Sawyer Products Mini Water Filtration System

UPDATE: So I recently added the CNOC Vecto 2L bladder to this rig and got rid of my Survivor collapsible canteens. I don't think I'll be going back. The Vecto has a large opening to fill, and a 28mm bottle cap to dispense. The Mini screws on perfectly and now I can filter 2L at a time with no issues. Loving this. I also have gotten rid of all my Nalgenes from my backpacking/camping setup. I use them for the office now. I have replaced them with Smartwater bottles. The SW bottles weight less than 2 ounces each, cost $1-2 each and fit the Mini. I have also found I can get two 32 oz SW bottles into a single water bottle pocket on my pack. That means I can either carry 4 liters of water without affecting my internal storage. I have come to really value that decision. When a SW bottle wears out or breaks, I can replace it at pretty much any grocery store for less than $2. ORIGINAL REVIEW (May, 2017): Did some back country camping this past weekend and took the Sawyer Mini out with me for the first time. Reviews on it were good and I was looking for ways to cut down on weight and footprint on my old filter system (a pump). The mini is excellent. I've seen a few reviews complaining about the bag it comes with and the time it takes to squeeze "x" amount of water through it. All I have to say is, yes the bag is too small. 16 oz is kind of lame. The quality of the bag? Seems decent enough. I'll end up replacing it anyway with a pair of Survivor Filter collapsible canteens (32 oz each). As far as the filter goes, I tried it on just some regular old tap water to function test it and get familiar before taking it out. I filtered two liters of water through it (2 Nalgenes) and then back flushed it. I was shocked to see the brown much it filtered out of the tap water! I may get a second on and just screw it onto a SmartWater bottle for drinking at work! The system was easy to use. I don't know what kind of rush others are in when backpacking, but I'm not. I move at my pace and take my time. i'm not in a race when I'm backpacking or camping. I don't mind taking a couple minutes to filter some clean drinking/cooking water. The Sawyer Mini works great. I have zero complaints. I appreciate that it comes with the syringe to back flush it and keep it working well. The 16 oz bag is too small, but it works, and unless you're Hulking out on the thing, it should last just fine. That's one piece I'll upgrade, but the filter alone is well worth the cost of the set.

Used this on a backpacking trip this past weekend at Gem Lake in WA state. I was very try surprised how well this worked and how easy it was to use. It’s small and compact easy to fit in a small zipper, the water capacity I got is 16oz and worked will for me, the speed of it was depending on how your squeezed the water out, and I felt that the quality was pretty good for what I paid for. I would like to get a larger water bladder as it took me a good 15 min out es to fill up a 3L bladder. Also, I was worried about a weird taste from the filter and surprisingly I did t have an issue. If you do a little liquid iv or gatorlite can help with the taste if needed.

Wow. I've been hiking the Appalachian trail solo as out-and-back day hikes this year. Over the summer, I started taking 2 water bottles with me for my 12-mile and longer hikes. And I would refill them, unfiltered, from water sources along the trail. My brother pointed out that I as certifiably insane to do such a thing. After some thought, I decided to agree with him. After some searching, I ended with this setup. I wanted something I could take with me that was ultra-light and ultra-small. I usually have my iphone and some trail mix in one pocket of my running shorts, a water bottle in my hand, some backup carbs on the other pocket, ID and cash in the back pocket. That's it. While it's reasonable to do 5 miles this way, or even 8 if you have water at your destination, 12-15 miles requires a refill. And this is how you refill. The filter is tiny, and if you're using clear water from a moving stream or spring, the flow is pretty fast. As fast as my Katadyn hiker filter that I've had for years. After a few trips with this baby, I'm hooked. A couple tips and things I've learned: 1) You're carrying 2 water bottles anyway - one to fill from a water source, and one to drink from. I fill the clean bottle with filtered water, and fill the other bottle with unfiltered water. 2) The bags are unreliable. I haven't had one break yet, but it's a common thing. So don't rely on 1. Bring a backup. Or, 3) Use another bottle with a cap that fits. The package says the filter fits on most water bottles. I have not found that to be the case with 2 different house brands of water bottles. I did find that the house brand 0-calorie clear soda (it comes in peach, blackberry, etc, you know what I mean) bottles did fit. So for 68 cents, I have an unfiltered bottle I can use. I think that soda bottles will reliably fit, but that's just a guess. 4) lastly, because the equipment is so small and light, it is easy to lose. I started off on a 15-mile hike last week and 3 miles in discovered that my water bag was gone. I assumed I had left it in the car accidentally or it had dropped on the trail. I went ahead and did the hike anyway, refilling at a clear spring, right at the source, without filtering. I found the bag on the side of the trail on my way back. So use a zipper pocket, bundle the items to something bigger with a rubber band, do something to protect yourself. I have not used this for a camping trip yet, but I would not hesitate to do so. It's amazing. I would make sure to take the backwash plunger with me if I was backpacking, though. I love this system - it simply can't be beat.

