Lightweight water systems in 2025

[Smithb9841]

Maybe I missed it but is there a way to put a filter in line straight off a hydration bladder to your drinking tube on your pack?
I usually keep a befree in my pack along with my clean bladder of water. But if I could fill my bladder then filter as needed as I drink just like If I had a bladder full of clean water would be awesome.

 

[BBob]

Maybe I missed it but is there a way to put a filter in line straight off a hydration bladder to your drinking tube on your pack?
I usually keep a befree in my pack along with my clean bladder of water. But if I could fill my bladder then filter as needed as I drink just like If I had a bladder full of clean water would be awesome.

MSR makes one. It’s a hollow fiber filter like the Katadyn and HydraPak.

 

[mtnbound]

Maybe I missed it but is there a way to put a filter in line straight off a hydration bladder to your drinking tube on your pack?
I usually keep a befree in my pack along with my clean bladder of water. But if I could fill my bladder then filter as needed as I drink just like If I had a bladder full of clean water would be awesome.

Several companies make one. Sawyer, Platapus and MSR.

 

[Dave0317]

I started using aquamira drops on a big adventure hunt last year and I don’t see myself using anything else on more than a day hunt going forward. This is the system I used for it and it worked real well for me.

Aquamira: Why we like it, and how we use it - Andrew Skurka

For about twenty years and almost exclusively I have used Aquamira ($15) to purify backcountry water sources. And it’s been the only purification method used by the guided trip program that I started in 2011 and that has over 1,000 alumni. Last month two of these alumni emailed me separately...

andrewskurka.com

Thanks for posting that. I’ve looked at lots of Skurkas stuff before and never really read into his philosophy on that.

I liked the idea of the tablets for convenience, and was thinking the drops were just another unnecessary step. But I can see where there are some advantages depending on time, water cleanliness, different size bottles, etc.

 

[Pilsner]

I have 2, 3 and 4L Hydrapaks and a Katadyn filter. The size I take depends on how much water I need to carry and how far from the source I'm going.
I'm buying a 10L for a camp reservoir for a potentially dry hunt if there isn't any alpine springs this year.

I prefer using Smart Water bottles in my pack. they're tough, cheap to replace and less likely to get a hole over several days.

I have the Hardside drink tube for the Smart bottle too.

I also found the little bottle connector used to make a "tornado in a bottle" school project also connects the Smart bottle and filter. I hang them up and do something else till the bottle is full.
View attachment 924417
I also carry tablets as backup.

I was amazed that it took this long into a lightweight tread before SmartWater bottles got brought up. The lack of cross pollination between the UL long distance hiking community and the back country hunting community always amazes me.
Now we see how long it takes for someone to mention throwing away the Sawyer bags when you open the package on your Squeeze filter and replacing them with CNOC bags...

 

[WyoBC_99]

I've been using aquamira drops exclusively for probably the last 5 years, with a hydrapak seeker and a nalgene for drink mixes.
In hot water, I also like a platy bladder.

However, I am really diggin the info shared on this thread and wondering if I should consider ways to cut weight and carry less water!