Water filtration and purification

[Shuya]

On regular trips I usually do not carry a filter.
I have a small pack with emergency stuff (solar blanket, whistle,...) where Ive got some purification tabs.

However, for remote multiple day hikes I got a Sawyer Mini. For long multiple people hikes we carry a MSR Miniworks.

Had a nasty experience with potential non clean water some years ago in the swedish wilderness.
Took me 3 days until food would stay inside me again. Be prepared!

[derek_d]

I have used both in the field together - tablets / drops for brews and cooking (that way, you're doing belt and braces anyway because you're using chemical purification and boiling) along with a Sawyer filter system for 'sipping' water.

[spudley112]

Katadyn water filter. It is an older model...I really need to upgrade. It has come in handy during camping trips. When backpacking in, carrying vast amounts of water is not really feasible.

[Sos24]

I said yes but it depends....

I keep a LifeStraw in my FAK and that will be present for most hikes and all camping/outdoor activities.

I used a Sawyer mini during a 5 day hike in the Fish River canyon with mixed results.  I had the best water, but the extremely fine sediment suspended in the water meant I could just barely filter 750ml before needing to backwash.

Because of the time and effort it took and being rather exhausted, I ended up dehydrating a bit.

In areas where sediment is prevalent and you have time, some cheese cloth or hosiery is good to use as a pre-filter before actual filtering.  It decreases the need for backwashing but does take more time and requires two containers for bad water.

I think one of the huge wins for the Sawyer is the threaded input that fits on 99% of bottle floating around our oceans......

I ditched that bag that comes with it and took along 2 x 1.5L bottled water bottles to collect or carry dirty water.......tough as anything, survived repeated hard squeezing.

The only drawback I would say is the need for the backwash syringe, you could loose that.

I've tried gravity setups with my filter and quite frankly I would die of thirst 

If you would still like a collapsible/soft bottle, check out Evernew or Playpus.  They both are better quality than the Sawyer pouch.

[Syncop8r]

In areas where sediment is prevalent and you have time, some cheese cloth or hosiery is good to use as a pre-filter before actual filtering.

Yeah... apparently most of the bacteria clings to the sediment?

[Sos24]

Yeah... apparently most of the bacteria clings to the sediment?

Removal of sediments helps filtering two-ways
1 - any bacteria clinging to sediment may be removed
2- decreasing sediment decreases clogging of the filter, which decreases flow rate and necessity for backwashing.