Gear list

First things first – Get a digital scale!

No kidding, it's vital!

Mike C!

After you get the scale put the Vario on it. Then go get another way to cleanse your water:)

Mike, I own a digital scale however it is a fish scale. It doesn't measure down to the gram. Just ounces.

Jeff, I realize the vario is heavy and bulky too. I don't care for the taste of chemicals in my clean mountain water so I'm all ears when it comes to lighter ways of filtering. I actually purchased an MSR hyper-flow but the thing gave me fits. I've heard that MSR has corrected the problem so I suppose I could take it back to REI for a new one and try again. That old Vario has seen a lot of action and just keeps on keepin on. I've never had to clean it on a trip. Just regular maintenance when I get home. What do you suggest? A gravity filter?

Thanks for the replies.

Greg

A scale that just displays the nearest ounce is fine, just to get a rough idea of what you are putting into your pack.

I always find it funny when people state that they do not like the taste of chemicals in their water, yet when at home their tap water is loaded with them, namely Chlorine. Secondly, your clean mountain water is not so clean if you need to filter and purify it, but I digress. If you want to lighten your filtration system then look at a gravity filter or a lighter pump filter.

When I am on my own, I will just use Aquamira, when with my wife and in-laws, then I will bring my Platypus– just because it weighs around 13oz and its much easier than pumping enough water for two-four people.

When I started into lightweight backpacking more than 25 years ago, real quickly I discovered the need to weigh things a little more accurately than before. Before, I would load everything up and shoulder the backpack, then step onto the analog bathroom scale, then set the backpack off to see my body weight. I needed something to weigh just the loaded pack. At the time, my loaded pack was about 15 pounds, so an analog 20-pound baby scale worked perfectly. Then for individual items, I used an analog postal scale, which had ounces up to a pound.

Now times have changed. I have my digital gram scale that goes up to 5000 grams, then a digital bathroom scale to serve as before. The old analog baby scale is still kind of handy.
–B.G.–

Chris, you're right about all the chemicals in tap water. I'm the guy you see at costco with 5 cases of deerpark in his buggy.:D

I've taken a pretty hard look at gravity filters. I really like Jason Klass's idea using a frontier pro,(6oz is mighty light!) but that would be more of an experiment for me at this point. For now, I will return my finicky hyperflow to REI for a new one and see how that works out on another short trip. If that doesn't work, I'll probably try a hiker pro.

Thanks for the input!

Water is so important to a safe and comfortable hike that I always carry a water system with backup plans incorporated in it. Starting with a bandana, filter straw, plastic baggies for water collection and treatment, a tiny vial of SweetWater, and some Micropur tablets that are in my tummy pack. I think of that as a survival kit on its own because the round survival tin can be used to boil water. The tummy pack has the minimum needed in a pinch if I were separated from my pack.

In my backpack I have a Katadyn Hiker Pro, more baggies for water collection and treatment, collapsible Platypus bottles for extra water storage in camp, a slightly larger bottle of SweetWater, and more Micropur tablets. On a multi-day hike I take a collapsible nylon water bucket.

That's 1.5 pounds for my water treatment system, at the most, with 3.5 pounds for the shelter system that includes the sleep system. I don't begrudge 5 pounds of health and safety items because my base pack weight is less than 7 lbs before water and food.

Water discipline is extremely important and goes hand-in-hand with sanitation needs. Did you know that you should keep your water intake parts completely separate from your water output and storage items? One drop of unfiltered water is enough to contaminate everything. Water discipline for me starts when setting up camp. I haul in 2-3 gallons of raw water to camp in the collapsible bucket, then filter/treat it and refill my Platypus and fill a collapsible bottle or two for cooking and sanitation.

I never wash up out of the hauling bucket. I wash up using a clean bandana with 8 ounces of filtered water poured from one of the collapsible bottles plus a little Dr. B's, to avoid getting micro-organisms from untreated in my eyes and nose. A few drops of the SweetWater in the bucket makes it a good place to soak the bandanas to clean them up for the next day. After dinner I wring them out and hang them up to dry. I have gotten the curse of the trail once during my early days and vowed "never again". I believe that water discipline helps out with overall health and sanitation needs.