Sawyer Merchandise Mini Water Filtration System

Performs well, intuitive, lightweight, reasonable.
I’m far from an experienced long range hiker or backpacker. I’m fairly comfortable out in the woods, do about 8-9 miles a day in about 2 hours, and have common sense, but I am not a backwoodswoman (unfortunately). A conveniently-sized filter has been on my “that’d be cool” list for years, and while planning a mountain day hike with my sister I went for it with the Sawyer Mini. This was a 2,500′ elevation gain hike that was expected to clock in around 9 miles round-trip, trail reports said the average run time was about 4h 45m. No problem.I’m one of those who needs to hydrate excessively- I routinely go through about 2 liters of fluid on a 9 mile route. My hydration pack takes 2 liters, so I figured I probably wouldn’t even need the filter but the trip made a good excuse. I even tossed in a lightweight disposable 28 oz bottled water before leaving our car, thinking “No way is that filter getting used!”Man am I glad I had the Sawyer. My hiking partner is not anywhere near as active as I am, which resulted in hours longer on the trail than expected, and surprise, the route clocked in closer to 15 miles than 9. So we were out there, including a break at the spectacular turn around location, for about 10 hours. The Sawyer performed beautifully. I didn’t have to stress about trying to conserve water, which was a real relief on the way back, now knowing how long the route actually was and how fast my partner and I were likely to move. The available watersources were mountain streams on a *heavily* trafficked trail (it was like a traffic jam in sections), so the water looked, smelled, and felt clean and cold already, but I sure wouldn’t have risked drinking it unfiltered (as we saw several other groups doing- just say no to unfiltered water folks, seriously, not worth it).Okay, the actual review stuff: I’m ashamed to admit I’d never actually used a filter before, though I’ve seen other people do so. I’m also *not* kinesthetically intelligent. But the Sawyer mini is super easy to understand and use, lightweight, and doesn’t have a lot of tiny parts or really much you can do to screw up. I did a test run when it was delivered, found it easy and obvious, and left the flushing syringe in the cabin because we were on a day hike. On the trail it was 100% slick. The included 16 oz bag for untreated water is a little small, and can be challenging to fill in still water, but performed well despite those limitations. As mentioned, the water was already very clear- no visible particulates, and I was able to filter about 1.5 liters in around 8 minutes, including the water-gathering. I assume that dirtier water with more particulates would filter slower- for the water I was filtering, the flow rate was just as fast as my tap water test run, and it was easy to speed up with some gentle pressure on the bag. I should note that I found an actual water bottle *much* easier to filter into than my hydration pack bladder with its floppy body and wide mouth (the last minute extra tossed-in bottled water was useful on two fronts!), so I’d highly recommend carrying a lightweight bottle for filtering into even if you intend to eventually drink it out of an in-line system. The filter, straw, and backflow syringe fit easily into a clean ipsy-type zip case and were light and easy to pack and carry. I will invest in some screw covers or other capping solution so as to avoid water leakage in the future after use, but this wasn’t a big deal for me. I’ll likely also toss in some alcohol wipes for future trips to ensure clean surfaces after the parts have been jumbled together. Overall, while I imagine that folks who actually are backwoodspeople have better, higher-volume/higher-flow filtering systems and solutions, I’m 100% satisfied with my little Sawyer mini and its totally accessible price point and feel confident it will perform when needed.

Drinking water from nature feels amazing. Must have!
Fantastic product. I have used this product to filter mostly rivers and streams but I have used it with ponds and lakes without issue.Perfect for lightweight backpacking.You will need to backwash frequently to keep the flow rate but will eventually need to replace. The larger one will be better for flow rate.Drinking raw water that’s been flowing through the earth is as good as it gets for your hydration. I have multiple copies of this filter in my car and day pack.Be careful to only drink water that’s not running through cities and urban areas. Filters do not filter viruses and pharmaceuticals. In the mountains and wild areas are best. Also great to have for emergencies.

Wir haben viele YouTube Videos geschaut um das richtige für uns zu kaufen.Die Literzahl der Benutzungszeit und das Preis Leistungsverhältnis hat uns überzeugt.Aber Achtung er filtert natürlich weniger als der Kohlefilter heraus.Bitte nicht überstürzt am nächst liegenden Bach benutzen, das Wasser darf nicht vom Menschen verunreinigt sein.

Excellent, small, light and works well : ideal for travel.The tube itself is small and very easy to use with Clear instructions printed upon it;(basically pull water through one end, and draw out of the other, as marked with arrows).Supplied with an extension straw for drinking and a syringe for purge cleaning.The filter itself also has a standard thread so can be attached to (any standard) water bottle.The flat pack bag, supplied, takes no space at all, and is reusable; the neck of the bag is also designed to screw onto the filter. Its a good size to carry when both both full and empty.This can do a considerable amount of water filtration, so it’s a tremendous SAVING both financially and to the environment from the scourge of plastic water bottles waste.See the Sawyer web site for the technical details, but this is a high specification purification system.Would HIGHLY recommend it is small easy to carry size and use.