Mini Water Filtration System

It's smaller than my Katadyne Hiker Pro. It filters better (Katadyne 0.03 microns - Sawyer 0.01 microns). It will last waaaaay longer than the Katadyne. It's less than half the price, and it fits in my pocket. All these reasons the Sawyer wins, or otherwise outdoes my Kat. Yet. I still really don't like using it. Trying to get water into those silly, fiddly little bags is a ballache. Then trying to squeeze it into your mug, or whatever is also awkward. God help you if you've injured a hand. Also, while you're farting around getting water into your bottle, there's water dripping everywhere, which makes it very difficult, in my opinion, to keep potentially unhealthy water out of your drinking water. I carry it when on the moors with the dog. I have used it under such conditions, and I wasn't ill. But I treat it as an absolute last ditch survival item. Which is what I think it is. I am going to try it with a squeezy bottle instead of the bag. And also, use it as a drip filter to see if I get on with that method better. But, I think, if I want water at the riverside, whilst on the move, I'm sticking with my Kat. Bigger, heavier, not as efficient at filtering (though more than adequate for the UK). But simple, easy, quick and keeps both ends of the supply seperate from each other, and doesn't need any bags. To be honest, some of my most pleasant memories include sitting on a rock by the river, dangling my Kat hose in the water and pumping a few litres whilst looking at the scenery around me. (Rather than bent double, cursing and more likely to fall in the scenery than to appreciate it. All this is a matter of personal preference, at the end of the day, but for me, it all comes down to those stupid bags. I love that the filter fits coke bottles and radiators and all that, but, you know. Try one. They work. It does exactly what it claims to do. It may be perfect for you. But if I'm carrying both, I know which one will get used.

Superb bit of kit Been procrastinating about buying one for nearly a year So many different options and brands, but bought this one after seeing the brand being used on YouTube Apparently it lasts for years, it’s small enough to put in your pocket. Used it a couple of times, was a little hesitant at first nut had no issues with it Only issue is the the pouch, it’s quite a hard material and the water from the river struggled to enter the pouch, not sure how long it will last, but Amazon sell something similar that will act as a replacement when it fails

The Sawyer Mini is an excellent bit of kit for those occasions where one cannot carry enough drinking water, and where weight carried is a prime consideration. There’s not a lot that can be added to Sawyer’s technical overview of the unit, suffice to say, provided that it is used correctly, it works. – Competently, and with a minimum of fuss! A couple of points worth noting are: - 1) Some reviewers suggest that Sawyer’s collapsible water bags are very difficult to fill, unless there is a strong flow of water. The simple way to ensure that the bottle fills easily, regardless of whether there is strong water flow or not, is to “inflate” the bottle before presenting it to the water supply - by blowing into it as if you were blowing up a balloon. Of course this advice comes with the caveat that your mouth will come into contact with the bottle’s outlet, which may carry contamination from previous fillings with unfiltered water. Only the user in the particular circumstance involved can decide whether there might be any risk involved. 2) It has been suggested that the threads of the Sawyer filter are the same as those of other makes of collapsible bottle such as Platypus, and of various plastic drink bottles. I cannot comment on the use of plastic drink bottles, but I can say definitively, that the threads of Platypus collapsible bottles are NOT exactly the same as those of the Sawyer Mini. Although a Platypus will actually screw onto the Sawyer, it will only do so with a very slight “cross threading”. In the case of the Platypus bottles I’ve tried, this resulted in a slight seepage of water from around the unfiltered “neck” side of the Sawyer. Meaning that unfiltered water could easily end up in whatever filtered water container was being used at the time. The seepage increases when squeezing the Platypus in order to speed up liquid flow through the filter. Personally I’ve not had any real problems in using Sawyer’s own bottles, although I find the 32oz. is much to be preferred over the 16oz. The one small gripe I do have, and the distinct advantage a Platypus bottle would have, (assuming a perfect connection to the Sawyer could be made), is that the Platypus range includes a fully transparent bottle, so its content can be seen and inspected for any obvious debris or other matter. It also makes it easy to see whether the inside of the bottle has been properly cleaned and dried before long term storage. EDIT (27 May 2016) One reviewer has given a one star rating which, on the basis of his comments, I think is inappropriate. I have made a comment on that particular review, but copy that comment here, as I think it has some general relevance: - The Sawyer Mini is designed to filter out bacteria and protozoa. It is not designed for, and will not, remove dissolved solids, (which consist of minerals, salts, metals, cations, and anions dissolved in the water), Neither will it filter out chemicals in general, nor any associated tastes or smells. Totally pure water is virtually electrically non-conductive, whereas any "non-pure" water will have some measureable degree of electrical conductivity. TDS meters use this conductivity in order to display the amount of dissolved solids present in the sample being tested. Since dissolved solids won't be filtered out by the Sawyer Mini, it is unsurprising that filtered/non-filtered TDS meter results would be the same. To give the product a one star rating based on an assumption that it should be doing something it was never designed for, is, in my opinion, not justifiable. There is plenty of information on the Mini's technical specification, along with numerous FAQ's as well, on the Sawyer website. Elsewhere, there is plenty of online information to be found on Total Dissolved Solids in drinking water. Reverse Osmosis, Activated Carbon type filters, Deionisation, and Distillation, are all options that will remove some, but not necessarily all, dissolved solids.

