I was at REI a while back and I saw a Sawyer Mini water filter on the shelf. I instantly liked the size and ease of use, but was a little leery about what it could actually do so I snapped a picture to remind me to look it up later. It turns out – after some research into the filter – I found out it was going to be perfect to take to the Patagonia trip I was planning and would be great for future use when backpacking and in countries with less that stellar water quality.
Here it is plugged Into my CamelBak – more on that setup later.
I was told the stream water was safe to drink in Argentina but I was worried about people who do not follow the rules and could contaminate a water source and get me sick in the back country. I did not want to have to hike out with my gear when sick and needing to stop every few hundred yards with stomach issues.
The Sawyer Mini removes 99.99999% of all bacteria to include salmonella, cholera, leptospirosis, and E.coli. E.coli was my bigger worry because if someone decided to bathe up stream from where I was filling my bladders it could cause problems. This peace of mind alone was worth the purchase for me. In addition to E.Coli it also removes 99.9999% of all protozoa, such as giardia – found in water that has been contaminated with feces from infected humans or animals. Giardia can be tolerant to chlorine disinfection so a filter is necessary if giardia is present in your water source. The filter will also handle cryptosporidium.
I was planning on taking my MSR pump with me to Argentina, but at 2 ounces the Sawyer would save me weight and room in an already stuffed pack. According to Sawyer it will filter up to 100,000 gallons over its lifetime. This is assuming that your drinking clear water with it. If the water is full of sediment I would guess this lifespan would be cut. Included with the filter is a syringe to allow for backwashing the filter and that will help when your flow rate diminishes but just like every other piece of equipment sand and silt is damaging. I have not tested or cut one open but sand and silt are abrasive. And for 25 bucks I am not worried about it. I will probably lose or break it before it becomes unusable. To put the cost in perspective – 25 dollars spent on a filter pays for itself in just one use since my doctors co-pay and medication for a serious stomach bug would (and has) cost more.
I decided I didn’t want to have to keep moving water around to one dedicated bladder with the Sawyer on it so I cut an 8 inch piece of hose off and added a bite valve. I then took the 8 inch section and put it on the Sawyer – now the filter was plug and play with every bladder. Pop the bite valve off the full bladder, plug the Sawyer in and attach the bite valve to the old bladder for safe keeping. Its a little bit of musical chairs with the bite valves but easier than needed to constantly pour water out of one bladder into another.
The filter comes with a bag so that you can fill the bag and then filter the water into a bladder or water bottle, or drink from the bag using the filter, I did not want to do any of that and just putting it in line in my bladder was much easier and faster. Fill the bladder and move on. If you decide to use the bag and filter water that way its easy to remember how to install the filter as they put a nice big arrow in the direction of flow. Very helpful so you don’t switch direction on accident and get a mouthful of everything that you had filtered out for the past few days. It also has a raised arrow in the plastic so that if the sticker comes off or its a lot light situation you can do everything by feel. That is a well thought out feature by Sawyer.
When I get home I do disinfect every bladder that I used so that they don’t have any chance of contamination- this also allows them to stay usable longer. I have left a damp sealed bladder in a camel back for a few months before – it was not good. I shake out the filter and also hang it to dry in a warm area so that nastiness will not form inside of it.
Predictably it is harder to draw water through than a normal bite valve. You will have to work harder for the same mouthful of water but this was to to much of an issue – unless I was breathing very hard on an uphill. If your huffing and puffing and trying to draw water in between breaths it becomes annoyingly difficult to get a full gulp of water. But every other time when using it its fine.
So far I have been very happy with this purchase, I plan on picking up one or two more as a backup and just to have for traveling to less developed countries. I will also be gifting a few to friends who travel frequently as it seems water is always the weak link in a lot of countries. I have never been sick with this filter, and a friend borrowed it for use in Thailand and never had a problem.
For 25 dollars I think this filter is a steal and worth every penny. I am hesitant to use it in a true cold winter setting as it will be damaged if any water freezes in it. Thats a known issue and can be alleviated by having it in the pack to stay slightly warmer. All in all I highly recommend the Sawyer Mini.