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The Sawyer Squeeze just got better


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  • #1287511
    Ben F
    Member

    @tekhna

    #1856544
    Kier Selinsky
    Member

    @kieran

    Locale: Seattle, WA

    Correct me if I'm wrong but wouldn't this require extra precautions to make sure you use separate sets of dirty and clean reservoirs and tubes? Since the Sawyer Squeeze system doesn't clean the water till the filter, there'd be bugs in the reservoir and pre-filter tube, and so if you put clean water into this reservoir and tube, and drank without the filter, you'd be sucking up those bugs (potentially).

    #1856547
    Tony Wong
    BPL Member

    @valshar

    Locale: San Francisco Bay Area

    Wow….begs the question, why even bother to sell the older version when they could include these in the standard kit for the Squeeze Filter.

    This seems like the best of both worlds….gravity filter in camp and squeeze bottle on the trail.

    Thanks for sharing this.

    -Tony

    #1856550
    Tony Wong
    BPL Member

    @valshar

    Locale: San Francisco Bay Area

    Kier,

    You are correct, however….for anyone who is used to an inline filter or gravity filter setup, this is no big deal.

    With either setup as an inline or gravity filter, you always need to aware of your clean and dirty lines and bags.

    -Tony

    #1856708
    Alex Wallace
    BPL Member

    @feetfirst

    Locale: Sierra Nevada North

    While on the REI site to look at the newly offered adapters for the Sawyer Squeeze, I noticed that Platypus makes an inline carbon element if you would like to improve the taste of your treated water. Not a concern for me, but I recall seing quite a few threads discussing MYOG opitions for inline carbon setups and this offering from Playtpus seems to bring it to the masses for the low low price of $12.95. The weight of the element is listed at a reasonable 1.16 ounces.

    #1856819
    EndoftheTrail
    BPL Member

    @ben2world-2

    Alex:

    Katadyn has something similar. Great in concept, but it is one more thing to connect to the line…

    #1856981
    Alex Wallace
    BPL Member

    @feetfirst

    Locale: Sierra Nevada North

    Ben, I agree and it's just one of the reasons I don't bother with such. I used CLO2 tabs for two years, but after seeing Tony Wong's Sawyer setup here, I decided to give it a try. I've used that setup for the past two seasons and have been totally satisfied with it. I did just place an order (REI 20% off) for the Sawyer Squeeze to drop a couple of ounces of hydration tubing since I don't utilize a hydration system; I prefer to just use my bottles especially since my new (old) pack has great ergonomics when accessing water bottles from the side pockets, which is a first for me. Anyways, cool products that I'm sure some will use, but not for me. However, as a new dad, I'm rethinking some of my systems to be up to snuff for the little guy.

    #1857172
    Tony Wong
    BPL Member

    @valshar

    Locale: San Francisco Bay Area

    Glad to see that my User Gear Review here has helped others use the Sawyer Filter.

    I am really excited to see the evolution of the Sawyer filter…in particular, I think that the Squeeze filter might be able to produce more filtered water than the inline filter version with it larger input and out put.

    Does anyone own both of them and have they noticed a significantly faster rate of flow with the newer Squeeze Filter?

    I really wish that BPL would come out with a report/article of Gravity Filters as I think that they are becoming more popular.

    -Tony

    #1857183
    Stephen Barber
    BPL Member

    @grampa

    Locale: SoCal

    One my last hike, we had both an inline system with the Sawyer filter, and the squeeze version. The filter is actually the same in each version – just the connections have been changed.

    The squeeze filter was much faster, I think because of the pressure you could bring to bear. However, the squeeze bag developed a leak within three days which dribble dirty water into the clean water bottle.

    If I use the squeeze system again, I'll pack extra bags (more weight), or use Platys or regular plastic water bottles or something other than the Sawyer squeeze bags!

    #1857256
    Tony Wong
    BPL Member

    @valshar

    Locale: San Francisco Bay Area

    Stephen,

    Thanks for the feedback on your experience.

    Last Aug, I did the JMT and altered my old "black" cartridge Sawyer inline filter to work with two Platypus bags as a squeeze bag setups…dirty to clean 1 L bags.

    Worked well, but I had to apply a good amount of force.

    I am thinking that the input and output parts of the Squeeze filter are much bigger than the small 1/2" or 1/4" nipples on the inline filter and therefore would has a faster flow rate.

    Thus reducing the amount of pressure that would be needed to push the dirty water through faster.

    Worked well on my trip, but doing for two people left my hands cold from being wet and having to squeeze hard, rolling the bottom of the bag up to create pressure.

    -Tony

    #1857263
    Alex Wallace
    BPL Member

    @feetfirst

    Locale: Sierra Nevada North

    Stephen, Was the cause of the leak obvious? Was it caused by pressure? If so, I presume the leak was at a seam, which may be field repairable with some duct tape? Regardless, I do wish the squeeze bottles provided were more adequate for the task. If I recall correctly, the thread pitch on Platys don't match well with the Sawyer's inlet which causes leaks. Is this correct?

    #1857307
    Stephen Barber
    BPL Member

    @grampa

    Locale: SoCal

    The leak was a the joint of the seam and the plastic throat piece. Sawyer said it was obvious I had been "wringing" the bag (I had not – I had to squeeze one-handed – darn tough to "wring" something one-handed!) The seam had folded at that joint, and the leak developed there.

