That's funny how us country folks can smell the chlorine in the water and really don't like the taste. I prefer good ole well water.Originally Posted by nsherry61
You need to keep all of these filter types from freezing. Doesn't matter if it's Sawyer, BeFree, etc.
I generally keep mine in a pocket in the winter. Ideally one that's in an interior layer if it's really cold. Of course, a lot of time in the winter you may not be using a filter on the first place vs melting snow, but conditions always dictate your options.
Yes of course, filter porous leaves water in allowing to freeze and expand therefore rendering useless. Just confirming thought maybe for a minute there Was a new magical filter you didn't have to worry bought that.
That's another thing I like about getting out in the snow is all the dry camps are no longer just use the frozen liquid.
I always treat with Aquamira. I fill up, mix the drops, check my watch, and keep moving. 5 minutes down trail I add to water, 15 minutes later I drink. I can do all this while moving, worth it to me for the peace of mind.
That was one of the nice things about the SweetWater system. It could be allowed to freeze and still work. They used to even recommend storing it in your freezer between trips so stuff didn't grow in the filter.
But then I noticed the design of the SweetWater filter changed when MSR took it over. Seemed like they were not as reliable all of a sudden, and I don't know if the new design allows for freezing anymore.
Good observation. I was trying to remember recently if the old Pur (Katadyn) Hiker could be frozen.
I always had problems with aquamira on hikes. I like to "camel up" when at a source and having to wait 20 minutes while the aquamira does it's thing seems like a waste of time to me. I prefer to filter and drink up and then filter to top off my water bottles before the next stretch.
https://tinyurl.com/MyFDresults
A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world. ~Paul Dudley White
Tried reading the whole thread, managed most of it :<) It seems to me the original post asked whether or not a gram sensitive ultra light setup hiker would carry any form of water treatment. Most people who posted claim to carry some form of treatment though they have different criteria for when they would use it. I know for myself that if I'm going to carry the weight, then I'm going to use it a hundred percent of the time.
I often do not treat water from a spring, but always treat stream, lake, or pond water. I generally use Aqua Mira drops rather than a filter, but will bring a filter or SteriPen if I want to be ready to treat and drink right away while hiking.
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I filter.
I broke a tooth in the smokies because the unfiltered water had a small stone in it. The stone became lodged in my tooth. When I bite down, the tooth cracked. It was very painful dental surgery.
Truth: There are a lot of reasons to filter water. There are only two reasons why someone would not filter water - time and pack weight.
i never filter/treat water and it has nothin' to do with "time and pack weight"
If we all agree with HYOH, then we ought to all agree with DYOW (Drink Your Own Water). From what I have seen in the last several years, the minimal weight and cost of the Sawyer has a lot more people filtering on the trail, but that's just one person's observation. You do you.
"Waning Gibbous" would be a great trail name.
And not doing so is idiotic.
Like pretty much ever facet of backpacking, filtering H2O (or not) is a personal choice. I carry a sawyer and do filter most of the time. There are times at some springs I do not choose to filter, and knock on wood that choice has so far never been an issue.
"Too often I would hear men boast of the miles covered that day, rarely of what they had seen." Louis L’Amour
I'll just add that while Sawyer filters are pretty ubiquitous. I find the Versaflow filter by Hydoblue to be more convenient.
In what way... hadn't heard about it so I just googled it... seems like it's practically the same thing.
bless your heart
I did the same - thanks for sharing Odd Man out. I'll stick with my Sawyer for now but good to know about the options. The Katadyn BeFree also looks worth checking out too.
On the issue on whether to filter or not, I'm definitely pro filter. I think most experts recommend treating your water. You wouldn't know if this beautiful looking stream you are looking at has a dead deer laying in it just up stream out of your view.
In further support of filtering I will tell this story that happened during my Vermont Long Trail hike. I was hiking with another LT hiker and an AT hiker near Bromley. Both super nice guys and a pleasure to hike with both of them. The AT hiker was telling the LT hiker how he didn't filter or treat his water by being real choosy with his water sources. The LT hiker decided to give it a try. Well a few days later I got a voicemail from this LT hiker while I was staying at Butler Lodge near Mt. Mansfield that he had terrible stomach pains, couldn't go on and his hike ended there. Luckily he was able to hitch into Waterbury and get home.
So while I filter because it's recommended by the experts to treat your water, that story really hammers the point home for me. Just my 2 cents, happy hiking to all!
AT Flip Flop (HF to ME, HF to GA) Thru Hike 2023; LT End-to-Ender 2017; NH 48/48 2015-2021; 21 of 159usForests.com
Having had the unpleasant experience of going through the process of getting rid of the Giardia parasite, I will treat all water given the misery and time involved in ridding parasites in the lower gut. It will take a few weeks for the parasite population to reach the point of detection, followed by some time figure out the condition is not a norovirus. Then it requires several days to reach an MD and get a diagnosis, followed by several weeks of treatment that should get rid if it, perhaps more if the parasite is stubborn. It can be debilitating for some people.
Some people are lucky and avoid the parasite cysts by fortunate placement of a canteen. No one is fully immune to things of this nature but some can carry the parasite unaware of its existence that can easily spread between people, which can be mistaken for immunity. Point of fact remains, preventive measures are most always better than suffering the malady from parasites and other preventable infection. So the consideration really is, spend 20-minutes to filter or spend approximately 3-5 weeks to address the infection. One never knows if the filtering kept them parasite free, but absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
I would happily carry a 20lb filter to not contract giardia again🙀
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