The Sawyer Mini is a pretty great product. I was expecting flow through rate of the filter to be really slow, but it's actually decent. Although I didn't measure it, it was relatively easy and quick to fill up our bottles. Where we hike there is a good supply of very clear water, so sediment build-up on the filter never occurred over 3 days of use, or at least I didn't notice any slowing in the flow. I don't know how fast this filter will clog under different circumstances, but the cleaning plunger is available to sort that out. The system is very small and light, the filter fits easily into a pocket (after it's wet you don't want to expose it to freezing temperatures) and overall the system is quite easy to use. Issues: - The bag is small - I needed to fill it up several times to fill my 1 litre water bottle. It's a bag so doesn't take up much room and you can fill it up as much as you want, they should just make it bigger. Or rather, longer. Plus the design of the bag makes it a bit tricky to get it to really fill up. - It would be really nice if you could actually attach the cleaning plunger to the nozzle on the filter. I found it pretty tricky to get it to stay on the nozzle while at the same time trying to depress the plunger with a good amount of force, as instructed in the manual. They should design the plunger and filter nozzle to actually attach - for example, add threads. It is important to use enough force the first time around so that you efficiently clean out the filter (or so it says in the instructions). They could also add screw threads to the straw/tube that's included - I didn't use it at all, but I can't see that thing staying on the filter nozzle by itself. I'm not really sure how the tube is even intended to be used - surely, you couldn't just pop it on and expect it to stay there. Overall, this is a good lightweight product that worked. It supplied enough water for 2 people over 3 days easily without needing cleaning (although, the water sources were very clear), and I'm certain it would have worked for longer. I'm pleased with the system, although it could use a few minor design improvements.

The product is great and I give 5 stars to the seller. If it was a rating for Amazon it would be 2/10. Packaging ie box was in pieces, someone had had a good old game of pull it apart or lets play football with it! The seller a big thumbs up, good price, product as described and not too long for delivery from the US

I have considered buying this filter for over a year. Having recently treated myself I have certainly not been disappointed. My plan was to use it on walking trips to reduce the weight of my bag. However, I have found it so good at improving the taste of the tap water in my house that I use it to fill my water bottle for the day. I have conducted a taste test on my wife who wouldn't usually approve of such purchases. However, she picked the filter water as tasting better and commented on the crispness of the taste. It is very simple to use, simply fill the pouch from any water source, attach the filter and squeeze. The flow rate is pretty quick considering what it is achieving. It is also very light but appears to be very sturdy. 27th April Update - You must be careful to ensure this product doesn't experience freezing temperatures. I had left mine in the back of the car over the xmas period. When using it in Feb I started to doubt its filtering ability as it appeared to let small visible bits through. This might have been in my head as it made me stress out a little. However there was an element of doubt that prevented me being able to use it. I have binned it and since brought another. From now on it will be stored indoors! I am currently looking to find a bottle that it attaches to and understand that a smart water bottle is what I should be looking for. I very much recommend this product for anyone going abroad wishing to make their water safer and to use on day and multiday hikes. It is difficult to go wrong considering the relatively low price.

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.

I relied on this filter on a recent walking trip to Skye, and it did not let me down. I mainly used it with two short sections of silicon tubing as this allowed me to drink from burns without the fiddle of squeezing the bag or having to bend over too far (useful if you are carrying 12kg on your back with old knees. When I needed to fill a bottle I tended to use the syringe, which is fiddly but it saved having to lug the bag as well. Very handy and I seem to be alive still! Importantly, I have not picked up any intestinal worms or parasites (a risk from the highland deer). I generally drank from flowing streams (I think I would trust this to drink from a puddle, but I have not needed to so far, there is plenty of water in Scotland!) and it worked very well. As others have noted, you need to suck like drinking a think milkshake and there is generally some air from the filter in the water, but it works very well. I always set off with 500ml of water 'just in case', but I never needed it. I kept this in my pocket (just make sure you use the capon the end to keep it clean and stop any dribbles). This tiny little filter meant I could keep myself well hydrated in the warmth without carrying kilos of water. I had a 'cheap' ebay pump (which cost about the same as this) but the water is much clearer coming from this Sawyer filter and was a bit murky from the ebay one. I am not confident enough to trust in the cheap one now that I have seen the difference. If you go where you need clean water but have access to natural sources, this will be just what you need. If you found this helpful, please click on the 'Helpful' button. See my other reviews for similar good value hiking and camping products.

Tomo mucha agua, hasta 4 litros al día. El garrafón de agua de 20 litros cuesta 38 pesos en la tienda. Con un consumo diario de 4 litros estamos hablando de 228 pesos al mes y 2,736 pesos al año. Con este producto tomo agua limpia gratis. Tomando agua de la llave ya no me preocupa que me voy a enfermar ya que este producto filtra 99.99999% de las bacterias y protozoas existentes en el agua. Lo que no filtra son los virus. Pero es raro que haya virus en el agua de la llave. Tampoco filtra sustancias químicas como fluor, etc. Para filtrar virus y contaminantes químicos, uno necesita otro tipo de filtro. Cuando mejore mi presupuesto, pienso comprar otro filtro que filtra todo. Pero por ahora, este filtro Sawyer Mini Filter me sirve de maravilla. Este producto es para uso de toda la vida ya que tiene garantía para 100,000 galones (378,000 litros). Con mi consumo diario de 4 litros, este filtro me duraría por 258 años!

What a great little product, small lie weight and practical, that's what you want any day of the week on the trail. The only downside is, I found the squeeze bag (16 oz) a little too small for my liking, constantly need to fill up and filter. A large squeezy bag would be ideal.

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.

Tolles Produkt wo man sicher sein kann keine FÄLSCHUNG gekauft zu haben (sind leider einige im umlauf) lizenzierter Händler: schnelle Lieferung, alles perfekt, UND DAS ZU EINEM GUTEN PREIS.

I am very happy with my purchase!