Sawyer mini or squeeze

[Anozira]

What problems did he have? We are running Katadyn's this year because of the flow rate. 4x+ faster.

The Kathryn's will clog almost instantly in certain conditions and at the versions we had weren't backwashable. We had only tea colored water in AK, and clogged each filter after only a couple liters of water. Had to boil and chemical the rest of the week. We have since converted our 10L Katadyn filters with inline sqweezes.

He experienced just as Runningwater described; the filter began to clog up and become almost impossible to pump. We tried a two man system where one guy held the water bag and one guy pumped but he eventually gave up on the Katadyn. The water wasn't terribly murky but had algae/ moss growing in it. Disclaimer (Things I don't know)... I don't know how old his filter was or how long it had been since he changed it (Maybe it was due to be replaced). I also don't know the micron rating? Perhaps the Katadyn filters down to a smaller particle rating than the Sawyer and in certain conditions is better than the squeeze?

 

[ChrisAU]

He experienced just as Runningwater described; the filter began to clog up and become almost impossible to pump. We tried a two man system where one guy held the water bag and one guy pumped but he eventually gave up on the Katadyn. The water wasn't terribly murky but had algae/ moss growing in it. Disclaimer (Things I don't know)... I don't know how old his filter was or how long it had been since he changed it (Maybe it was due to be replaced). I also don't know the micron rating? Perhaps the Katadyn filters down to a smaller particle rating than the Sawyer and in certain conditions is better than the squeeze?

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Ah ok thanks. We are using the BeFree’s that you just swish in some water to clean, no pump. Just gravity or a slight squeeze on the bag. And we’ll be filtering fresh water just a few miles from the source in the Rockies so we should be ok. Will have tablets for backup.

 

[Runningwater]

Oyr Katadyn base camps had worked well for several trips with clear mt spring water. That's why it surprised us so much how quickly things went south with stagnant beaver pond water. One was a brand new filter. Literally 2 liters and it was done.

 

[hikenhunt]

One of the big benefits of the squeeze is being able to backwash in the field. I haven't needed to yet, but stories of clogged filters have always had me nervous.

I've also heard of guys pre-filtering with a coffee filter or even a folder t-shirt to make their water filter last longer. I haven't tried it, but if my source was like Anozira's in the pictures above, I definitely would try it!