Filters arrived in a bulk clear plastic bag with cleaning tool. The sale price was very good, $10 per filter was very fair. Would buy again. Highly recommended. Excellent for preparedness kits and backup home water filtration needs.

The Sawyer MINI is a top pick for ultralight backpackers, travelers to remote destinations, or anyone building an emergency kit where weight and pack space matter. It hits a great balance of filtration performance, portability, and overall value. However, if you’ll be filtering large quantities of very silty water, or you need faster output, or you’re treating water with virus risk, then you might want to look at a bigger system or supplement it with another method. In short: lightweight, capable, versatile—just know its modest flow rate and application limits.

This little water filter is AWESOME!! I do a lot of trail running here in Florida, I run in places where there is nothing around but you and the elements in which you're in. I used to carry a small backpack with a 70oz.water bladder plus food, it was very heavy and It took a lot of energy to carry all the weight. sometimes there was not enough water on the hot day's. It put me in a lot of stressful and dangerous situations (or maybe I put myself in those positions), being far away from any water fountain or my truck to refill my pack. I saw the Sawyer water filtration system at "Dick's Sporting Goods" for 30 bucks and thought this would be perfect for me, if I don't get sick from it, but thought it was kind of expensive. I went home and did some research on the product...nothing but great things said about it. I went on amazon and found it for 20 bucks. I purchased this filter in the spring of 2014. I went on my first long run with it, and cut way more than half the weight by putting the water filter in a smaller waist pack with only 2-20oz. bottles plus my food and didn't have to carry that obnoxious back pack. Well...that day I certainly got to try it out. I went on a new trail feeling confident with my new filtration system. I had consumed the 2-20oz. bottles a couple of hours in, the sun was high, no clouds and it was hot! I ran for a about 5 more miles and could not find any water, I was heat stressed and worried I wouldn't make it to the ranger station that was still about 7 miles away(about one hour or more), until I found a kind of nasty little water hole. I was very reluctant to drink, but desperate. I thought as I was refilling my bottles, if I get sick from this thing I will know it by the time I hit the station. So here it goes, the nasty looking water came out clear and the taste was not bad, actually it was pretty good. This thing saved my butt, I made it back to my vehicle 3 hours later with no ill issues. No more stressing about lack of water. I carry this filter with me every time I go out with confidence! Sometimes I don't take any water bottles with me. It is light and compact enough to take any where to save space while fishing, kayaking, hiking, etc.. I am so confident I let my 9 year old son use it. Do yourself a favor and purchase one of these filtration systems...it will save your life!!

