Products Mini Water Filtration System

UPDATE: So I recently added the CNOC Vecto 2L bladder to this rig and got rid of my Survivor collapsible canteens. I don't think I'll be going back. The Vecto has a large opening to fill, and a 28mm bottle cap to dispense. The Mini screws on perfectly and now I can filter 2L at a time with no issues. Loving this. I also have gotten rid of all my Nalgenes from my backpacking/camping setup. I use them for the office now. I have replaced them with Smartwater bottles. The SW bottles weight less than 2 ounces each, cost $1-2 each and fit the Mini. I have also found I can get two 32 oz SW bottles into a single water bottle pocket on my pack. That means I can either carry 4 liters of water without affecting my internal storage. I have come to really value that decision. When a SW bottle wears out or breaks, I can replace it at pretty much any grocery store for less than $2. ORIGINAL REVIEW (May, 2017): Did some back country camping this past weekend and took the Sawyer Mini out with me for the first time. Reviews on it were good and I was looking for ways to cut down on weight and footprint on my old filter system (a pump). The mini is excellent. I've seen a few reviews complaining about the bag it comes with and the time it takes to squeeze "x" amount of water through it. All I have to say is, yes the bag is too small. 16 oz is kind of lame. The quality of the bag? Seems decent enough. I'll end up replacing it anyway with a pair of Survivor Filter collapsible canteens (32 oz each). As far as the filter goes, I tried it on just some regular old tap water to function test it and get familiar before taking it out. I filtered two liters of water through it (2 Nalgenes) and then back flushed it. I was shocked to see the brown much it filtered out of the tap water! I may get a second on and just screw it onto a SmartWater bottle for drinking at work! The system was easy to use. I don't know what kind of rush others are in when backpacking, but I'm not. I move at my pace and take my time. i'm not in a race when I'm backpacking or camping. I don't mind taking a couple minutes to filter some clean drinking/cooking water. The Sawyer Mini works great. I have zero complaints. I appreciate that it comes with the syringe to back flush it and keep it working well. The 16 oz bag is too small, but it works, and unless you're Hulking out on the thing, it should last just fine. That's one piece I'll upgrade, but the filter alone is well worth the cost of the set.

Used this on a backpacking trip this past weekend at Gem Lake in WA state. I was very try surprised how well this worked and how easy it was to use. It’s small and compact easy to fit in a small zipper, the water capacity I got is 16oz and worked will for me, the speed of it was depending on how your squeezed the water out, and I felt that the quality was pretty good for what I paid for. I would like to get a larger water bladder as it took me a good 15 min out es to fill up a 3L bladder. Also, I was worried about a weird taste from the filter and surprisingly I did t have an issue. If you do a little liquid iv or gatorlite can help with the taste if needed.

Wow. I've been hiking the Appalachian trail solo as out-and-back day hikes this year. Over the summer, I started taking 2 water bottles with me for my 12-mile and longer hikes. And I would refill them, unfiltered, from water sources along the trail. My brother pointed out that I as certifiably insane to do such a thing. After some thought, I decided to agree with him. After some searching, I ended with this setup. I wanted something I could take with me that was ultra-light and ultra-small. I usually have my iphone and some trail mix in one pocket of my running shorts, a water bottle in my hand, some backup carbs on the other pocket, ID and cash in the back pocket. That's it. While it's reasonable to do 5 miles this way, or even 8 if you have water at your destination, 12-15 miles requires a refill. And this is how you refill. The filter is tiny, and if you're using clear water from a moving stream or spring, the flow is pretty fast. As fast as my Katadyn hiker filter that I've had for years. After a few trips with this baby, I'm hooked. A couple tips and things I've learned: 1) You're carrying 2 water bottles anyway - one to fill from a water source, and one to drink from. I fill the clean bottle with filtered water, and fill the other bottle with unfiltered water. 2) The bags are unreliable. I haven't had one break yet, but it's a common thing. So don't rely on 1. Bring a backup. Or, 3) Use another bottle with a cap that fits. The package says the filter fits on most water bottles. I have not found that to be the case with 2 different house brands of water bottles. I did find that the house brand 0-calorie clear soda (it comes in peach, blackberry, etc, you know what I mean) bottles did fit. So for 68 cents, I have an unfiltered bottle I can use. I think that soda bottles will reliably fit, but that's just a guess. 4) lastly, because the equipment is so small and light, it is easy to lose. I started off on a 15-mile hike last week and 3 miles in discovered that my water bag was gone. I assumed I had left it in the car accidentally or it had dropped on the trail. I went ahead and did the hike anyway, refilling at a clear spring, right at the source, without filtering. I found the bag on the side of the trail on my way back. So use a zipper pocket, bundle the items to something bigger with a rubber band, do something to protect yourself. I have not used this for a camping trip yet, but I would not hesitate to do so. It's amazing. I would make sure to take the backwash plunger with me if I was backpacking, though. I love this system - it simply can't be beat.

