Hi,

I was running short on water this weekend and went to filter with my Sawyer Mini, which had been in long-term storage (LTS), in effect. I rarely use it because I usually just opt for carrying extra water when needed, rather than filter (the water where I hike is awful - mining runoff. Some isn't even safe after filtering). But yesterday I did choose to filter, and I could not get it going beyond drops.

My mini has seen, um, mini-mal use, and I've always backflushed it with distilled water, so mineral buildup should not have been a cause of poor flow.

I knew it might be hard to start when it was dry, so I was patient for awhile and I got some drops. But it didn't improve after say 15 min. Finally I gave up - but put the pouch and filter in my pack upside down, so I hoped it might fully saturate the filter during the last 3 hours of the hike. Back at the trailhead, though, I still only got drops.

Any suggestions, insights, or advice?

My plan now is to soak it overnight and see how it does. Then backflush with distilled water. And maybe I need to soak it overnight before every hike! Seems like a classic example of going out with untested gear. I had used it before, but not in a long time, and I didn't think it would be so hard to get it going again out of dry storage. Again, there should be no significant mineral buildup in it, either from use, or from backflushing with tap (I always use distilled for that).

Thanks!