I'm far from an experienced long range hiker or backpacker. I'm fairly comfortable out in the woods, do about 8-9 miles a day in about 2 hours, and have common sense, but I am not a backwoodswoman (unfortunately). A conveniently-sized filter has been on my "that'd be cool" list for years, and while planning a mountain day hike with my sister I went for it with the Sawyer Mini. This was a 2,500' elevation gain hike that was expected to clock in around 9 miles round-trip, trail reports said the average run time was about 4h 45m. No problem. I'm one of those who needs to hydrate excessively- I routinely go through about 2 liters of fluid on a 9 mile route. My hydration pack takes 2 liters, so I figured I probably wouldn't even need the filter but the trip made a good excuse. I even tossed in a lightweight disposable 28 oz bottled water before leaving our car, thinking "No way is that filter getting used!" Man am I glad I had the Sawyer. My hiking partner is not anywhere near as active as I am, which resulted in hours longer on the trail than expected, and surprise, the route clocked in closer to 15 miles than 9. So we were out there, including a break at the spectacular turn around location, for about 10 hours. The Sawyer performed beautifully. I didn't have to stress about trying to conserve water, which was a real relief on the way back, now knowing how long the route actually was and how fast my partner and I were likely to move. The available watersources were mountain streams on a *heavily* trafficked trail (it was like a traffic jam in sections), so the water looked, smelled, and felt clean and cold already, but I sure wouldn't have risked drinking it unfiltered (as we saw several other groups doing- just say no to unfiltered water folks, seriously, not worth it). Okay, the actual review stuff: I'm ashamed to admit I'd never actually used a filter before, though I've seen other people do so. I'm also *not* kinesthetically intelligent. But the Sawyer mini is super easy to understand and use, lightweight, and doesn't have a lot of tiny parts or really much you can do to screw up. I did a test run when it was delivered, found it easy and obvious, and left the flushing syringe in the cabin because we were on a day hike. On the trail it was 100% slick. The included 16 oz bag for untreated water is a little small, and can be challenging to fill in still water, but performed well despite those limitations. As mentioned, the water was already very clear- no visible particulates, and I was able to filter about 1.5 liters in around 8 minutes, including the water-gathering. I assume that dirtier water with more particulates would filter slower- for the water I was filtering, the flow rate was just as fast as my tap water test run, and it was easy to speed up with some gentle pressure on the bag. I should note that I found an actual water bottle *much* easier to filter into than my hydration pack bladder with its floppy body and wide mouth (the last minute extra tossed-in bottled water was useful on two fronts!), so I'd highly recommend carrying a lightweight bottle for filtering into even if you intend to eventually drink it out of an in-line system. The filter, straw, and backflow syringe fit easily into a clean ipsy-type zip case and were light and easy to pack and carry. I will invest in some screw covers or other capping solution so as to avoid water leakage in the future after use, but this wasn't a big deal for me. I'll likely also toss in some alcohol wipes for future trips to ensure clean surfaces after the parts have been jumbled together. Overall, while I imagine that folks who actually are backwoodspeople have better, higher-volume/higher-flow filtering systems and solutions, I'm 100% satisfied with my little Sawyer mini and its totally accessible price point and feel confident it will perform when needed.

I ordered this little beauty January 1st and got it 2 days later because I got free fast shipping. Now for all of you who say "The pouches are so weak at the seams they break so easily". Well I tried to take a very important picture that actually came with the Mini Sawyer filter, and I quote (because I couldn't get a good pic) "The Sawyer squeeze pouches are rugged but not indestructible. They can tear as a result of to much pressure being applied....." There are three helpful tips telling you what "Not" to do and what you can do. So for all of those who are to impatient to gently apply pressure. Well you Sir or Madam aren't very smart. Now for all of you who say "This water filter is way to slow" well that is a good thing because if it was fast then your filter is probably broken. Slow means its doing it's job. They also state to bring the back washing plunger to boost the speed, it is very light weight so don't complain about it taking up so much space. Put it in your pocket it for all we care. Plus if you are scared of viruses just boil the water after you filter it. Common sense. Lastly the is a good small filter. It does filter up to 0.1 micron which most filters don't actually achieve and the surprising part is it's very small. Which is fantastic for backpacking, you could care all the water you need in your pocket. Main also say the pouches are "too rugged" well if its new of course its going to be "too rugged" you are just using it for the first time. After a few weeks or so of constant use I bet you it would be able to hold the amount it says on the pouches you get. (just a small edit here) If you do complain about the speed of the filter you could easily create a gravity system and attach it to your pack so you make water as you walk so you have plenty when you set up camp. All you need is a water bottle that can screw on to the filter, a small rubber tube (could even use the straw it comes with) and a collection point (a water bladder) (you are all pretty smart you could figure something out to make it gravity feed while your walking. So stop complaining I like this little thing. I am using it in my bug out bag as well as camping. With its small size, it life span of 100,000 Gallons of water, and its light weight it is an A in my book. The rest of the One stars can chill out and use the brain a little bit better and make a real review.