Stumbled on this thing last night, overall weight 3oz. Read a few reviews, any hands on here? For $30, I'll give it a go for sure.
They work well....
Do the first backflush before you leave home, if you can. Lots of info on Rokslide about hooking them inline with a platypus and using it as a gravity filter.
Fine sediment will clog them, just like any other filter. Bring the syringe to backflush, at least until you know how how long you can run on a specific water source. Don't let it freeze or you will be buying a new one like me.
The only bad thing I've read about them is the bags can burst, so carry a spare. I think gravity is the way to go with one of these.
Extra platypus probably wouldn't hurt any way. Still knocks almost 1# off my Katadyn.
I got one last year and used it on a few summer trips and a hunting trip. I like it and will use it again this year. I haven't tried it with silty water though.
I bought one too. I got the mini. 4 oz. total weight. these hook right up to a platypus I believe I have not tried it yet.
I have a Sawyer water bottle I drink out of every day and a Sawyer squeeze that I made a gravity flow out of, that I use with a 5 gallon bucket and one I take ever where I go with the bags provided. The new bags are tougher than the old ones... Haven't had one break yet.
I'm sold on Sawyer.
I used the Sawyer on my Dall sheep hunt last year, worked great!
If you have to deal with very silty /dirty water, I would recommend looking at some sort of pre filter. I use an ex Brit Army Millbag, which is essentially a tightly woven canvas bag you fill with dirty water and catch the cleaner stuff that trickles out..
Its very lost tech, but works very well. They are now available on the civilian market and tests carried out by the maker show that not only do they reduce the particulate load, but they also reduce biological contamination. I don't recall the exact figures or whether it was bacteria and /or virus, but it did offer an unexpected but worth while reduction, taking some of the load off your main filter..
It has been working well for me. No complaints yet
I use a sawyer water bottle filter all the time. Super fast to just fill with water and then drink. Another advantage is that I can refill with colder water if I come across another source.
I have a mini as well that I'll make a dedicated gravity rig out of for camp water along with a couple of big storage bladders.
A stripped Katadyne Hiker Pro goes 12 ounces.
A Sawyer mini with a syringe to backflush goes 7...
It was a no brainer to me.
Hey Cutter,
What's the snow report for Florence and Magruder?
Thanks in advance.
Slave
The filter works really well for me. The bags are pretty fragile. They don't last very long.
Hey Cutter,
What's the snow report for Florence and Magruder?
Thanks in advance.Slave
Slave
There's 71" of snow on the Magruder at Mountain meadows.... We did spend last week doing some turkey and bear hunting or I should say, bear baiting and getting stuck closer to home...
From this:
To this where we camped:
It's that time of year even down low, but it was fun....
Heading up there in an hour or is with Sawyer bottle in hand. That cold run off sure tastes good, !
Jayco
The full-size Sawyer doesn't require a syringe, and is only slightly larger and heavier than the mini...
The full-size Sawyer doesn't require a syringe, and is only slightly larger and heavier than the mini...
Then how do you backflush it?
With water....
The full-size Sawyer doesn't require a syringe, and is only slightly larger and heavier than the mini...
Both my full size Sawyer and my Mini came with a syringe for back flushing.
Used mine for the first time on a couple of backpacking trips, totaling four nights and 6 days, from which I just returned.
The first trip was through Picketwire Canyon from Withers trailhead to Rourke Ranch and back again, camping two nights on state land above the rim. The water was really murky. The filter plugged after 4 quarts. Back flushing worked fine but I would have been SOL without the syringe.
The second trip was up Grape Creek from the bridge at the Temple Canyon road to Deweese Reservoir. Everything worked fine. Not a single glitch. The water was really clean though running high as one might expect for this time of year. I didn't back flush the filter until I was doing maintenance when I got home. I was surprised how much gunk came out of the first back flush.
I use the 64 ounce bag and have bought the extra parts so I can use it as a gravity filter also. I filter the first quart by squeezing the bag, then I hang it up and let it filter another couple of quarts while making dinner with the first quart.
I carried the 32 ounce bag and never used it. I didn't use it to squeeze water directly into my mouth either. I probably should have. That would have meant that I didn't have to carry a quart of water in my pack.
KC
KC, what extra parts did you get so that you can use it as a gravity filter?
KC, what extra parts did you get so that you can use it as a gravity filter?
Smoke:
I got one of these adapters and three feet of surgical tubing. It's easy.
http://sawyer.com/products/sawyer-inline-hydration-pack-adapters/ I also used a one-hole paper punch to put a couple of holes in the margin at the end of the bag so I could hang the bag with a piece of chord.
KC
Camelback tubing weighs about half as much as vinyl from a hardware store, if that matters to you.
Yup, it does. And I've got a good supply.
All I have is a Sawyer Mini. With it I can leave the "Cleaning Plunger" syringe behind for short trips, and if a problem develops I can blow it clean with water squeezed from a plastic sandwich bag. Also I can blow out the water to help prevent freezing by blowing air thru it with the bag empty. So I carry it in a thick-plastic sandwich sized bag.
The full-size Sawyer doesn't require a syringe, and is only slightly larger and heavier than the mini...
Both my full size Sawyer and my Mini came with a syringe for back flushing.
Interesting, my full size filter did not. It did come with back flushing instructions, however.
This is the version I have:
http://sawyer.com/products/sawyer-3-way-water-filter/The syringe must be new. Mine didn't come with one (purchased about a year ago), and had back flush instructions using the faucet adapter. IME, you don't need to back flush in the field, unless you were filtering a lot of filthy muck. Filtering regular mountain or forest creek water, it'll go a long time before needing to be back flushed.
I use a automobile fuel line filter as a pre-filter. It's about 1" x1/2" and has a sintered plastic disk in it. Negligible weight and high flow rate, plumbed inline after the bag and before the Sawyer in a gravity flow system.
Platypus bags fit the threads on the full size Sawyer as well as many plastic drink bottles(most 2 liters will, but need a vent hole to work) and with a couple of extra parts they will also backfill Camelbaks with the Hydrolink adapter. Also possible to get a slightly smaller syringe from livestock stores, not much weight difference just smaller size.
I think I need one of these as I really don't like pumping water through my MSR...
I think I need one of these as I really don't like pumping water through my MSR...
It is indeed on improvement on pumping. Fill the bag, screw the filter on, flip it over so the filter is down and watch. It's one of those "how did we ever get by without this" kind of moments.