How to filter out stuff from melted snow.

[chris smead]

On the last winter trip I did where I had to melt snow, I was terrified to find a boiled spider in my nalgene the next day.  Any tricks for keeping melted snow water clean?  I tried the coffee filter thing but I was struggling with that and I kept spilling hot water on my paws.

[Bruce Tolley]

You can buy a small metal mesh strainer at the supermarket or hardware store for 3 or 4 bucks that gets all the pieces of bark and pine needle and I guess spiders out of the melted snow water.  It just needs to be big enough to fit over your wide mouthed Nalgene.  You also develop the habit of not looking too closely at your water.:-))

[David Thomas]

If you took the chunks out, it wouldn’t be crunchy, now would it?!? – paraphrased from Monty Python

One of these plastic coffee filter holders costs about $5, holds a coffee filter so it drains well and directs the filtered water into a mug/nalgene.  If you never use it to make coffee, it won’t impart any taste.

Smaller, lighter and quicker draining would be a mesh filter sold to catch chunks in a sink or bathtub.  Walmart has a set of 3 sizes for $4 online.  Less, if I recall, in the store.

[rick .]

Cone filter Dave posted works great, but I found a funnel that holds the filters well for like 0.4oz. Works great for coffee or snow, but not all at once!

[BC Bob]

I use this little plastic kitchen strainer as a pre-filter.  I hacked down the handle.  I don’t use it with boiling water but just fired up the kettle and tested it and there’s no sign of any damage.  Weighs 6 grams.

[BlackHatGuy]

I use one of these when necessary. If I want it to, it’ll fold down over the bottle and I can secure it with a rubber band to keep my hands clear.

[Bob Moulder]

Good suggestions above, and I’ve used a variation of all of them at times.

Another thing that works is a fuel funnel with a filter, which addresses the issue of pouring from a hot pot into a small-mouth bottle. I’ve used one of these before and it works pretty well depending upon how much flotsam, jetsam and schmutz is in the snow. Sometimes by late spring quite a collection of debris has built up.

However, if you find you’ve forgotten your filter, you’ll discover that when the water starts approaching the boiling point that most of the larger chunks will float to the top and gather around the side of the pot, where they can often be scooped out easily with a spoon. Not sure if this applies to spiders….

[Ken Thompson]

Noseeum netting and shock cord loop. .1oz

[chris smead]

Great suggestions!   Thanks guys!  I’ll try the noseum mesh/rubber band trick first and see how that goes.  Hopefully I won’t be drinking anymore spiders.

[Gary Dunckel]

I’ve tried a couple of the “filters” mentioned, and they work fine. I recently came up with one I like a bit better (because I made it myself). Left to right in this photo: the Coghlan’s fuel filter, which as mentioned is sweet for narrow mouth bottles like a Platypus (.65 oz.); a MSR Mugmate that works great with a standard Nalgene 1-liter bottle (.9 oz.); my MYOG version made with nylon mesh from a paint filter, sewn onto a circle of titanium rod (you could also use a length of a coat hanger). It weighs .095 oz.

Here’s the Coghlan’s filter in a polycarb 1-liter Nalgene bottle. I don’t recommend using polycarbonate bottles in winter, but rather the far more durable Lexan ones. I used this bottle for the photos, so that the attached lid of a Lexan one doesn’t get in the way.

The MSR Mugmate wedges securely into the bottle:

My MYOG paint filter slips over the top of the bottle securely, and it is easily removed to be placed on a second bottle:

Here’s a look at the paint filter sitting next to the Nalgene:

But really, there’s a lot of ways to filter out pine needles and mouse droppings. In a pinch, I’ve used a bandana, a couple pieces of 4″ x 4″ cotton gauze with a rubber band to secure them to the bottle, and even a spare wool beanie once.

One thing to be sure of–if your snow bank is tinted pink in places, find another place to get your snow. The pink is from algae or bacteria or something, and these techniques will not filter that out. Bad things might happen if you drank some of those cooties.

[Ken Thompson]

Intestinal discomfort from Watermelon snow.

My MYOG solution is much like Gary’s. But I used shock cord instead of wire so that it stays firmly attached while filling in running water.

[Paul McLaughlin]

I just try to fill my pot with the cleanest stuff I see. Usually that means scraping off the surface snow to get the cleaner stuff that is underneath. Then once it’s melted, I pour slowly so that the big stuff sinks to the bottom of the pot. Little stuff I don’t worry about. And you can’t pass up the boiled spider – that’s free extra protein that you didn’t have to carry in!

[Author]

Posts