Sawyer Inline Water Filter

[OR Archer]

Has anyone used this product before? Had a customer tell us about them today and I am really intrigued by this product. Super simple and its very small and light weight. I am considering using this this year instead of my Katadyn.

http://www.sawyer.com/

 

[dotman]

Yup a bunch of us are running the squeeze filter which also has an inline adapter you can get for it. Aron has been using the squeeze a bunch this year I think and Luke has the inline. I have not heard any bad reviews yet but I also do not have much time with mine.

 

[OR Archer]

Good to know. Im going to pick a couple of these up.

 

[hflier]

I have the Sawyer Complete 2 Liter Water Filtration System. It rocks! Simple, highly effective. No parts to break.

 

[bighouse31]

I was thinking of running the inline as well with the platypus 3L big zip same set up as Luke. My only concern is that you can't let it freeze. I figure if you put it close enough to the outlet of the bladder in your pack you should be ok unless temps drop way down. At night there might be some concern when not wearing the pack. It is only 6 oz difference if you go with the Hiker Pro and Hoser 3L.

 

[luke moffat]

Bighouse,

You want the filter as far below the bladder as possible on the drink tube to get the most head pressure for faster filtering in gravity filter mode. The filter itself is on quick links and can be disconnected and thrown in the bag with ya overnight if you think its gonna get that cold.

A sawyer filter plus a big zip 3l comes in at 8 oz roughly. A 3L hoser and a hiker pro is more like 16 oz. And its not so much that weight savings for me that is the selling point but how quick and easy and NO PUMPING required for filling the bladders. In fact getting both Becca and I setup with this now for this season so we both can just dip and go, until we want to fill the 6L Dromlite and we'll gravity filter for camp water at that point. Convience makes this much easier and faster for me that makes it more appealing. The weight savings of around a half pound is nice, but not the main selling point IMO.

 

[fillthefreezer]

the sawyer inline isnt proprietary to any bladder right so it would work the same with my camelback?

i currently run the katadyn basecamp but it seems like i could completely elimate that with this setup...

 

[Eagle]

I've used the sawyer inline for 4 years and have yet to find any kind of problem with the filter. I'm fairly sure it'll work with any bladder out there as well.

 

[Becca]

the sawyer inline isnt proprietary to any bladder right so it would work the same with my camelback?

i currently run the katadyn basecamp but it seems like i could completely elimate that with this setup...

There is no reason you couldn't put the sawyer in-line with any bladder/hose set up. The only potential issue I see is how you are going to fill the (dirty) bladder. Even with the wide opening on the big zip we sometimes have trouble getting it to fill. It sounds funny until you try it, but you often have to do multiple "scoops" to get the bag full, particularly in smaller or shallower streams. Unless you have water pouring over a dam or down a waterfall, I could see it be a challenge to filli the bladder through the small camel back opening. Just something to consider...

 

[CtP]

I'm using the Sawyer inline filter this year after seeing it in the field first hand last season. The fill and go aspect is to good to pass up and now you don't have to worry about a pump, batteries, or extra weight. Thanks for the info Luke!

 

[garrenj]

For you folks running the inline filters, do you ever use powder drink mix's like WA or Gatorade? If so I assume you just filter the water to a clean bottle then mix it up. I was really interested in the inline filters but usually out a mix in my platypus bag, and assume that would be a no go with an inline set up. Wondering what a good solution here would be.

 

[Becca]

For you folks running the inline filters, do you ever use powder drink mix's like WA or Gatorade? If so I assume you just filter the water to a clean bottle then mix it up. I was really interested in the inline filters but usually out a mix in my platypus bag, and assume that would be a no go with an inline set up. Wondering what a good solution here would be.

We don't routinely mix in our bladders so this wasn't much of an issue. I wouldn't try to mix in anything above the filter, as it would probably get at lest partially filtered out and also potentially clog your filter. We do like crystal light, lemonade and tang but just mix these in our titatinum mugs and then add clean water from below the filter. We don't usually pack a nalgene along, but if you do then I imagine that would work great.

A tip if you are trying to fill other containers with the inline set up is to hold the dirty bag as high as possible, or hang it from something (we've used trekking poles and tripods)...you will want to use gravity to your advantage or the flow of water out of the filter will be slow to non existent.

 

[ST52v]

I just sent an email about Sawyer filters to a budy of mine that lives just outside of Vegas and works for a large water lab. Before that he worked for the CDC and has a masters in chem. He was impressed with the tecnology behind them and feels thet are the future of water filtration and purification.

 

[BuckSnort]

I just sent an email about Sawyer filters to a budy of mine that lives just outside of Vegas and works for a large water lab. Before that he worked for the CDC and has a masters in chem. He was impressed with the tecnology behind them and feels thet are the future of water filtration and purification.

That's good to know.. I will be getting one soon, Becca & Luke have me sold on the sawyer filter and Platypus bag system they use... No more pumping 1+ gallons everyday...

 

[thru-hunter]

I may have mentioned this before but I thought it would be smart to put the filter down close to the bladder so it could be in the pack and protected. It was a miserable failure! The hose was repeatedly getting kinked and wouldn't flow worth a darn. I plan to give it another go set up like the Moffats with a new bigzip this year.

 

[rhendrix]

There is no reason you couldn't put the sawyer in-line with any bladder/hose set up. The only potential issue I see is how you are going to fill the (dirty) bladder. Even with the wide opening on the big zip we sometimes have trouble getting it to fill. It sounds funny until you try it, but you often have to do multiple "scoops" to get the bag full, particularly in smaller or shallower streams. Unless you have water pouring over a dam or down a waterfall, I could see it be a challenge to filli the bladder through the small camel back opening. Just something to consider...

I know this is an old post, but, if you dam a little stream and put some surgical tubing at the bottom if the dam...viola, instant water spout. Of course this works better when you've got a stream that works on a significant slope, but its a thought.

Ron