TIL carrying a water filter is pointless if you don't check the flow rate beforehand

I clogged my Sawyer Mini on day 2 of a 5 day trip in the Sierras last summer because I didn't pre-filter the silty creek water, and I had to beg other hikers for clean water the rest of the way - has anyone else had their filter die on them in a remote spot?

2 comments

2 Comments

kelly_craig7d ago

Blew out the o-ring on my Katadyn BeFree in the Uinta Mountains a couple years back. I read somewhere that backflushing with a syringe is key for the Sawyer, but I didn't know that at the time. Ended up just scooping water straight from a glacier runoff and whatever was in there just wrecked the flow completely. Idk, maybe it's just me but I feel like pre-filtration is almost mandatory now for anything with heavy sediment. I've seen people carry a coffee filter or a bandana to strain the big stuff first.

webb.ben7d ago

Pre-filtering is smart. Learned that the hard way myself up in the Rockies a few years back. Was using a squeeze bag filter and the water was so silty it clogged before I even got a liter out. Ended up drinking straight from a stream for two days. Felt stupid. A buddy swears by cutting the bottom off a Gatorade bottle and using it as a scoop with a bandana rubber-banded over the top. Works way better than a coffee filter in wind.