Do I have any other option for a water purifier a part from the Steripen and Sawyer models?

Why do you not want chemicals?

Yes, the sawyer is pretty much the standard filter now. Very light and effective. The steripen is good too, but it doesn't clean out gunk like a filter and has reports of reliability issues.

I highly recommend the sawyer mini for your trip. It can be set up gravity mode to purify lots of water while you are doing other things.

Justin, the sawyer models I have indicated are the only WATER PURIFIERS Sawyer makes (I have contacted them and asked), which kill viruses, so I am not sure your post is very pertinent…?

I recommend the Sawyer over this one since the Sawyer doesn't have any moving parts:

http://www.rei.com/product/851771/first-need-xle-elite-water-purifier#descriptionTab

___

I own this one and can't recommend it. It's a royal pain in the @$$ trying to drink out of it. Again, I'd recommend the Sawyer.

http://www.rei.com/product/799021/katadyn-mybottle-water-purifier

I've mentioned my disclaimer on your other threads that I've only used the Sawyer Squeeze and Mini, not the one you're looking at here.

"….and the Steripen (which needs to be combined with a filter anyway!)…." -Alex

Why do you think the Steripen needs to be combined with a filter?

Because the steripen doesn't filter the water. I know I an use a sock or a coffee filter, but I'm just not going to do that.

I've been working on it my entire life, but try as I might, incompetence has always just gotten to me in the worst of ways.

I wrote a very detailed post on this subject some time back. There are four basic methods of purification: mechanical, chemical, heat / pressure, and UV. Not sure why you're worried about viruses that much but, either way, they're too small to be filtered out mechanically and must be killed (depending on your view of life, but I digress) by some other mean. You don't want chemicals (Cl2, proteolytic, etc), don't want to bring a SteriPen (UV DNA damage), and boiling every time you want to refill is cumbersome. Not sure what you're looking for in the way in recommendations here that you don't already know.

Weren't you incompetent too before learning?
What bothers us is merely a projection of what bother us of our own selves.

Perhaps it's a translation thing, but "incompetence" is a lack of ability, typically to learn, or as Einstein once put it, "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

As others have remarked, stop asking the same questions about the same gear and just go out and do. If you're really in it for the adventure (as you claim), then isn't it more of an adventure to figure this stuff out as you go? Otherwise, if you don't really want that "adventure" then just step away and start testing things out and gaining the best kind of "learning" which is first hand experience.

Thats exactly what I meant. Incomptence. Or lack of competence. Also called experience, knowledge. Exactly what you learn before knowing.
Stop bloody criticise everything I do, step out of my thread and move to another if it ticks you off all that much!

Alessandra, this is a free forum where people are voluntarily, without any benefit to themselves, sharing their wisdom. Yet when someone gives you information that does not exactly answer your question you sound rude and frustrated… and you end up flooding their forum by asking the same question again. There is a place called google where you can search for anything and find information that has already been published and questions that have already been answers. You are not entitled to answers to your question, but in your posts you act like you have a sense of entitlement.

I don't know what a purifier is or how viruses would determine what you use for water. People on here seem to have good experiences using the sawyer mini in wilderness areas in the United States. Maybe you would have better luck with this question on an international travel forum instead of a wilderness focused backpacking group. My limited knowledge and research tells me that the really nasty stuff (viruses) does not exist in mountain wilderness.

When the water starts out clear, you don't really need to filter when using a Steripen. (I've yet to use a filter with mine, but then I tend to go places where at least some water is clear.)

As Cameron mentions, mechanical methods are pretty much out* for viruses; the pore sizes must be extremely small, which also limits the flow rate. Outside of boiling that leaves you with using ionizing radiation (UV) or chemicals to neutralize them, just like your home city probably does.

*The "large" sawyer is an exception; even the MyBottle Ian mentioned uses an iodinated resin to quickly "dose" viruses with iodine.

Sorry Justin, I really didn't mean to be rude to you, it was more directed at the only person who seems to like to consistently being rude to me.
I made a pre-statement before asking questions, saying I have been going through all of my initiated discussions and that I was going to post the few questions I still had in mind on here. I don't think I need or deserve Cameron's sarcasm, meanness and luck of helpful/useful information.
You are not obligated to answer my questions if you don't wish to and you are all free to move to another thread, if this doesn't meet your criterias.
I am only trying to learn here at the end of the day and I think I have been nice enough to everybody to at least deserve some respect.

