Mini sawyer and water bottle recommendation.

[Liz Black]

<p style=”text-align: left;”>Anal question here…  would like a 700 or 750 ml bottle to fit sawyer mini water filter with a one hand flip top please.   I know smart waters are off the selection    Thanks everyone…</p>

[James Marco]

Well, they are “supposed” to accept a standard soda bottle threading. I purchased one when they were first released. A soda bottle leaked. I brought it back and got another. That worked OK for several days, then it to started leaking, I am guessing the gasket was deformed beyond use eventually.  Anyway, I gave up on it and went back to a Steripen. Way too fiddly…

[Liz Black]

Sounds like a major ordeal.   Maybe kadadyne befree I think something like that …

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

I have never had an issue  with Smartwater bottles.  They even come in 16.9 oz sizes.  Another customer had a problem and this was posted from Sawyer via BPL.,

We’re sorry to hear you experienced some difficulty using the system. Our MINI and Squeeze filters are designed to fit any standard 28 mm threaded bottle. It sounds like your filter gasket might be dislodged or damaged. Please check the base of the filter and make sure that it is properly seated.

The easiest way to damage these gaskets is to over-tighten the filters on to pouches or bottles. The threads on the filter are shorter than people some people might expect and can be unintentionally overtightened in pursuit of a tight seal. This can damage the gasket to the point of leaking or loss.

If you are US based, we’d be happy to mail you a replacement if yours is damaged or missing. Just let us know where to mail it and we’ll get one sent out soon.

If you ever need one in a pinch, suitable replacements can be found at most hardware stores with the spec guide below.

[Liz Black]

Nice that makes me feel better …

whats more popular for thru hiking a month to five months ?  Squeeze or mini ?

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

IMO, the Sawyer Mini is pretty useless.  I wrote an article about this for BPL, but here are some recent videos that I made comparing the Squeeze to the Mini.  My 2 cents.

[JCH]

“IMO, the Sawyer Mini is pretty useless.”

+1.  Go with the Squeeze.

[Larry Swearingen]

I disagree with this entirely.
I’ve been using different versions of the Sawyer filters since 2014.
Currently use the Sawyer Micro and the only reason that I changed to a
different model was to get a lighter one.
When the filtration rate slows down you need to Back Flush.
Read the directions !
I do not squeeze the bag or bottle. I use a Gravity system that
I made using a 2L Sawyer bag and tube.
I used the Sawyer Mini to filter Cow pond and trough water in Southern
New Mexico, silty Beaver Pond water in Minnesota and Isle Royale and
other hikes in Michigan and lots of use in Wyoming.
Repeat: When the flow rate slows BACK FLUSH it !
Larry S

[Liz Black]

Thank you !   What is lighter ?

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

It all depends upon the water quality and the total volume of water used by your filter.  Backflush can work, but not always as it depends upon the particulate size.  My old Sawyer Squeeze is 5 years old and works fine, the flowrate is lower, but better than a new Mini.  I only use a Sawyer, where the water quality is OK.

When you come across glacieral silt or water from slot canyons, backflushing is not going to recover a Sawyer filter due to the super fine particles.  That is why I bring the MSR Miniworsk, as you can actually physically clean the filter in the field.

For a reallity check, just look at all of teh field reports about the Sawyer Filter.  Yes, YMMV, however; statistically, the Mini isn’t a great filter.  That and the experimental analysis verifies this to be true.  Check out the videos.  My 2 cents.

 

[James Marco]

Yup, I agree Jon. A lot depends on the area you hike. In many cases, filtering is not the best. Sometimes, it is the only option, too. of the methods you can use, filters and UV treatments are near the top for versatility.

1) Boiling boiling can reduce the amount of water in a pot. This will tend to increase any toxins in the water.  And it takes a LOT of energy (fuel.) Since you generally only boil water once or twice per day, it also results in a larger carry weight per day, even if you use a wood fire. Boiling is about the safest from a bio-load standpoint. It will kill anything bad. Note I did not say sterile. There are several microbes/viruses that will survive for a few minutes in boiling water.

2) UV is a radiation that will kill microbes and bacteria. It might not work on some larger parasites (liver flukes, some tape worms) For most water in the US, it works fine, but can be inefective in heavily silted water. It also results in the least carry weight if you hike across a water source or two every 4 hours.

3) chemicals (chlorine, AM drops, iodine, etc) work well, but is inefective against some bugs and needs to be left “working” for 4 hours for maximum effect. It also results in a high carry weight since you need to have treated water to drink and still carry  “working” water. Crypto is HARD to kill.

4) Filters tend to be time consuming and are often fiddly to use with multiple hoses. (though the sawyers are fast enough that I can refill two bottles on a single 5min break.) The small water bottles are painful to fill/filter three times for a liter of water. They can be bulky to carry. They tend to plug up with use. and are not very effective against viruses, unless you have a really good filter.

5) Do nothing, and simply drink the water.

 

 

[Rex Sanders]

Note that 28mm “soda bottle threads” do not follow one standard – and the Sawyer Mini threads are slightly different from the Sawyer Squeeze. Extended description:

https://cnocoutdoors.com/blogs/blog/lets-talk-about-threads

— Rex

[Rex Sanders]

6) Carry a small BeFree with a few ClO2 pills as backup, and don’t stress about drinking unfiltered backcountry water after accidentally swallowing several gallons on many rivers around the US West.

YMMV.

— Rex

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

Rex,

Cool link to the thread information.  It does say that the Squeeze and the Mini are slighlty different, but the difference is in the depth and not the pitch.  Good to know.

Sawyer mini filter: SP 410
Sawyer Squeeze filter: SP 415

And I total agree that selecting a good, clear stream of moving water probably has a low risk of contamination.

[M B]

The mini sort of works with threads that it’s not supposed to a lot better than the actual Sawyer does.

[Author]

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