Never got diarrhea despite drinking from countless streams, including some sketchy ones near horse paths. It didn't last anywhere near its expected lifetime though, nowhere near 100k gallons. Lasted less than a year, about 500 gallons despite being exclusively used with tap water or mountain stream water from the Sierras and being flushed semi regularly. When I got it it was easily filtering water, i patched it in line with my water bladder and would filter for friends. Towards the end of its life, despite being aggressively flushed before the trip, it was struggling to put out a liter every 5-10 minutes with the water bladder being squeezed and required excessive force to get pressure just through the bite valve. For the price it's good though, about what was expected.

Tomo mucha agua, hasta 4 litros al día. El garrafón de agua de 20 litros cuesta 38 pesos en la tienda. Con un consumo diario de 4 litros estamos hablando de 228 pesos al mes y 2,736 pesos al año. Con este producto tomo agua limpia gratis. Tomando agua de la llave ya no me preocupa que me voy a enfermar ya que este producto filtra 99.99999% de las bacterias y protozoas existentes en el agua. Lo que no filtra son los virus. Pero es raro que haya virus en el agua de la llave. Tampoco filtra sustancias químicas como fluor, etc. Para filtrar virus y contaminantes químicos, uno necesita otro tipo de filtro. Cuando mejore mi presupuesto, pienso comprar otro filtro que filtra todo. Pero por ahora, este filtro Sawyer Mini Filter me sirve de maravilla. Este producto es para uso de toda la vida ya que tiene garantía para 100,000 galones (378,000 litros). Con mi consumo diario de 4 litros, este filtro me duraría por 258 años!

What a great little product, small lie weight and practical, that's what you want any day of the week on the trail. The only downside is, I found the squeeze bag (16 oz) a little too small for my liking, constantly need to fill up and filter. A large squeezy bag would be ideal.

I am very happy with my purchase!

Ce filtre est surprenant. Il filtre a 0.1 microns alors que des filtres a 350 euro sont encore a 0.2 microns Une capacite de filtrage hallucinante (378,5 m3 ca represente une duree de vie de plus de 378 000 litres...). Il y a un pas de vis qui permet de visser dessus des bouteilles de type Coca/Soda et ces bouteilles, vides, se compriment super facilement dans un sac. Cela permet donc d'emporter une bouteille qu'on ecrase bien, et on peut visser le filtre dessus sans probleme. Apres chaque filtrage, utiliser un peu de l'eau filtree pour nettoyer le filtre avec la seringue fournie. En mecanisme je l'utilise avec deux poches Platypus (celles que l'on peut ouvrir au sommet, et qu'on peut nettoyer facilement puisqu'on peut glisser la main dedans pour bien nettoyer dans les coins la poche interne). Dans une premiere poche de 2L je recupere l'eau. Le tube de la premiere poche va jusqu'au filtre Sawyer et sa sortie va dans une seconde poche de 2L. En fixant sur un arbre la premiere poche et par simple gravite, en 10 minutes je filtre 2 litres d'eau sans aucun effort. Le filtrage retire protozoaires et bacteries, et il ne me reste plus qu'a faire bouiller les 2L pendant 3 minutes en faisant 1 litre a chaque fois, et je depose chacun de ces litres dans une gourde 1L pour un emport total de deux litres : 1L de chaque cote du sac pour equilibrer la charge. Permet de se construire facilement avec du Platypus un mecanisme de filtrage par serie de 2L. Une duree de vie incroyable et un filtrage vraiment impressionnant. Attention : ne supporte PAS du tout le froid. Il faut absolument preserver le filtre du froid donc a conserver dans une poche interne de blouson pendant l'hiver pres du corps et a garder au chaud. Ne pas laisser le filtre tomber en temperature negative, car il est alors "foutu". Si vous randonnez l'hiver il faut faire attention sur ce point et proteger le filtre.

Amazing filter at an amazing price. So far I have only used this filter for a canoe camping trip for the three days in the backcountry. Devised my own gravity feed setup using a backpack hydration bag to collect lake water, through the filter down a second tube into our 15L folding water container...WOW!! Hang 2L walk away, turn around in 2-5 min and clean drinking water. Filled 10L in no time flat for the family's drinking requirements for the whole day. Backflush, and it is good to go again. Don't know how I will keep track of when I reach 100,000L, but I don't think that will be of concern. Haven't used it with the squeeze bag yet... I am sure it works like a charm. Fast enough flow that I could bring the backpack bag dip it over the side of the canoe to fill, then use the filter inline in the drinking hose for clean water. Storing in our home emergency kit when not camping. Have used the pump kind with replaceable filter and this thing kicks its output hole :) SOOOOO easy and convenient and small, at this price just buy one in case you might need it while camping or for home emergency kit.