"Do I have any other option for a water purifier which:

is not chemical
is lightweigh
is not bulky
is easy to use
is quick at treating water
is quick at filling up a pot for cooking or a hydratation system"

From my very lazy research, I think those Sawyer models you mentioned are your best bet for what you want. Maybe rig a custom gravity system off the bucket model to save some weight and money.

Personally, I wouldn't of even thought much beyond a Sawyer Squeeze and maybe some chlorine dioxide. Although, most places I go, I probably don't even really need to filter (and sometimes don't).

Hi Alessandra

The original Steripen did have reliability problems – that is true. That was fixed a long time ago.

The current Steripen Adventurer Opti is the preferred treatment for many of us for viruses, bacteria, protozoa and maybe (maybe) larger. It does not need a filter to meet EPA requirements. If you have a problem with large floaties, use a bit of rag first (not after).

Note however that it will not remove agricultural chemicals or heavy metals. Some care is therefore still needed near so-called civilisation!

It is my preferred treatment, when I need it. If you choose it, read our review of it. Yes, I wrote it. Note especially that you will need good branded batteries – web cheapies will probably not work.

Cheers

Roger,
Thank you for your comments and review. I had an older Steripen and experienced the battery drain during storage problem and it was really off-putting! My question for you is, with the new Steripen and fresh batteries, how much water can one reasonably expect to purify before needing new batteries? On a longish trip (a couple weeks or more), I suspect new batteries would be required (I guess the US Postal Service is OK with shipping batteries).

Another problem in the past with Steripen was that really clean water (in terms of salts rather than bugs), might not allow a current to pass between the electrodes and the unit wouldn't work (I have a friend who would carry a little salt to sprinkle into high Sierra water for just this reason).

I really, really want to like the Steripen!

Cheers!

Trailgroove.com is really a great resource. One of the trail tips in the recent issue no. 15 at Page 11 (link here: http://www.trailgroove.com/issue15.html?autoflip=11), has a pro's and con's for the four types of treatment Cameron H. mentioned above, and it is, I think, just what you are after. I prefer the sawyer myself, mini or standard size.

I suspect there are other water purifiers which are not mentioned on there, like the first need or the sawyers posted above. But there might be others, which is what I am trying to understand.

"Hi. Me again. I must be famous on this website by now! :-P"

That would be infamous.

Is it June 11th yet?

Pick either the Sawyer or the Steripen. I have both. They both work. The both have their positives, and negatives. Only through use can one gain a personal perspective on what they like and don't like about their gear. It's not like you won't ever change gear. Pick something. Go.

The lightest option that will filter (remove stuff larger than viruses) and purify (destroy viruses) will probably be a combination of a good media filter(your choice), a carbon filter, and one of the following: Boiling, Chemicals, or UV.

There isn't a perfect solution out there. That's why there are options. You have to decide which option works best for your situation.

What's wrong with heating the water? I have imbibed some pretty nasty stuff, and boiling has worked every time. My most extensive experience was a month in China twenty years ago, with a group of twelve doing cave exploration and mapping, and far from the cities and tourists. I was the designated EMT for the group and I packed lots of pluggo pills. The water we drank was all boiled and we had zero, nada, problems. I am pretty sure that one of our water sources was an open irrigation ditch.

To this day, I generally boil. I am going to heat the water for that essential nice cup of tea. If boiling is impractical, just drink beer or wine – you will have a splendid time!

Cameron, I was wanting to send a PM to you but your account isn't set up for it…

J R, should be all set now.

Alex,

One of the reasons I think you are having difficulties getting the information you want from this group – and the need for a purifier is the perfect example – is that this is a VERY specific, VERY specialized group of hikers who spend time in the US wilderness. This is NOT a forum for world travelers. Honest. That is a totally different kind of trip than those we take here.

I think we are being as helpful as we can be; there are some of us who have done quite a bit of world adventuring, but that is not the norm here.

We spend time with super light packs in the wilderness. We like gear that most would consider "fragile" and would need to be well-cared for, we DON'T like "bomber" gear that would last 18 months of being thrown in the back of a bus. We would never, ever think of carrying gear in the tropics that one would use for the high Andes. As a matter of fact, many of us have different kits for every 10 degrees of temperature change. Goodness… I have a summer pack and a spring/fall pack! I have two different sleeping pads, different stove set ups, etc.

