What do you use to provide clean, safe drinking water when in the backcountry? I'm looking for something dependable, compact and reasonably lightweight that provides good tasting water.
Chemicals? UV purifiers? Filter?
Also, does anyone have experience with the Steripen?
Thanks.
Sawyer squeeze filter. Screws right onto common bottle threads and good for a million gallons. Pretty small, compact and weighs under 4 ounces.
I used the Platypus gravity works 2 liter system this year. It works really good and filters 2 liters pretty quickly. The only issue with the hollow fiber type filters is that you can't let the filter unit freeze. Pretty simple to keep it in a cargo pocket and in your sleeping bag at night in sub-freezing weather.
Boil it.
i am with swamp thing, boil it...a ferro rod and magnigying glass and a good lighter (last option) and magnesium fire starter (all sold at camp stores) does weigh hardly anything and is always reliable. Boiling water is your safest and most reliable way to make safe drinking water. if your low in elevation bring to boil and you should be good. if your in higher elevation, boil for a couple of minutes. plus a fire kit could just save your life if you ever become lost :scared:
For the last 40 years I have used iodine tabs and neutralizer tabs. Both bottles with enough tabs for many trips will fit comfortably in the palm of your hand with room left over for something else. Just pop a tab into a quart of water and a half hour later pop a neutralizer tab in. Ten minutes after that you're drinking water that tastes the same as if it were untreated, even to my picky wife's taste.
Sawyer squeeze, weighs 3 oz., extremely packable and adaptable, downfall-only good for purifying 1,000,000 gallons.
X3 on the sawyer. Used it this year elk hunting and is excellent
Straight dipping for me, keep the immune system tough. But the Adirondacks has an abundance of clean water so my method might not work well elsewhere...
I have a steripen and I will be getting a filter. I'm not impressed with mine at all. I get lots of incomplete cycles. The last trip we went on I spent way too much time boiling water. Boiling water always works but it is time consuming if you're talking about boling in a backpacking pot.
For weight, cost, and ease of use reasons, I've settled on iodine tabs with neutralizer. The one downside is that you have to wait 30-40 minutes so it is difficult to "camel up" when you are in an area with sporadic water sources. A Katadyn (formerly Pur) Hiker Microfilter (or similar filter/purifier) is my second choice. Boiling is third but it is resource and time intensive.
Last choice is untreated but that would only be for survival.
I haven't tried the squeeze bottles or steripens.
Thanks for the input. I'm in the tropics and really shouldn't drink any untreated water. It's quite hot here demanding a lot of water throughout the day. I have access to a clear running stream but need a way to treat it quickly while on a day or overnight trip.
sawyer inline in conjunction with a platypus big zip 3L bladder. i carry aqua tabs that i can put in it too if it's exceptionaly dirty water that may contains viruses.
I really like my Steripen.
I have heard great things about the Sawyer Squeeze filter as well
chris <><
If you are in the tropics or any place warm enough to not let the water freeze and have access to sunlight it will do the trick. Us plastic water bottles and smaller vs. larger is better but I have used clear one gallon jugs trout fishing. Just fill it and leave it in the sun all day. UV kills anything dangerous in a clear plastic container. Use Clear - not opaque.
Katadyn hiker pro, I've had my all over wisconsin and Colorado and it has never let me down. It's a little heavy but worth the extra weight to me.
Sawyer is the best and most versitale I have used. I either filter directly to bottle/pot or use the quick connect to my hydro bladder. You can top off a dirty bag just before camp and gravity filter while you setup.
On short trips I just take a couple of regular bottles of water and the filter without the squeeze bag. When I run out of clean I fill the bottle and drink directly from the filter.
Pretty slick filter.