Some post-hike thoughts on my Sawyer mini filter with questions

I think your filter needed to be backflushed, was almost totally clogged.

This is a problem with all Sawyer filters (hollow tube) (especially the mini?) sometimes they get clogged and it's difficult to get them to work again

Did you backflush before your trip? Filter some water just to make sure everything's working.

Maybe you need warm water or vinegar.

Backflush a lot of water with a lot of pressure, like a faucet would be good although the syringe will work.

You need a fair amount of pressure if you're in squeeze mode but shouldn't require two people. Or enough height for gravity mode.

I think a soda/water bottle is better. Easier to squeeze on it and get pressure into the filter. The bags have weak points – welds around the sides and connection to threaded piece.

Some people have given up on mini because it has less surface area, but I don't know if there is statistically significant data to conclude that.

I haven't tried the mini (and I don't plan on it) but the regular squeeze is great. It takes about 30 seconds to fill the 32oz bag in a stream. Then I just stand up my 2.4L platy on a rock and roll the squeeze bag until most of the water is gone. Repeat two more times until the platy is full. Takes about 5 minutes and one person can do it.

Is the mini really harder to use or is yours just in need of back flushing?

To reply to your post, yes I did backflush right before my trip. But after some testing this morning, I think I may have hit upon the solution to the flow rate.

Here's what I just found testing the two systems in gravity mode: Using the Platy CleanStream dirty reservoir with quick disconnect and 26" length of Platy tubing connected to my Sawyer mini, it took about 3 min, 25 sec to filter 1.5 L of water, which is the typical amount I filter at water stops. Not bad. With just the regular Sawyer dirty bag screwed onto the mini, it took 10-15 min. There was still water in the bag that I had to squeeze out by hand. So it seems that the extra length of tubing is essential for an efficient gravity system.

Does anyone know if the blue cap with male coupler depicted here
http://www.rei.com/product/858765/sawyer-fast-fill-hydration-pack-adapter-kit#tab-description

will screw onto a Platy hydration bladder?

By using a 2.0 L Platy hydration bladder as my dirty bladder (1.2 oz), I could save some significant weight over my 4.0 L bag depicted above. I just need a cap that has a male nozzle which will attach to a length of tubing to connect to my Mini. Ideas?

On the last trip four had Minis. All flowed slower than my Squeeze. Doug got frustrated enough to give his away during the trip. Squeeze weighs the same as my Steripen. The Steripen is the still the easiest method for me, myself.

by the way, all of this has been hashed, rehashed, and re-rehashed before

search "sawyer mini site:backpackinglight.com"

I had problems with my Steripen. First, I used rechargeable batteries but they only treated a couple pints. Then I got non rechargeable and one trip it worked good, next trip it only treated a couple pints, but I had left my almost new batteries in it for a month and maybe leakage killed them. Opti. I returned to REI.

But a lot of people have good experiences, so I'm not totally writing off Steripens. Make sure and get one of the newer models like the Opti.

From an engineer/scientist perspective, there may not be statistically significant data to know with reasonable certainty that Mini isn't good, but I think I'll just stick with my Squeeze for one extra ounce.

Did you backflush forcefully? I don't think it's stressed enough in the instructions how important this is. The filter pores can get clogged, and if you don't backflush forcefully you will clear out the pores that were loosely clogged, but then once those channels are free you can't get enough pressure to unclog the pores that are more tightly bound.

I was one of the four and I find myself increasingly frustrated with the flow rate of the Mini. I may switch back to Aqua-Miria drops or go to a drip system, which I think the Mini is well suited to. The cost and longevity are great, but futzing with the bag and filter is less attractive than just waiting 35 minutes treatment of most water sources.

I have backflushed after every trip with bleach or Auqua Mira, using the supplied syringe. The flow rate I have seen is comparable to my partner's Mini. It's a nice product, but not necessarily the last word in water purification.

Jeezus effing C. Autocorrect and a lack of willingness to accept that I need bi-focals FTW.

If the mini didn't work, try the regular instead. It's 1oz and $15 more.

> I had problems with my Steripen. First, I used rechargeable batteries but they only
> treated a couple pints.
It has been said before, many many times, that cheap batteries will not work in the Steripen Opti (or the Classic). That applies to both rechargeable and non-rechargeable batteries.

Yeah, sure, they may work fine in your little torch, but not in a Steripen. The current drain is just too high for the cheapies. You must use high quality name-brand CR123s in the Opti. I do, and I get a long life out of them.

cheers

Want to know what makes a cheap CR123 battery such a poor choice?

Often, it is age and self-discharge.

