I want to hear from the people who use filters on long distance backpacking trips. I'm primarily interested the following:

Do you think clogging will be an issue if I backwash it in town? (approx every 3-4 days)

1 million gallon warranty... Think it'll make the "long haul" to Maine?

I want to switch to a lightweight filter from AM sooooo bad (for my own reasons). I have no problem doing so for a week trip... but this a thru hike.

Also thinking about switching to no water treatment predominantly. Would obviously still bring a small amt of chemical treatment just in case.

Thank you much!

-Sam (the Padawan)

The filter is basically the same as the filter they use in their other products. It's a proven filter, and I wouldn't worry about it at all. The only thing I might do is to switch the water bag to a Platypus.

You might want to switch to the Platypus because the Sawyer bags tend to start leaking fairly quickly - the Platypus is much stronger.

Other than that, it's a great filter.

I have used the Sawyer Squeeze Filter on four 3 day hikes. Sprung a small leak in the large bag near the cap. Just something to consider. Switching to a platypus is not something I had previously considered, so thanks for that tip.

Sam,

I have been using the same old "black" Sawyer inline filter for about 3 years now and it is going strong.

If you are going to be able to backflush your filter every 3-4 days, you should be fine.

However, to be safe, you should have a means to backflush in the field.

In your case, you have the included syringe.

Alternatively, you can see if you can use a mouthful of water to "blow back" a little bit of water through the filter with every use.

I found that doing a little backflushing when the flow rate of the filter is great is great maintenance.

Don't let the filter slow down to a point where you "need" to backflush it as it can take a lot of pressure to fully flush the system.

A little maintenance goes a long way with this filter.

Good news is that we are not talking about any real effort here to do this after each use.

Hope this helps.

This is a good reminder to me that I would like to get my hands on one of these new Sawyer filters to see how it works, but since mine is going strong and works for me....if it ain't broke....

-Tony

Great tip Tony! I don't think you could get better maintenance than that hardly. Is the mouthful of water method basically as effective as the syringe or no?

"Don't let the filter slow down to a point where you "need" to backflush it as it can take a lot of pressure to fully flush the system." What do you mean exactly? Are you saying I could be sitting there for an extended period of time blowing water through it?

The platy sounds like a great idea too. Great to know someones been using it for 3 years and nothings gone wrong with it. I'm super excited. Got enough confidence to at least make the buy.

-The Padawan

BTW, I used the gravity version to filter 20+ gallons over 4 days. The water source was a clear mountain stream in the Sierras, but that same water would have plugged my MST sweetwater prefilter (on my first need filter) solid. I would have had to clean the prefilter several times for that same about of water. I did not backflush the sawyer at all and the flow never slowed.

I put the bag aside and set up a gravity setup like this....

6.6 oz as shown

Parts...
Top of regular soda bottle with cap (funnel)
Bottom of fat soda bottle (dipper)
Prefilter in neck of soda bottle
Sawyer squeeze filter
Arrowhead Eq cap and barb to use with tubing
Top of cap (red/Dirty) epoxied to a bottle screw neck
2 bottle caps glued face to face. (allows to connect a platy directly to the filter)
Chlorine in a dropper bottle.
Triptease
Mini line lock
Tubing

Not shown, but I prefer to all the parts inside the bottle in a small zip lock since the inside of both parts of the storage bottle are dirty.

Have done a bit smaller version out of a 20oz bottle and a larger version with a bigger funnel etc etc. Dont let it freeze.

Edited by tammons on 01/11/2012 14:16:38 MST.

"1 million gallon warranty... Think it'll make the "long haul" to Maine?"

Yes it will make the long haul. Its basically a life time guarantee. If you were to use the filter to filter 50 gallons every day for the next 20 years you wouldn't be half way to a million gallons. A million gallons is a lot.

Padawan,

I would say that mouthful of water "blow back" is just good practice to keep the filter free and clear as much as possible, so that you don't get into a situtation where you need to use the syringe.

The syringe will produce pressure greater than your can with your mouth and would need to be carried in case you really get the filter clogged up.

As was posted above, having good/clear/clean water selection is always key with any filter. But if you have to filter mud water and the filter slows down or clogs up, you will need that syringe.