    Yes, I hear that the Platy thread didn't quite match the Sawyer thread either. I have not tried that personally.

    Good explanation of better flow in the squeeze version of the Sawyer filter!

    #1857316
    J-L
    BPL Member

    @johnnyh88

    I haven't seen this mentioned yet, but the water bladders made by Evernew match the Sawyer Squeeze filters perfectly (AntiGravity Gear and Gossamer Gear sell them). I primarily use a 1.5L Evernew bladder to filter with my Sawyer Squeeze and carry one of the weak Sawyer bags as a backup or for extra in-camp water. The Evernew bladders are pretty similar to Platys in terms of robustness.

    #1857512
    Alex Wallace
    BPL Member

    @feetfirst

    Locale: Sierra Nevada North

    Thanks, John. Exactly what I was looking for.

    #1857541
    Jeff McWilliams
    BPL Member

    @jjmcwill

    Locale: Midwest

    Good observation. Do they make something similar to the Platypus Big Zip? Getting dirty water into one of those narrow mouthed bladders still looks like a headache.

    #1857649
    J-L
    BPL Member

    @johnnyh88

    No, I don't think Evernew makes one like that (although that would be pretty nice). I carry a 0.5 L water bottle that I use to fill up my Evernew and Sawyer bladdders. It works pretty quickly, is a lot less painful than trying to fill up the bladders directly from the water, it allows me to fill up the bladders completely, and it gives me extra capacity if I need it. IMO, it's a lot easier to filter water with the Sawyer Squeeze using the Evernew bladders – they're a lot less flimsy.

    I just got a 2L Evernew bladder yesterday. Weight is 1.45 oz.

    #1857653
    Steven Paris
    BPL Member

    @saparisor

    Locale: Pacific Northwest

    You can also take an old platypus and cut it diagonally, removing a portion of the top to make a large open-top "scoop." The diagonal cut leaves a nice small edge to pour from.

    #1858654
    Dale Wambaugh
    BPL Member

    @dwambaugh

    Locale: Pacific Northwest

    A Smart Water bottle with the top cut off makes a good scoop and you can store the filter inside.

    I just received the new Sawyer hose fittings. They open up all kinds of possibilities for in-line and gravity feed setups, as well as using other reservoirs on either end.

    #1858657
    Heath Pitts
    BPL Member

    @heathpitts

    Locale: Nashville

    Does anyone make a lightweight water pump that could be used with filters like the sawyer? I like my gravity filter setup but sometimes it would be an advantage to have a small pump to carry as well so that I could pump from a stream if needed.

    #1858663
    EndoftheTrail
    BPL Member

    @ben2world-2

    Heath:

    I once separated the filter element of my MSR Sweetwater Filter — and connected the pump mechanism itself to an inline filter instead. It worked pretty well, actually. But I found myself using the filter in its native inline mode pretty much all the time (I disliked pumping) — and sold the MSR.

    A picture says a thousand words. I can't find a photo showing just the pump mechanism of the MSR, but here is one for the First Need Purifier — to give you an idea. As you can see, the filter element is easily separated, leaving just the pump mechanism — which you can connect with tubing, with an inline filter spliced in alone the intake:

    Having illustrated the above possibilities, I think most all of us who opt for in-line or gravity filters do so for the simplicity. Rigging / carrying a pump mechanism will add back bulk, weight, and fuss.

    #1858699
    Heath Pitts
    BPL Member

    @heathpitts

    Locale: Nashville

    Ben, Thanks for the response. That would probably work if I had one of those first need filters already.

    I had thought about replacing my sawyer with the MSR hyperflow since it would offer both modes.

    #1858704
    Larry De La Briandais
    BPL Member

    @hitech

    Locale: SF Bay Area

    Any idea how well the First Need pump works with the sawyer filter on the intake? I have a first need and a sawyer and was wondering if it would work. Guess I could just try it…

    #1858743
    Dale Wambaugh
    BPL Member

    @dwambaugh

    Locale: Pacific Northwest

    As long as you are using it in the designed method of flow (pushing vs pulling) it should work great. Sounds like a good idea to non-destructively renew a worn out First Need and drop the weight at the same time. I assume you could back flush with it too.

    #1858824
    Tony Wong
    BPL Member

    @valshar

    Locale: San Francisco Bay Area

    John,

    Can you give us your impression of how the Evernew bottle compares to the Platypus?

    More so in terms of does the plastics seem as flexible and pliable as the Platypus and also as durable?

    This could be the right solution to the Platypus bottles not threading to the Sawyer.

    Thanks!

    -Tony

    #1878027
    Alex Wallace
    BPL Member

    @feetfirst

    Locale: Sierra Nevada North

    On a recent overnight trip west of Tahoe I used the Sawyer squeeze filter in conjuction with the Evernew 1.5L "water carry" bag rather than the suspect bags provided by Sawyer for the dirty water. I'm happy to report that the Evernew bottle snugs up nice and tight to the filer with no concerns and is much more robust than the Sawyer bags.

    Tony, I would say the Evernew bottles feel very similar, if not the same, as the Platypus bottles.

    I also swapped the outlet cap on the Squeeze filter for a more friendly Smartwater sports cap.

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