Simple, versatile water filtration?

"… wherever you may be… "

On the CT I've pumped water out of shallow seeps that precluded scooping water. Maybe with a little time and effort I could have found a place to build a basin, but I wouldn't want to count on that.

The Colorado River when it is the color of chocolate milk would kill it in the first liter, and you have nothing to back-flush with.

90% of "wherever"? Probably.

No.

Define versatile.

Versatile as in just about where ever I might be and or going to. Useful in a variety of situation where I don't want to boil it.

How much do you care about water taste? If that's important or your water source tastes foul — the Sawyer does not have a carbon/charcoal core to "sweeten" the water like some other filters — so however the water tastes going in will be exactly the taste coming out. Not an issue at all for some — but is this attribute any part of your definition of versatile?

The lightest is chlorine dioxide tablets or drops. Ben's method is pretty cool. He adds chlorine drops first, waits about 15 mins and then filters with the aquamira frontier pro (larger pore so pre-treatment chlorine drops needed for bacteria and viruses) which has the carbon core for taste.

The most versatile would have to be a method that kills or removes most organisms. To me that is either chlorine dioxide tablets (not drops) or a combination of drops and filter (similar to Ben's method). All of this can be debated for sure.

Actually I don't mind if the water tastes a bit like dirt or rust because I grew up on a farm. It is the chlorine taste that gets me with the tabs. But still more worries about the effectiveness of the filter rather than the taste.

I see.

Yeah, if you don't mind the wait time of up to a couple of hours (4 hours max per company instruction) — then chlorine dioxide tablets really are pretty darn hard to beat in term of occupying almost no pack weight or space.

Or per John above — you can use "my" method to cut down wait time from hours to just 15-20 minutes by treating with chlorine (to kill the tiniest stuff like viruses and bacteria) — then drink water through the Aquamira Frontier Pro filter to block out the bigger-and-harder-to kill stuff like protozoa. Weighs just 2 oz and its carbon core will clarify and improve water taste too. You will not taste any chlorine at all.

Or use Sawyer filter alone — bigger and chunkier — but no wait time at all. My understanding is that the filter will NOT block viruses — if that's a concern. For that, you will need the Sawyer purifier instead. And that, I recall you need to prime before every trip with the help of a faucet. You can't prime by sucking or pushing water through manually. Gotta connect to a faucet. And to me, that's annoying — but might not be to you.

But heck, if you don't care about water taste — and if your water source is fairly clear — why not use a Steripen instead? It's lighter and more compact than the Sawyer — and it will treat all biological baddies including viruses. OTOH, you will need at least one wide-mouth bladder or bottle.

As you can see, pretty much every "versatile" system is a compromise of sorts.

I have this thing about buying things over and over again so the tablets and filter replacements for the Aquamira might be a bit much. As far I know I don’t need to worry about virues too much so I could probably just keep using the Squeeze that I have and not the one with thinner pathways. I have thought about the Steripen but then I have to worry about batteries and charging it even though it seems it has a long charge life.

You are welcome.

If your only concern about the Steripen is its reliability and battery life… I think you can put both to rest. Never 100% of course (same can be said of any mechanical filter as well) — but I've been using my beloved Steripen for over 5 years and travel trips totaling 28 months. Never got sick and never had the thing failed me even once.

Batteries weigh very little and occupies very little pack space. One set will last weeks of usage. I recommend carrying an extra set as backup and you won't have anything to worry about.