozen solid. I don't know if this has to do with the freezing temp of soda vs. water... or if it just insulates the warmer temps inside the bottle...?
snow insulates very well - one small refinement to burying the bottle(s) in the snow - bury them bottom up so that if it does start to freeze the part that freezes is the bottom and not the mouth of the bottle
BlackCloud
08-18-2005, 14:08
Both of the above posts are very accurate - I just thought this discussion was for snowless 20F days.....
The Solemates
08-18-2005, 14:44
Both of the above posts are very accurate - I just thought this discussion was for snowless 20F days.....
he said 20F or less. thats a wide range.
LIhikers
08-18-2005, 16:06
My wife and I use an MSR Sweetwater filter year round. In freezing temperatures we make sure to drain it as much as possible. Then it goes into double plastic baggies. During the day I keep it in the pocket on the inside of my jacket and at night it goes into the foot of my sleeping bag.
My Sweetwater (ceramic) filter never froze up when I was filtering water with it, and I filtered through holes cut in the ice more than once. I was never out below zero though. I used to keep it under my outermost layers, hanging around my neck in below freezing temps, and in my sleeping bag at night.
The only thing I don't really like about winter camping is having the filter around my neck, a liter waterbottle in a pocket, and cheese in my shirt pocket. I can eat frozen sausage, but can't stand frozen cheese.