ErnieW
Trail Wise!
I want to backpack
Posts: 9,732
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Post by ErnieW on Jun 1, 2020 9:07:27 GMT -8
Sawyer Mini - Other people like them - I have nothing good to say. For the price, size and weight I have a couple of them, unused, in our car's emergency kits. Unused because then they should be undamaged if left there in freezing temps.
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Post by Crockett on Jun 13, 2020 6:53:08 GMT -8
As with most things, it comes down to the right tool for the job - if you're bringing the Sawyer Mini to hydrate the entire Scout troop, nobody is going to be happy.
I have a Pur/Katadyn Hiker which I use for backpacking or canoeing with a group. Its fast and reliable. For solo hiking and solo canoe trips where I am doing some serious portaging, I use the Sawyer Mini. My preferred method is to simply screw the Mini onto a small plastic pop bottle. Squeeze and/or suck. Works great. I have used the squeeze bags but they are slow and I think why many have experienced bag failure is they are trying to force water through the filter too fast. I also have connected the Mini to a water bladder and it works fine here as well although where I generally hike, water is very plentiful so It has to be pretty hot for my to bother with a bladder.
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biffnix
Trail Wise!
I'm just some guy, you know?
Posts: 49
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Post by biffnix on Jul 7, 2020 5:36:45 GMT -8
I still have a Pur Hiker that works fine, and is about 25 years old now. But, I've switched to using the Sawyer Squeeze and Katadyn BeFree. CNOC makes 2-liter bags for both. If I think I'll camp for more than a day at one spot, then I'll bring the Sawyer with two CNOC bags - one for dirty water, then gravity feed thru the Squeeze with the blue coupler to the "clean" water bag. I can hang it all up on a branch, and just let gravity do the work for me, and I've got plenty of clean camp water for cooking, etc. If I'm not camping in any one spot for more than a day, the BeFree makes for a much faster flow of clean water. The stock 1L bag has a nice wide mouth for easy scooping of dirty water, and the flow rate is phenomenal. CNOC also makes a 2L bag with the BeFree threads, so I have one of those, but haven't really used it, since you can't really easily make it gravity-feed. At least, I haven't taken the time to finagle with one, anyway. Where I hike most is the Eastern Sierra, and water is never really a problem. There is always a nearby source that flows well, or springs on trails, small grottos, that sort of thing. The water sources are almost always running clear, with little to no sediment, so I'm really just filtering for bacteria, and other minor particulates. If the BeFree had a good coupler to link it to stock water bottles (as the Sawyer Squeeze does for Smart Water/generic water bottles), I think it would be the best of both worlds...
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