no_granola
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Post by no_granola on May 11, 2020 6:42:52 GMT -8
I've been thinking about ditching my old hiker filter. It's been a reliable beast, and I don't mind pumping, but at 362 pounds it's a bit on the heavy side. So for those of you that use the little sawyer filters, how do you fill the bottle in late summer when water sources are drying up and very shallow?
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on May 11, 2020 7:33:43 GMT -8
It's been a reliable beast, and I don't mind pumping, but at 362 pounds it's a bit on the heavy side. 362 pounds? That is a beast. But seriously, the Squeeze is great. I use a 3L CNOC waterbag for dirty water. Last summer was dry around here (Metro NYC area). You can open up the end and lay the bag in the trickle and easily get two liters in it generally. The Sawyer bags are worse than useless. Highly failure prone.
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zeke
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Post by zeke on May 11, 2020 9:12:13 GMT -8
I cut the top off of a thin shelled water bottle someone tossed in the trash, and carry that for a scoop when the source is too little to scoop with my cook pot. I agree with ErnieW that the Sawyer bags are worthless. I use the Mini as a gravity filter.
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Post by JRinGeorgia on May 11, 2020 12:26:39 GMT -8
I've had a few Sawyers over the years, Mini and Squeeze, and one of them came with an assortment of bags in different sizes that I don't trust to squeeze from, including a 16 oz which is too small even if it were strong enough to squeeze from. But it is useful -- I cut across the top and use the bag as a scoop to get water from sources that are shallow or trickling through cracks and crevices where my dirty bottle won't fit. Weighs only 0.3 oz.
The 64 oz bags are useful for me as very light dirty bags for water hauling but not squeezing.
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almostthere
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Post by almostthere on May 13, 2020 10:51:40 GMT -8
I have and use: a Platypus Cleanstream, and a Hiker Pro. I have and do not use: Sawyer Mini, Sawyer Squeeze. The Sawyers have a habit of being soooooo fecking slow. Squeezing or pumping, well, work is work, and the pumping is faster. All the bags with the Sawyers developed pin holes. I have a Platypus to use but the fit is imperfect. The Mini rides around in my day pack as a just in case. I like the Cleanstream for a gravity filter over the Mini.
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tomas
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Post by tomas on May 31, 2020 6:12:51 GMT -8
Well the Sawyer certainly is popular. I ordered one during the annual REI sale and it is on backorder. I scanned all the stores within 100 miles of me and sure enough they don't have them either.
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toejam
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Post by toejam on May 31, 2020 8:19:21 GMT -8
I scanned all the stores within 100 miles of me and sure enough they don't have them either. They always have them at my local WalMart. I gave away a Sawyer Mini after using it once because it was so slow. But I've used the bigger Sawyer Squeeze exclusively for 2 years. Throw away the bags it comes with and use something easier to fill like a Smart Water bottle or a CNOC bag. Nobody mentioned the BeFree filter. A great system with a 2 or 3 litre Hydropak bag. The fastest of the squeeze filters - until it's not. Mine got mineral deposits or something that couldn't be flushed after about 6 months. Others have had better luck.
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reuben
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Post by reuben on May 31, 2020 11:01:58 GMT -8
Y'all must be Type A thruhikers - not that there's anything wrong with that. I don't mind slowing down for a few minutes to filter water. Sometimes I keep sitting there, just taking in the scenery, even after the water's been filtered.
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texasbb
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Post by texasbb on May 31, 2020 11:09:45 GMT -8
Nobody mentioned the BeFree filter. A great system with a 2 or 3 litre Hydropak bag. The fastest of the squeeze filters - until it's not. Mine got mineral deposits or something that couldn't be flushed after about 6 months. Others have had better luck. The BeFree is the lightest, fastest, bestest filter of all time, but it's a disposable tool. In my experience it works fine for a season, but once you let it dry out long term, it's basically done. I can usually revive one for a second season by soaking it for a long time (a couple days or so), but then even short-term dryouts disable it.
Don't buy the bottle--it won't even last a season--just the "refill," which means the filter only. Hydrapak and CNOC make good bottles. The refill is about $25, which I've been so far able to convince myself is, if not reasonable, at least not unreasonable, for a season of rapid filtering.
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tomas
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Post by tomas on May 31, 2020 13:09:56 GMT -8
Y'all must be Type A thruhikers - not that there's anything wrong with that. I don't mind slowing down for a few minutes to filter water. Sometimes I keep sitting there, just taking in the scenery, even after the water's been filtered. I haven't heard of the Sawyer being faster than any other filter; I'm getting it because I like the weight savings. It may end up being a bust in which case I'll go back to Ye Olde Miniworks.
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on May 31, 2020 13:28:17 GMT -8
Y'all must be Type A thruhikers - not that there's anything wrong with that. I don't mind slowing down for a few minutes to filter water. Sometimes I keep sitting there, just taking in the scenery, even after the water's been filtered. For me filtering includes some break time. I want drink well to get hydrated and maybe even a bit more because I leave a water source. Then decide what I need for the trail going forward. Get that into my containers then off I go.
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on May 31, 2020 13:31:03 GMT -8
haven't heard of the Sawyer being faster than any other filter; I'm getting it because I like the weight savings. It may end up being a bust in which case I'll go back to Ye Olde Miniworks. The other thing that is great about Sawyers is that as long as you can get enough clean water to back flush you can get the filter running fast again. At least that has been my experience so far. No other system I have seen is as easily field serviceable.
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reuben
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Post by reuben on May 31, 2020 13:32:55 GMT -8
I have a Mini and a PointOne that I use with Evernew bags. Works for me. HYOH and all that.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2020 16:57:44 GMT -8
I use the Sawyer squeeze, cnoc bag or evernew bag for my dirty water. Connectors to hook it up to my bladder so I can fill it without even taking it out of the pack. I have a smartwater bottle with the bottom cut off to use as a scoop if necessary. In camp, I use the same setup to connect my cnoc bag to my bladder as a gravity filter. I really don't care how long it takes to filter.
My pump filter of choice was a Sweetwater. Used it for years. Still have one.
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toejam
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Post by toejam on Jun 1, 2020 4:50:52 GMT -8
My unscientific experience/bias with backpacking filter speed/ease of use - fastest/easiest to slowest:
1. BeFree - Need to buy a 2-3 litre Hydrapak bag. Inexplicably plugged up after 6 months. 2. Sawyer Squeeze - Used with a Smart Water bottle or CNOC bag. Fast, no hoses, easy, reliable. 3. MSR Hyperflow - Lighter, faster, easier to pump than Katadyn Hiker. Filter elements don't last as long and more expensive. Broke it trying to backflush. 4. Katadyn Hiker - Hiker-proof filter. Cheap and reliable. Hoses are a PITA and can be contaminated. Messing with hoses and long flushing requirement takes time. 5. MSR Miniworks - Half the hoses of Hiker filter but needs a 1 qt Nalgene bottle. 6. Sweetwater - Do they make these anymore? 7. Sawyer Mini - Other people like them - I have nothing good to say.
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