I use an AquaMira filter bottle. Works for me. If I need more water than the bottle holds, I'll carry some unfiltered water with me.
I'd suggest the Sawyer Mini. Just don't squeeze! I use one spliced inline on the hose from my water bladder. So no pumping, squeezing, hanging or weighting for me. Just dip the bladder in a water source and it gets filtered as I drink. I don't have a pic of my sawyer mini system but here's one of my sawyer 3way post thru hike.Originally Posted by hailstreak
sawyer inline.jpg
I've used Iodine, pumps of various kinds, AquaMira, Steripen, Sawyer regular and Sawyer Mini. My method of choice on recent trips is either the Sawyer or the Mini. Yes, the Mini is slower and requires daily back flushing, but really, now, it takes about 30 seconds to back flush. I filter my dinner water, then while dinner is cooking I "squeeze" my drinking water for the evening and next day, then back flush the filter for the next day's use. It takes just a few moments to get a couple of liters ready for the next day. In the morning, I "squeeze" the water for breakfast and top off the water bottles if needed, again, while my coffee water is heating. No wasted time and really not much effort. Often times I end up dumping or sharing filtered water before leaving camp. If it's a hot day, I sometimes "squeeze" some more at lunch - takes about a minute.
This is my pretty standard routine, whether using the regular or the Mini. Both are faster and easier than the AquaMira that I used for many years (which I also found very acceptable). I guess I'm not in THAT much of a hurry that I find either one a pain.
Glorious, cool, fresh tasting water with no brown color, blue oatmeal water, or nasty iodine taste. What a major improvement over the old days. I can't be critical of any of the modern water treatment methods - they all work quite well.
Edit: I also back flush with the included syringe. I've seen folks try to use other methods, but they usually do not produce enough force to be effective. I just fill the syringe with clean water, place the end on the out flow of the filter, hold it all with both hands, place the plunger against my chest and very forcefully pull the entire kit towards me while pointing the filter away from others. This produces a very powerful flush that has never failed to greatly increase the flow the next time I use the filter.
Last edited by Lyle; 09-30-2016 at 19:34.
Sawyer Mini Alternative
When you're comparing filters, the the porosity of the element is everything. It's the basis for comparing everything else. How can you do a comparison if you don't know the porosity of the Katahdin and how do you know how clean the water is from the Katadin?
Last edited by Deacon; 10-01-2016 at 07:20.
From first link:The 0.1-micron “EZ-Clean hollow-fiber filter” will remove any nasties found in backcountry waters in North America, including Cryptosporidium, Giardia, E-Coli and Salmonella. The filter won’t remove viruses, which are smaller than .1 microns, so if you’re planning to travel somewhere virus contamination is a concern, look elsewhere for a water purifier.
Here's the specs: https://www.katadyn.com/downloads/katadyn/factsheets/filters/factsheet_befree_usa_en.pdf
I honestly don't know if the sawyer mini removes viruses the BeFree doesn't. The OP seemed most concerned about flow rate.
It must be remembered (and I don't think anyone has mentioned it) that many water sources are seeps whereby you have to make a small pit for the muddy water to pool and settle and this makes getting silt free water difficult with Sawyer type filers. Pump filters when placed appropriately can pump up clean water from these tiny pools without stirring up sediment. Gathering water for a Sawyer with a cup or whatever stirs up alot of silt. You can drink this silt if you use chemicals like iodine but who wants to live on iodine for hundreds of days out of the year?
This is a perfect example of what I'm talking about. Pic taken on the BMT atop Sugar Mt at a little spring. (Green leaf is placed under filter nozzle to keep silt out from bottom of pool.) This problem is accented during a drought of course. The pump allows you to retrieve silt-free water by careful pumping without disturbing the mud.
My sister bought a pack of 5 Sawyer Minis. Weirdly, they didn't all flow at the same rate. One barely dribbled and wasn't really functional.
I used a mini for a year and went back to Aqua Mira.
That could explain why I hated mine and other people seem very satisfied. It took -way- too long at water stops and drove me crazy. Went running back to AquaMira after that.
