Hey, as I get closer to my 2nd solo I'm still working on ways to cut weight.

On my first solo I used our 4L sawyer gravity filter (seemed like overkill solo) and brought the sawyer mini as backup/on the go purposes. I'm thinking of just bringing the mini this time. I'll just boil unfiltered water for my dehydrated meals and coffee. Breakfast and lunch are cold/no cook meals.

Is there something I'm not thinking about that makes this a bad idea? I'll have pills for back up for drinking water.

My sawyer mini is just too slow for me. Having a couple liters on hand in camp is nice IMO. For me, the room a gravity filter takes up is worth it's weight/space in gold. I drink a lot of water while I am out.

The mini should be fine, but it is slower. Consider the Sawyer squeeze, which is just a bit heavier but can be screwed onto water bags or bottles.

You will also have to bring more fuel for boiling all the water. On my solo trips I still bring the gravity filter.

Look in to a 1st Need, love mine, very fast and easy to use.

quote Minnesotian: "
You will also have to bring more fuel for boiling all the water. On my solo trips I still bring the gravity filter. "

I'll boil the same amount of water....I just meant I will boil unfiltered water instead of filtered water (like I usually do from the gravity filter) for my coffee in the morning and dehydrated meals at supper. Then use the mini-filter for drinking water

I will say that I liked the convenience of the gravity filter in camp. It's like having a faucet in camp. When I needed water to boil I got it from the hanging filter in the cooking area instead of needing to walk down to the lake

Thanks for the ideas on other filters. They would definitely do the trick. I already have 2 filters so I don't want to buy another one. Just trying to decide if I should still bring them both or if the mini-filter alone will cut it.

A Steripen is a great way to go on a solo. This price here is excellent. The sawyer mini is a good backup to bring.

Well...there is the old saw: One is none and two is one.
But I'm a belt and suspenders kinda guy.....

Do you need water for your cold/no cook breakfast?

quote TomT: "A Steripen is a great way to go on a solo. This price here is excellent. The sawyer mini is a good backup to bring.


"

Had one before the filters. Used it 2 seasons and When I tested it before a trip the 3rd season it didn't work anymore.

quote boonie: "Do you need water for your cold/no cook breakfast?"

No. Just doing clif bars

I have used the Sawyer Squeeze exclusively for all my solo trips this year. Works just fine but more labor intensive than the 2L Sawyer gravity system I have as you have to sit and squeeze vs. letting it run on its own. You also need to refill it more often.


I use the Sawyer Squeeze to fill a Nalgene 96 oz canteen in camp. I have a collapsible bucket that I fill with dirty water and fill the squeeze with that and filter into the Nalgene.

If I wanted to go lighter I could ditch the Nalgene and bucket and just squeeze into my cooking pot but I like the convenience of having the full Nalgene in camp.

I got a Sawyer Squeeze a couple of years ago and also found it a good bit more time and labor intensive. Maybe I'm just lazy, but I like the ease and convenience of the gravity system. Sometime I may try one of the YouTube Sawyer conversions to a gravity system. I wouldn't care so much that it was slower if I didn't have to sit there and squeeze.

Last year I replaced my Platypus 4L filter with a Sawyer mini because the Platypus filter seemed to be getting clogged frequently even after backflushing. The mini has been working fine for several trips now. I bring two empty 1 gal plastic vinegar jugs (they are thicker than milk jugs and last for years in canoe country) that I tie inside the bow and stern when traveling. One is used as the "clean" jug and the other I use to get "dirty" water from the middle of the lake prior to landing at the campsite.

The only "problem" I've had is at camp. The first gallon of water that goes through the filter results in air bubbles getting trapped in the line between the filter and the clean jug. So, I need to spend a few minutes squeezing the air bubbles out of the line so it flows faster. Once them line is free of bubbles, the jug fills up in 5-10 minutes. This problem occurs whenever the dirty bag becomes empty which allows air to enter the filter.

The solution of course, is too keep a liter or two of water in the dirty bag and shut off the flow before the dirty bag empties. Then when I add more water, it flows without the air bubbles forming in the line. Took me a trip or two to get this system down, but it makes purifying water simple and quick.

Lastly, on travel days, I use a Steripen for purifying my water.

Thanks for the information, PineKnot - maybe "air bubbles" have been part of my problem in the past.

When I use the squeeze, I do so in a gravity setup with no clean bag. I just use it like a tap and run water through it on demand.

