Aqua mira

I've used the drops. I've noticed a slight taste, but I'm pretty sensitive to such things. Have not tried the tablets yet.

Worth a try to see if it works for you.

(in fact, I may try the same. usually use a sawyer squeeze. thanks for the idea)

I have used a sawyer mini on several trips…but I still prefer aqua mira. For the weight, especially in my own dropper bottles, its the lightest, plus the least fuss for me. I'm usually hiking with 3-4 other people and would hate to use the sawyer mini for a group setting (I don't mess with gravity setups), and aqua mira is great b/c I can treat a group full of water in only marginally more time than treating water for solo.

I know everyone is different, but I personally almost like the taste of aquamira….it tastes kind of citrusy to me. Most others in my group agree.

Though, a lot of the time I am not even treating the water where I hike….high elevation Idaho, since I can usually find springs at elevation.

The taste definitely has a lemony tinge to it. But the smell and taste of bleach is there as well. I only drink it if there are no other options.

The way chlorine is heavier is that you have to put it in water, then cary it for an hour or whatever, then drink it. So you have to carry the weight of the water.

With filter, you drink it immediately.

Of course, it depends how often you drink and how often you encounter a water source.

Got a quick question if I may deviate slightly…

What is the shelf life of Aqua Mira? I purchased some in late August of this year – still good?

It's written on the dropper bottle. I seem to remember at least two years after I bought it.

I don't like the aqua mira tablets as they take to long to work. I've been using the drops for years and find it simple to use without the hassle of dealing with connecting hoses and having to flush out the filter. I don't really notice much taste but I seldom drink water in the backcountry that is completely tasteless either.

There are some online articles about pre-mixing the drops at the beginning of each day in a small bottle to avoid the 5 minute wait time later; though I find that it often takes almost 5 minutes to get your water so its no big deal. Waiting 15 minutes after adding it to the water before drinking isn't a big deal to me either. Since my pack is light and small, doesn't bother me to stop and drink some water several minutes after I start moving, even if it means having to take the pack off. The only issue is if you want to camel up at the water source and not carry as much as you'll have to wait before hiking.

With the drops, when you throw away the old bottles when they are empty, keep the mixing cap. That way you can have 2 mixing caps with your bottles in the future. Makes it easy to mix up 2 different batches for different water bottles at the same time.

> "The only issue is if you want to camel up at the water source and not carry as much as you'll have to wait before hiking."

Not really. You're still carrying that water, just on the skin-in side rather than the skin-out side.

Sean,

I used the AM pre-mix system all spring, summer and fall (thus far) and never had any gastrointestinal issues despite having drunk, on occasion, some pretty manky standing water and swamp water.