UL Water Filter Dilemma

[Aleks Kocev]

Hey guys,

I’m planning to go backpacking in Peru with my Wife for 5 days on the Salkantay Trail, solo and with no guide.  I’m prepping our lightweight kit and I’m not sure which one to bring.

I own both the Steripen Freedom and the Platypus Gravity kit

I’d take the Steripen Freedom to filter for Viruses but it seems it only filters .5L at a time :/  Our water bladders are 3L each.  So do I carry the kit with it’s .5L bottle and filter each .5L and then pour in to my bladder?  It seems heavy and silly to do it that way.

Also The Steripen Freedom came with a solar panel, does anyone know if you can use that to charge your iPhone or kindle? Otherwise I see it as unnecessary ( my luxury items I like in my kit )

I’d like to take the Gravity filter but it doesn’t filter for Viruses, and since we are in Peru, I’m worried about that.  But it can do the 3L no problem, and is streamline with our bladders.

Any advice in these areas would be helpful, especially from current owners of both, or people with experience with trekking in Peru at high altitude.

[Justin Baker]

The steripen is not a filter. I only point that out because that could really confuse people trying to give you advice.

 

[Aleks Kocev]

I don’t know how that would confuse people?

If you’d like me to be more precise, I’m looking for a solution to “water treatment” in Peru that’s lightweight and effective.  I’m trying to stay away from adding tablets or drops ( not a fan of chemicals if I can avoid it )

The Steripen Freedom is not a filter, it kills Bacteria and viruses using UV light.

 

[Garrett McLarty]

One option would be to get a couple of frontier filter bottles from Amazon.  Make sure to get the ones that filter viruses and then if you want, you can set them up in a gravity system.   The filter is similar to the online filters from platypus or Sawyer.

The disadvantage over the platypus gravity is filter speed.   The smaller pore size means slower speed.   Trade off, but then you don’t have to worry about batteries.

[Ryan K]

Both are you are going to be carrying 3L of water each?  That’s a lot of water.

If you need to camel up for dry stretches, no need to pack clean water.  Use the Platypus as dirty bags, filter into your water bottles as needed, then sterilize with the Steripen (or chemical treatment which is lighter).

[Roger Caffin]

Ryan has it:

If you need to camel up for dry stretches, no need to pack clean water.  Use the Platypus as dirty bags, filter into your water bottles as needed, then sterilize with the Steripen (or chemical treatment which is lighter).

Remember: a lot of your water is used for cooking, and will probably be boiled. You don’t need to treat that water.

Me, I would buy a Steripen Classic 3: it takes easily-obtainable AA batteries, including lithiums.

Cheers

 

[Roger Caffin]

Ryan has it:

If you need to camel up for dry stretches, no need to pack clean water.  Use the Platypus as dirty bags, filter into your water bottles as needed, then sterilize with the Steripen (or chemical treatment which is lighter).

Remember: a lot of your water is used for cooking, and will probably be boiled. You don’t need to treat that water.

Me, I would buy a Steripen Classic 3: it takes easily-obtainable AA batteries, including lithiums. And it can treat 1 L at a time.

Cheers

 

[Aleks Kocev]

Ryan and Roger thank you guys!  You both made really good points, and I think I’m going to end up carrying both and splitting the weight between my wife and I.

Question, I’ve been looking at ultralight 32oz options for bottles to use.  The nalgenes are super heavy!  Then I found the Platypus water bottles at 1L, weighing in at 1.2oz and they seem great! but the mouth isn’t wide enough to fit the Steripen.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

[Roger Caffin]

I treat my water in my cooking pot first. See the review of the Classic 3 for a photo.

I keep the ‘clean’ bottles separate from the ‘suspect’ ones – the simplest method is a rubber band around the neck! In practice we only need one clean bottle.

I use 1.25 L rocket-base fizzy mineral water bottles at ~37/bottle. These are as robust as the nalgenes imho. The small cap is very leakproof.

Cheers

 

[Aleks Kocev]

So you think I should have a system like this

1. Fill up dirty bladder using the Gravity Filter
2. empty 1L in to the pot of filtered water
3. Use the Steripen on the water in the pot
4. Transfer to clean bladder

Does that sound about right?

[Roger Caffin]

> empty 1L in to the pot of filtered water

That’s about right, except that we don’t bother with any filter at all. We are careful where we get our water, so it is fairly clear. Any doubts about that and we might give the 1 L an extra 30 seconds (60 secs/L is recommended).

Of course, if all you have is the Colorado, you have a problem. We have at times used a handkerchief as a pre-filter, with several layers of TP lining it. One time the water was in a rock basin, which was filled with dead gum leaves. There was a lot of tannin and lumpy organic matter in the water – but it was better than nothing. The handkerchief got a bit stained that time … :-) But we were fine.

Cheers

[[ Drew ]]

The filter + sterlizer setup seems cumbersome; are open to different options?

If so, you might look at the Sawyer Point Zero Two setup.  It will gravity filter 4L (using their kit) of water at a time and filters: ”

• Removes 99.997% of Viruses, 99.99999% Bacteria, and 99.9999% Protozoa/Cysts”

If you can just buy the filter, you can probably save a lot of weight by using your own reservoirs instead of the heavy ones that the Sawyer Complete kit comes with.

https://sawyer.com/products/sawyer-complete-4-liter-dual-bag-water-purifier-system/

 

Another option is the MSR Guardian water purifier.  It’s pricey at $350, and heavy at about 17oz, but it’s self cleansing, filters out viruses, and fast (2.5L/min).  I believe one of the places that MSR field tested it was Peru, if that means anything.  If you consider that you can quickly filter and drink water at the source instead of carrying the water to filter later, the 17oz weight isn’t all that bad.  However, if you’re in a situation where you HAVE to carry water to another location, the gravity filter setup would be a lighter option.

 

 

[Roger Caffin]

If you must use a filter, you might be much better off using a Rapid Pure one. It works on viruses, bacteria and protozoa, and is MUCH faster than a Sawyer and much cheaper than an MSR. Good life too. (Disclaimer: I wrote the review.)

Cheers

 

[Roger Caffin]

If you must use a filter, you might be much better off using a Rapid Pure one. It works on viruses, bacteria and protozoa, and is MUCH faster than a Sawyer and much cheaper than an MSR. Good life too. (Disclaimer: I wrote the review.)

Cheers

 

[[ Drew ]]

Roger,

Wow, I wish I would have seen your review earlier.  I’d never heard of the Rapid Pure systems.

[Donna M]

Aleks, The Steripen Freedom solar panel is not powerful to enough to charge an iPhone to 100% capacity. When I first got mine I charged it to the max via USB in the electrical outlet then tried to charge my iPhone. I think it only got to 85%. I think it will also take a long time to recharge via  the sun. You would probably be better off just to buy a better quality solar charger, and use that for all 3 devices. Also note that the Steripen, from fully charged, will hold it’s charge for a long time and through many uses. I think it says on the box, or in the description on the REI site.

As for water, be sure to check if you will encounter water along your trail. Coming from the PNW, and having lived for 22 years in NZ I just always assumed there will be water along most trails. But now that I live in the desert of Baja California Mexico, I have completely switched my thinking to assume there will NOT be any water along the trail, unless from research I find out otherwise. That in combination with the sun and heat, means that I typically carry 6 liters of water for two days. In that situation, water is half my pack weight, but that’s unavoidable.

So I recommend doing your due diligence and making sure there will be water, and how much along the way.

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