I backpack a lot were the only water sources are stagnant ponds and hunt a remote location where we have to filter from a fast moving stream coming out of a swamp. After dealing with clogged filters for years I started to experiment with putting an inline filter above my Sawyer to grab the bigger bits before they could get into the actual filter. I had a few leaky cups that used coffee filters and worked OK but tended to allow untreated water to run down the hose and get into the clean water occasionally.
I sat down this winter and designed up a stand-alone unit that attaches directly to a Sawyer Squeeze and CNOC bag.
Took me about 10 prototypes but landed on a fun design that uses pre-cut cylinders of pre-filter material to grab all the crap (algae, sediment, clays, etc). Been using this for this season and could not be happier. Using the fiber filters is much better than the coffee filters I used to use as they clog slower and are much easier to clean and reuse! I've found cotton balls also work and are burnable/biodegradable if buried in a cat hole.
Also gives a spot to hang the clean hose and shut off the flow when you've filled your bottle so the hose stays out of the dirt.




I sat down this winter and designed up a stand-alone unit that attaches directly to a Sawyer Squeeze and CNOC bag.
Took me about 10 prototypes but landed on a fun design that uses pre-cut cylinders of pre-filter material to grab all the crap (algae, sediment, clays, etc). Been using this for this season and could not be happier. Using the fiber filters is much better than the coffee filters I used to use as they clog slower and are much easier to clean and reuse! I've found cotton balls also work and are burnable/biodegradable if buried in a cat hole.
Also gives a spot to hang the clean hose and shut off the flow when you've filled your bottle so the hose stays out of the dirt.