We don't need to filter viruses – heck, one of the biggest arguments on this forum is whether to treat water AT ALL.

So we actually have NO collective expertise in water purifiers. None. We filter for protozoa…or we just drink it.

Perhaps that helps understand where we are all coming from…and why you are getting some less-than-helpful responses to your questions. We really are doing the best we can…but the collective knowledge you are trying to tap is not necessarily the appropriate knowledge for your trip.

But having said that – I certainly hope you share your adventures!!! I'm quite envious of your travel!!!!!!!
I met a woman in Patagonia who recently was divorced…and decided to see the world. She started in Mexico and was traveling around the world…she was the one who told me about how to get a last-minute trip to Antarctica…she's in Vietnam now, working a bit and having the time of her life.

Hi Alex,

"One of the reasons I think you are having difficulties getting the information you want from this group – and the need for a purifier is the perfect example – is that this is a VERY specific, VERY specialized group of hikers who spend time in the US wilderness. This is NOT a forum for world travelers. Honest. That is a totally different kind of trip than those we take here."

There are many people here who've traveled the world and have seen much more than I ever have so I hope the following comments and observations don't come across as condescending to anyone but +1 to what Jennifer said.

I've been on both sides of it. I've had to drink some pretty nasty waters that do indeed have virus, bacteria, and protozoa where I ended up violently sick for a month and other trips where I didn't get hit with anything at all. Some of this has to do with skill but more of it has to do with luck.

As Jennifer mentioned, as hikers here in the U.S., we're primarily focused on protozoa and bacteria. We really don't have to worry about virus too much. When traveling through developing nations where the sewage is often times dumped into the water without being processed, yeah, viral hepatitis is a real risk.

I'm sure someone here has used the Sawyer filter you are looking at and hasn't spoken up but for the majority of us, we are more familiar with the Sawyer Squeeze and the Sawyer Mini. Both of them are lighter and filter out the protozoa we are mostly concerned about here in the U.S.

When I travel through Latin America and Asia, my water treatment plan is very different that what it is here. If I was in your shoes, here's how I'd do it.

While it will work, skip the Sawyer .02. It's large, expensive, and my bet is that it's slow to filter. Buy a Sawyer Squeeze for a fraction of the cost. Filtering out the protozoa and bacteria will take care of the very large majority of what you'll encounter. You'll need to follow that up with a chemical (chlorine dioxide) or UV treatment.

This is an example of my routine when I was in India:

1 At night, filter and chemically treat three liters of water. Allow to sit overnight to ensure a minimum of four hours of treatment.

2 In the morning, brush teeth with and drink one liter of water.

3 During the day, every time I drink one liter of water, I filter and treat another liter, this included bottled water purchased off the street.Make a mental note of when that water was treated and don't drink it before four hours. Make sure you treat the threads of the bottle. It's important to note that people here at BPL will drink chemically treated water a half hour after treatment. You are not in the Sierras (grammar nazis can suck it) so this doesn't apply to you.

4 Repeat at night.

Several other notes:

I normally only carry one liter of water when backpacking but in developing countries, I carry two.

It's common for people to sell bottled water which is contaminated. The water I got sick from in Cambodia looked like the water I could buy from my hotel. Don't trust any water you didn't treat.

At restaurants, drink wine, beer, or soda. Skip the ice.

Despite your best efforts, sooner or later you will get sick. Keep some peptobismol pills with you and have a physician write you a script for ciproflaxin or whatever antibiotic they think is appropriate for the area. This can mean the difference between a day of slight discomfort or a week of misery in the fetal position. In an extreme case, some of these bugs can last over a month which was the case for me in Pakistan.

Carry a package of baby wipes. Once you get hit, adding a case of monkey butt will do nothing to improve your situation.

Always carry hand sanitizer and soap. If you weren't a germaphobe before, you are now.

Don't eat raw vegetables unless you cleaned them yourself. A salad is what hospitalized me in Panama.

Another note not dealing with food/waterborne illness:

Tuberculosis is alive and well. At the end of your adventure, don't bother with a PPD test, pay extra to have a QuantiFERON blood test taken.

So again, if it was me

Sawyer Squeeze, Chlorine Dioxide Drops, Capacity to carry at least three liters, preferably four liters, routinely flush your filter out with treated water. Don't trust any water you didn't drink. If you do this and make sure you don't cross contaminate, when you get sick, it won't be from your water.

Good luck and have fun.