I have a 48oz Nalgene Canteen like luft linked that I fill with filtered water and then it's ready when I need it in camp.

quote cycle003: "When I use the squeeze, I do so in a gravity setup with no clean bag. I just use it like a tap and run water through it on demand. "

cycle- how long does it take to filter a half liter that way?

luft - How long does it take you with the Squeeze to fill the Nalgene canteen. When I tried the Squeeze it seemed to take an inordinate amount of effort and time. I must have been doing something not quite right. . .?

I didn't time it, but it's pretty fast, like maybe 30 secs. It was fast enough that it wasn't annoying or prohibitive. Obviously if it clogs, that will change things. I bring the syringe that came with the squeeze.

I'm going to have to work with it a little - it took me longer than that to squeeze it out and I squeezed pretty hard too :(.

Hmmmm. I didn't time it but it definitely takes me at least 1-1.5 minutes to empty my squeeze but I baby it because I have heard of the bags blowing out from too much force. I think it took 4-5 full "squeezes" to fill the nalgene.

I just got back from a trip and need to clean my filter out. I will do a timed test and let you know how long it takes to fill with city water.

Thanks, it would be good to have something to compare to, but it took a lot longer than the videos and I never did get it to work better the whole week. Maybe my filter's just a "lemon". Or maybe I was using it backwards ;).

I have used the Sawyer Squeeze system on my solo trips for the last 2 years. It works really well, is light and compact. I have never run short of filtered water for food and drinking. If is slows down you just back flush it with filtered water. Never need to buy filter cartridges either. It is now my preferred filter method.

I took liquid iodine on my solo, so much easier than dealing with a filter. I also started doing this when it's just me and my fiancee. The taste is negligible, no tinkering with filters. Only inconvenience is waiting 20 minutes once you fill up.

I have the Sawyer minifilter with the squeeze system. When I go with Sherpa 1 and 2 I attach it to a 5 gallon bucket and hang it in a tree, a little slow it seems but we simply let it run into our Nagelene bottles when were in camp making supper or what ever, when I solo I have a 2liter Platypus bag the sawyer hooks up to, I carry the squeeze bag in case I have to get water from a stream. FRED

I really like the Aquamira drops for solo trips. Very light weight...makes about 50 gallons and I can't taste the drops at all.

Aquamira

quote SourisMan: "I really like the Aquamira drops for solo trips. Very light weight...makes about 50 gallons and I can't taste the drops at all.


Aquamira "

Sorry, 30 gallons

I decided to bring both the mini (needed it on the go on 2 hot travel days when I was drinking lots of water and went through all my water in my nalgene) and the 4 liter Sawyer gravity for in camp. I'm really glad I decided to bring both.

Last year I bought one of the Sawyer water bottles with the mini filter inside that you suck water through. I really liked that for drinking on the go rather than carrying a couple of liters or stopping to filter. It's easy for me to get dehydrated in the BW.

We also used my gravity system in camp; they are just so convenient.

I have been going back and forth on bringing 1 or 2 filters on my solos. I always bring the Sawyer Mini as it is just too small and light not to bring it along. I have found that I like the convenience of my Sawyer 2L gravity filter so I often bring the dirty bag, hose, and filter along and just filter right into a Nalgene collapsible canteen. I leave the clean bag and dispensing hose at home as it is just extra weight and bulk.

quote boonie: "Last year I bought one of the Sawyer water bottles with the mini filter inside that you suck water through. I really liked that for drinking on the go rather than carrying a couple of liters or stopping to filter. It's easy for me to get dehydrated in the BW.


We also used my gravity system in camp; they are just so convenient."

I'm like you I use my mini when out on the go and the gravity filter when in camp. It's nice just to be able to fill it on the go while canoeing.

I recently purchased a camelback uv water bottle. Hit the button and it's "safe" to drink in sixty seconds. Any bad reviews? Seems too good to be true but I didn't get sick...

I bring a Pur hiker but it's bulky. I hardly ever use it. I take unfiltered water from the middle of deep lakes and I've never gotten sick. I boil water over a campfire if I take water from the shoreline.

I brought a sawyer mini and a full-sized sawyer filter with me. I used the mini almost exclusively the first few days. Then the mini really seemed to slow. I switched to the full size for cooking, and kept the mini for the 'in the boat' drinks.

Congratulations! Thirty four posts on water filters and cutting weight. Not a single poster raised the issue of NOT using a filter. Must be a first for this board!

quote sueb2b: "I brought a sawyer mini and a full-sized sawyer filter with me. I used the mini almost exclusively the first few days. Then the mini really seemed to slow. I switched to the full size for cooking, and kept the mini for the 'in the boat' drinks. "

Did you try to back flush the mini when it slowed?

I didn't have the thing to back flush, or I would have.