Smart water bottles last when used for squeeze?

Last June/July on the JMT it was my perception that 80% of the NOBO PCT hikers where carrying 3, 4 or 5 Smartwater bottles as dirty water bottles and drinking directly from the a Sawyer Mini. I was surprised to see them crinkle and squeeze their bottles with absolute abandon. I’m guessing the thought is they have a failure they have other backups…

Scooping: Take the worthless 16 ounce bladder that comes with the mini and cut the top off to use as a scoop. I used my scoop maybe 1/2 of the time on my trip. You could save weight with a ziplock baggie (less durable) or a capri-sun pouch (too small).

I filtered using a Sawyer Mini screwed onto a 64 ounce Sawyer bladder with some string going through punched holes as a gravity setup. I had 2′ of silicone hose to help build up pressure. I like the system for quick weekend hikes but I grew tired of it on the JMT filtering into clean Smartwater bottles (for me and my son). We lost time each day with this setup.

Next time I hike the JMT I will either:

1. Use a Steripen (zap and go)
2. Sawyer Mini on Smartwater dirty bottles like the PCTers
3. Aquamira

I’ll probably go with option 1. I want fast and easy. I’d like to not be forced to take breaks near creeks. Instead I’d like to keep moving and take leisurely breaks where I want to take a break.

I switched from bladder to a hydration hose into smart water bottles and store those in the side pockets of my pack.  I don’t use them (so far) as dirty water bottles.  I have a diy gravity system using a silnylon dry sac and a Sawyer mini.  It’s not JMT tested, but I think it would work well.  I sometimes carry a 2 liter + platy for dirty water.    Then I think I could get by with 2 smart water bottles for the clean.

You shouldn’t have any problems with using the smart water bottles on the JMT. I’ve used the same smart water bottle for dirty water with no problems and the bottle is a lot easier then the bags for scooping water they are tough. I use to cut the bag in a half and scoop water with it, but with the Smart Water bottle I didn’t need it.

I use a 700 mL Smartwater bottle as my “dirty” bottle and squeeze it into larger ones as I go.  It lasts about a week before it’s in pretty terrible shape – and that’s just for me, not anybody else.  I would plan on exchanging bottles at Red’s Meadow and Muir Trail Ranch if you are out there for more than two weeks.  They should have plastic bottle drinks there, or if not you can include a small bottle in your resupply package.  I find that the multiple Smartwater bottle Sawyer mini system works quite well, doesn’t take too long, and allows me to grab and go – filtering and drinking along the way rather than needing to stop by streams if they’re buggy.

And concerning your second question, I’ve never had a problem scooping water into it, and I’ve used it with some pretty small streams.  You can always move a couple rocks out of the way or dig a little hole if you want to get a better angle, but I’ve never really needed to.   It is actually easier than my old pump filter setup, which needed a tiny pool or else I would end up pumping too much air through it.

I’ve never had one fail on me but my Smartwater bottles developed creases in them pretty quick which made me nervous.  I’m now using Aquafina bottles which have the same threads and have been pretty happy with them.  One bottle lasts me an entire season.  The threads are compatible with the Sawyer Squeeze but I don’t use it that way and put a Smartwater flip cap on it instead.

I had an issue where the gasket on my Sawyer Squeeze kept popping out when I threaded it onto my bottle and drank from it.  I mostly use a steripen these days, but if I were to return to the squeeze, I have a 2L Evernew bag that I use for dirty water and just filter into my Aquafina and Gatorade bottle.

I’ve seen enough Sawyer bags fail to convince me not to use them, so I’d also recommend sacrificing one of them to use as a scoop.  I personally use a Mountain House bag as one.