A popular choice in the longdistance backpacking community, the Sawyer Squeeze filter offers several benefits that make it stand out from the competition. For one, the filter alone weighs around 3 ounces, comes with a flip top cap so you can drink straight out of the filter, and the filter can easily be attached to Smart Water bottles. It also is very easy to use–just screw it on to a bottle or pouch, and squeeze. The filter, at least when new and/or properly cared for, also has a great flow rate.
When you buy the Sawyer Squeeze, it also comes with two pouches (both 32 ounces, with their own caps, which some hikers claim don’t hold up well in the field), a mesh storage bag and components to turn the Sawyer into an in-line or gravity filter, and a syringe for back flushing. I have used two Sawyer Squeezes since I started backpacking. One of them I used on my Appalachian Trail thru hike and 180 miles of the Colorado Trail. The other I have used on the Collegiate Loop, the Tahoe Rim trail, and on several trips on the Arizona Trail, ranging from one to five nights long. This filter has been with me in conditions as low as twenty degrees Fahrenheit and as hot as 105 degrees Fahrenheit. I also have regularly used it on dayhikes.
While the Sawyer Squeeze comes with all of the components to be used in a variety of ways, I have never used one for an in-line or gravity filter. In fact, it’s a common sight on many long trails popular with thru-hikers to see all of the components aside from the filter itself placed in the “hiker box” to be given away. I am surprised the brand hasn’t taken note of this to just sell the filter by itself as an option.
The main reason that the Sawyer Squeeze is discarded is because the flow rate starts to suffer overtime and eventually stop. I personally find that taking care of the filter–backflushing it regularly after trips, or while in town, running bleach water through the filter to clean it, soaking the filter to wet it after it has been in storage for a long time, all of which are detailed tutorials on Sawyer’s website or elsewhere on the Internet–has meant that the flow rate has always functioned perfectly for me, without any noticeable degredation. That being said, I have always prefiltered extra silty water before using the filter, or opted to use Aqua-Mira instead.
The main reason I had to get rid of my first Sawyer Squeeze, after it had accumulated over 200 nights on it, was due to an issue that occurs with all filters, which is that I left it in freezing conditions overnight in my car, which would cause the microtubals inside the filter to expand. As this is a filter–it strains, but doesn’t kill, cysts and bacteria–a frozen filter renders it useless. The tricky part? You can’t tell if your filter is frozen. There is no indication if the tubules have been compromised. You simply wake up one morning, as I did, and realize that you left the filter out in freezing conditions that that you have now broken it.
For this reason, I hesitate to take the Sawyer on any trips where I am likely to be hiking at or below freezing for long periods of time, or sleeping in very cold temperatures overnight. Even though I always sleep with the filter in my quilt (no matter what the temperature, just to keep the habit), and walk with it in my pocket to keep it warm with my body heat on days where I wake up to frost or snow, I often find myself wondering on these trips if the filter has been compromised. The other issue with the Sawyer is that the plastic O ring on the “dirty” water side can fall out easily. These are easily replaced by buying some on Amazon (and I find that carrying several O rings to trade, as well as the backflush syringe that other hikers can borrow in town, is a surefire way to make friends while thruhiking) but it is daunting to unscrew your filter and watch as the O ring is still stuck in the top of the bottle, or has fallen in the dirt while you are filtering, which makes me wonder how compromised the seal is now.
Although convenient and still my go-to on most of my trips, due to the freezing issue and the fact that I am hiking more and more at high-altitudes, I am likely to experiment with other, or backup, water treatment systems in the future. But if you take care of the filter properly, the Sawyer Squeeze is a great value.
Disclosures
Obtained independently: I paid for this product or received it as a personal gift from someone not affiliated with the brand.
Backpacking Light affiliation: I work for Backpacking Light in a paid or official capacity (owner/shareholder, employee, contractor, or paid contributor), but I am posting this review as an independent user and its content was not reviewed or directed by others at Backpacking Light.
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