Sawyer squeeze vs. steripen

I've enjoyed the convenience of using the Sawyer water bottle with filter (SP149) while hiking (just dip and drink), but it's not so great for food preparation requiring water. So I just bought the new version of the Squeeze (SP129) and used inline adapters to make the filter work with the Sawyer SP149 bottle. That way I can use it inside the bottle while hiking and with the Squeeze pouch in camp.

The picture below shows the Squeeze filter adapted for use with the bottle. The biggest downside is that it takes up more volume than the original filter that came with the bottle. With the Squeeze filter, I can get 850ml of water in the bottle.

Michael, does the Sawyer bottle have issues with a vacuum forming? Can the filter supplied with the bottle be used with the Squeeze pouch with an adapter? It looks a little smaller/lighter than the squeeze filter in the pictures.

Michael: hard bottles don't quite fit into my belly pack. Unfortunately, I can't quite reach a hard bottle in my pack's external pocket while still wearing it. I hate having to take off my pack just to drink water. I don't like wearing bottles on my hip belt or shoulder strap. So: an empty, folded up soft bottle and Steripen–or Sawyer!– in my belly pack, for easy access.

"Why don't you try holding a platy bottle under water in your tub then and let me know how fast it fills up? While a hard-sided bottle will fill fine a soft bag like the Squeeze's or Platys just collapse."

Ah, good point. I was strictly referring to filling that way with a bottle. I've never tried to fill a bladder by submersion.
Bottles are easy to fill, and were necessary for my steripen anyways, so I figured, I would just keep using them with the Sawyer.

Another good point about using hard bottles someone brought up: I didn't realize that air couldn't enter the filter backwards to reshape the bottle. That in itself might make it worth using bladders instead of bottles, but then I would have the filling issue… Pick my poison I guess.

"Michael, does the Sawyer bottle have issues with a vacuum forming? Can the filter supplied with the bottle be used with the Squeeze pouch with an adapter? It looks a little smaller/lighter than the squeeze filter in the pictures."

John, no problem with a vacuum forming because there's a check valve thingy on the lid that lets air in.

I first tried the approach you asked about (adapting the smaller SP149 filter to act like a Squeeze). I attached a short length of tubing and an inline adapter to the "in" end of the filter, leaving the entire assembly of filter, tubing, and lid intact. This made for a rather unruly setup with flexible tubing on both ends of the filter. That's when I ordered the SP129 Squeeze (which amazon had for $35 and free shipping last week, but not as I write this).

Using the Squeeze filter simplifies the setup, in my opinion. And when I'm using the filter with the pouch I can just screw the two adapters together and put the lid back on the bottle to keep everything clean and minimize the potential for lost parts.

Cool, good stuff Michael. That sounds like a very fast and easy setup.

You NEED a scoop with the Sawyer Squeeze. I mean you could make it happen without, but the amount of time it saves and the advantages it offers, just throw in a chunk of a soda bottle and call it good. It also contains everything nicely for throwing in the pack.

John, I second the Sawyer bottle filter. I've been using the Bota of Boulder bottle filter for years, carried in the side pocket of my pack with no problem accessing it, so I'm quite used to that set-up. The Sawyer is a quantum improvement over the Bota and similar filters because it can be cleaned and filters much smaller cooties, except for viruses, which really aren't much of a problem in the northern hemisphere anyway. So, in short, I prefer the self contained bottle…no hoses or extra stuff to mess with or lose.

Happy Trails!

I have both and take the squeeze out when the water might be cloudy/dirty. The trick to longevity with the Sawyer bags is not to squeeze them. Might seem counterintuitive, but use them as a gravity system. The large bags have a place to punch holes using a paper punch then hang it by a string from a branch above your water bottle and let gravity do all the work and it saves the wear on the bags.

Both systems will work, but the steripen does not remove anything floating in the water. When using the steripen I find some way to pre-filter the smaller chunks from the water. Now I either use the Sawyer Squeeze or Aquamira.

I'm unsure of collapsible bag compatibility. Some say Platypus compatible, some say no. Maybe platy is used generically? Didn't see anything on Sawyer site.

If you get the $5 hose adapter kit for the Squeeze, you can fit it to all kinds of containers and hose lengths.

In my experience the threads on the platypus bags were slightly different and leaked. If I tried to tighten them further, it was apparent that I was going to strip the threads on the filter. I imagine that there were some variations in production of the filters or the platys as some people reported success. Evernew bags work.

Old platypus bags are okay.

I think the newest platypus bags are okay.

There was a period of several years when the threads were slightly different. You could screw on the Squeeze but it leaked a little. Still possible to get it to work, but dirty water tended to get into the clean water.

"The large bags have a place to punch holes using a paper punch then hang it by a string from a branch above your water bottle and let gravity do all the work and it saves the wear on the bags."

I've done that too, Ron.

Another way to do it is just set it on a surface with bottle below:

Maybe it's a little easier, but it is slower than hanging from a string.

Note the stick – this helps keep the Sawyer bag from sliding off. Also, any silt that settled at the bottom of the bag stays there, if you hang it all the silt will go directly into the filter clogging it up.

Tha STERIPEN is a water purifier (by EPA standards) B/C it neutralizes all bacteria and viruses.

The SQUEEZE is a filter that lets viruses and small pathogens (less tha one or two microns) through.

"Now punk, are ya feelin' lucky?" (To paraphrase Inspector Callahan.)

If so use the SQUEEZE.

Eric: yes, but I had one guy warn me about the Steripen's inability to purify water around the threads of a water bottle. Personally, I'm not concerned with this; I don't think that you have to get every little possible drop purified…right?

Correct. Exceptions that I can think of — such as the dreaded Ebola virus — are simply non issues here.