Originally Posted by
Carry-On
Two of the women in my group had the Sawyer Squeeze system. Each filter had a slightly different design. Both of my friends started with the Sawyer bags and all of the bags had seam failure that allowed dirty water into the already filtered water. So they both switched to Platy bags. Not every Platy worked though. But they each found a Platy bag that did work.
The Badger had also had his Sawyer bag fail and he used a 1 Liter Orange Fanta bottle the whole rest of his hike.
I don't think you have to modify the filter (I'm pretty sure none of them did), but you do have to do a little trial and error to make sure the bag or bottle you end up with will fit and screw on tightly without leaking.
Also, Sawyer was not helpful to either of my friends, wouldn't replace anything and when the filters clogged almost completely, Sawyer just said they should have been backflushing them after every single use. So, backflush every time, and I'd add that you should pre-filter the water with a bandanna if it has anything at all in it (including swimming parasites). Those will clog a filter immediately (I know from experience).