In July I used a Sawyer mini for the first time for 13 days in Maine. I used it inline, and I can't tell you how much time it saved using it inline instead of squeezing. I could quickly stop and fill my bladder and just keep going with very minimal time spent. However, I did not carry the Sawyer backflush syringe. I used a Sweetwater bottle with pull top cap to backflush. However, I could not get enough water pressure from the Sweetwater bottle to properly backflush the Sayer Mini. As such, flow was slow but barely acceptable. I found that many hiker boxes had Sawyer backflush syringes. These did the job much more effectively than the Sweetwater bottle. When I got home I back flushed the Sawyer mini about 10 times in my white kitchen sink with the Sawyer syringe. The water was clear during the back flushes. I had remembered watching a YouTube video where the person banged a Sawyer Squeeze against something to help loosen debris inside the filter before back flushing. As such, I tied banging my Sawyer mini against the edge of my kitchen sink after 10 regular backflushing with a syringe. You would not believe the amount of brown crap that came out of that filter after the banging. It took at least 10 more backflushings with banging of the filter between every flush to get the brown crap out of the mini. You could really see the brown crap in the white sink. So the key here is to bang the Sawyers against something to loosen up the debris inside them before back flushing. Good luck. Go inline, you will never look back.
forget the Mini. I had the same problem with it.
get the Sawyer Squeeze. It's all I use now, good flow, easy to backflush.
I'd be worried about damaging the fibers
I used a mini - sawyer in - line with a 2 liter platypus. Never sat around squeezing. I preferred this option. On a really hot day when you are going through 5-6 liters, people squeezing probably have to spend at least 30-60 minutes squeezing.
I am a backpack hunter, doing frequent fly in and hike in trips relying on my Sawyer mini. I have always used the Sawyer mini. I find it does what I need it to do. Never been sick.
Here is my mods they work great.
Items needed.
Sawyer mini and included squeeze bag.
Camel back line,
Camel back on off.
Paracord
I cut the top of the Sawyer bag off and ran some paracord to hang it.
Hook the Sawyer up to the bag.
Camel back line to Sawyer
I drilled a hole in the Sawyer bag lid to fit the on off switch. I found it was a pain to have the hose always falling out of the bottle.
That's it.
110g
I use a cup to pour water from a puddle into the bag. Filters it.
I usually hunt when it's too cold for camel backs, but when it is warm I swap out the camel back line with the on off switch to line that has the quick disconnect for my camel back. Basically the same weight.
With a squeeze, probably spend 10 minutes filtering that much water.
I have a Kataadn Pro Hiker. I haven't used it yet. I used a Lifestraw on the few weekend trips I have taken and now I also have AM drops and Khatadn BeFree bottle as well. Any feedback on the Khatadn ProHiker? Not really hi-jacking the thread, as I suppose if reviews are favorable, it would be an alternative to the Sawyer Mini, which is what the OP asked.
" Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt. "
I have heard mixed reviews about the hiker pro. My buddy has one, but never brings it cause it's too heavy. He just brings his Sawyer mini.
I have also heard the hiker breaks easy due to it being a ceramic filter.
I used one for a three day trip in Mass up to Greylock. It is small enough to scoop in some pretty small, low water sources. Fact sheet download from Katadyn states it is a .1 micron filter, so it should be as effective as the Sawyer filters.
I didn't drink from mine, but instead would drink from a water bottle. When reaching a water source, I would squeeze the water stored in the BeFree into my bottle to top it off from what I had already drank, scoop new dirty water into the BeFree, and move on. Repeat at each water source as needed. At camp I did squeeze and refill into an extra platy bottle for camp use.
I use a Sawyer Squeeze at camp, and MSR Aqua Tabs (or other military grade aqua tabs) while hiking. I don't like stopping too long at water sources unless I get lucky and it's time for lunch. I put 100 miles on the Sawyer Mini and wasn't happy with the flow rate.
"Though I have lost the intimacy with the seasons since my hike, I retain the sense of perfect order, of graceful succession and surrender, and of the bold brilliance of fall leaves as they yield to death." - David Brill
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