If a cheap CR123 battery has been sitting on the shelf a long time since it was manufactured, it has lost some of that peak current capability.

Some expensive batteries have date stamps on the packaging. Most cheap ones don't.

Let the buyer beware.

–B.G.–

And if you leave the batteries in a Steripen for months of shelf time, they will discharge slowly. Take the batteries out when you get home!

OP,

I used the mini exclusively this summer and will soon PIF it on. I appreciate the smaller size but I drink a lot of water and have found that I do not have the patience for the mini. I'm returning to the Sawyer Squeeze next summer. I think extra bulk for a faster flow rate is a fair exchange. Not worried about the extra oz in this case.

I think if I were filtering water for a large group of people and/or operating out of a basecamp, the gravity filter is a nice option. I typically try to filter on the fly and have found that a 2L Evernew bag paired with a Sawyer squeeze pouring into a 32oz Aquafina or Gatorade bottle to be the ideal. The extra liter of the Evernew bag doesn't add too much weight to the bag and it keeps things simple where I only have to fill it once when I'm filtering for a hiking partner. Obviously a YMMV/HYOH kind of thing.

"Jeezus effing C. Autocorrect and a lack of willingness to accept that I need bi-focals FTW."

I long for the day when I will go completely blind and have to wear bi focal glasses every waking hour. As it is right now, I have to buy a couple dozen reading glasses and strategically leave them all over the place as I keep setting them down and walking away from them.

I found that the most convenient way to use the mini was inline on my bladder hoses. Super convenient just being able to fill up the reservoir and be done with it. The flow is slightly restricted but it's really not too bad, and beats the heck out of rolling up one of those squeeze bladders or waiting for it to gravity filter. I love laying back and cameling up while my companions slave away over pumps and squeeze bags.

Something very wrong somewhere.

I only have 1 arm and i manage with a mini Sawyer fine, in gravity mode it works great.

Couple of things.

Have to say that whenever the flow rate of my Sawyer slows down it does make me smile that it's stopped enough junk and detritus going into my tummy to slow the flow.
Good job.

It's also tricky to back flush if you get it really clogged.

Problem is that water takes the path of least resistance.
So if a section of the filter is clear the water tends to flow through this section rather than unblocking the blocked section.

Only real solution to this is to force a quantity of water through that the clear sections aren't able to handle.

It does take some practice to back flow it and clear it out properly, but even when i've forgotten my syringe on multiday trips it's still flowed enough in gravity mode that it was no real bother.

I think I may have found my own solution. While digging around in my gear closet, I found a BPL red screw-cap for my Platypus. I had bought it way back when BPL used to sell stuff (circa 2009-10) as an alcohol dispenser cap. I pulled off the screw-cap and found that what was underneath fit Platy tubing perfectly. By hole punching two holes in the bottom of my Platypus 2.0 L bladder, I was able to cobble together a revised gravity system, at less weight:

Platypus 2.0 L bladder with spectra cord for hanging = 1.2 oz

Length of tubing to attach to filter = 1.2 oz

Sawyer mini (wet) = 1.8 oz

TOTAL = 4.2 oz

I think I may try adding a quick disconnect attachment to regulate the flow into my clean hydration bladder via the drinking tube. This may add a few more grams but increase convenience. The great thing about this system is that I'm getting 1.5 L to filter in gravity mode in 2 min, 30 sec. I also tried leaving my clean bladder in my pack, hooking the drinking tube up to the Mini and letting it filter that way. Filtration time seems to be about the same. (Need to test with full pack, but it seems that the water pressure is sufficient to drive the water through the hydration tube upwards into my clean bladder, even when inverted).

The bottom line is that the length of dirty tubing is a must for a gravity system. Without it, the flow slows to a trickle. I think if I trim the tubing down a bit I can get it down to around 1 oz. That extra oz is worth it in my book if I get to relax for a few minutes instead of having to squeeze.

The ultimate test of course will be in the field to see if the Mini slows after use. I wish I had a regular Squeeze to compare with the Mini in gravity mode–I may just have to pick one up to compare filtration times.

There has been a lot of discussion about the importance of the length of tubing for a gravity filter, particularly the Sawyer. The general consensus is that about 36" of tubing is ideal: shorter and your flow rate slows and longer and it is really diminishing returns. I havent done a lot of testing, but this rings true with my experience using the sawyer in gravity mode.

Saw this on Sawyer's website:

http://sawyer.com/products/sawyer-3-way-water-filter/

How is the actual filter unit different from the regular Squeeze? It looks like this one is actually designed for gravity filtration. Listed at 1.8 oz.