I also hike in the Sierras and have only had one experience where I need to apply a lot of pressure to backflush my filter in the field after multiple days of use. Basically, I had to almost sit on my "clean" Platypus water back to generate the pressure needed to backflush my filter. Once I did that, I was good to go for the rest of my trip. It was at that point that I started to make a point of doing a little back flushing after each use.

In my case, as a gravity filter, I just squeezed my clean bag to force a little bit of water back through the system and I was fine. Not even a full mouthful of water.

I have used my mouth to "blow back" some water through my filter too, so I know it works with MY setup.

Don't see why it would not work with yours, as it is the same technology inside.

Key things for taking care of the Sawyer filter....store it dry, well as you can.

Before you go to bed, suck the filter dry with your mouth.

Freezing will rupture the plastic hollow tubes inside of it and ruin it....and you really won't know that it happened until you are sick/ill.

True of all filter, but good habits start now.

I make a point of sleeping with my filter in colder weather...just having it wrapping in a small wash cloth that I carry and putting it inside the head of my bivy bag that I sleep in.

-Tony

Troy,

Awesome setup and thanks for sharing.

Could you provide a shot of the bottom of your filter and how the two bottle caps would connect or work?

I am interested in your system to see if it has a wider opening on the input and output to provide a faster rates of flow vs. my older inline system.

-Tony

It can also work like below you just have to keep track of how much h20 you are pouring in or use it with a tube.

Of course you could have a dirty platy and a clean platy. Fill the dirty platy with the funnel and scoop and similar double cap arrangement (would suggest red for dirty) Chain them together and squeeze.

The hole in the top is about 1/2" and bottom hole is about 1/4".

The two bottle caps are epoxied together. No longevity field reports as of yet.

You need to change the rubber washer.
The factory one falls out.

I found a black poly washer at Ace that fits and stays in.

The red male cap shown on the input side of the filter in the post above is only to close off the dirty side of the filter.

Its so cheap doing a setup like this its easy to change on the fly.

Edited by tammons on 01/11/2012 15:18:05 MST.

Sorry for the thread highjack, but these questions might be helpful to everyone.

Troy,

Does the green cap actually thread onto the output end of the Sawyer Filter?

If so, I am guessing that you have a way to remove the "push/pull" sport bottle type cap that comes with the filter to allow for the threading of the bottle.

Really appreciate this.

You might want to consider cutting an pasting your photos and text to create a user review of the Squeeze Filter and to illustrate what you have done.

-Tony

>Does the green cap actually thread onto the output end of the Sawyer Filter?

Yes - Have seen a factory double female bottle cap like that on the web somewhere. It would be more reliable than glued.

>If so, I am guessing that you have a way to remove the "push/pull" sport bottle type cap that comes with the filter to allow for the threading of the bottle.

It just unscrews.

The filter basically has a female bottle cap thread on the input side and a male thread bottle cap on the output side.

>You might want to consider cutting an pasting your photos and text to create a user >review of the Squeeze Filter and to illustrate what you have done.

Understand but no time now.
Maybe in a day or two.

Don't overlook the Sawyer SP122 which is an inline filter with a quick connect fitting for hydration packs. It's lightweight and has the same million gal guarantee. Sawyer filters are made in the USA, if that is important to you. Inexpensive, too.

I also have one of those. Nice.

Great for a bladder, IE just cut in a quick connect to your drink line
or use it on a geigerrig although the geigerrig setup is a bit heavy.

Your good people! I could see me referring back to this thread once I get everything running. I might do the dirty bag and the clean bag I don't know yet. On the contrary, thank you for the hijacking ;).

I think the coolest (not lightest) rig I have used is to use a 3L Geigerrig as a dirty pressurized bag to force water through a sawyer quick connect filter and into a bladder. Not light but it is fast and if you can find or make a mini shower head to quick connect, then you also have a shower. Similar to above weighs 14-16 oz or so.

I also have been looking for info on the squeeze filter. Most of the threads are about these different setups though. I'm trying to decide between this and aqua mira for an LT through this summer. I like the simplicity of the squeeze system but is it reliable, safe, and light enough to replace AM? I've only ever used AM so I'm clueless about filters.

From what I remember, if you are talking about the Frontier pro, it filters down to 3 microns. The normal Sawyer filter down to .1 microns.