I’ve already sung the praises of Sawyer water filters for backpacking (and also for bikepacking). They’re currently my go-to for everything from long solo trips to weekend adventures with my husband.
The ONLY thing I don’t love about them – I’m sure you can already guess this, since you’re here – is those darn dirty bags / pouches.
The default Sawyer squeeze pouches are awkwardly shaped, hard to fill, and have been known to leak and crack, which is definitely NOT what we need when depending on them in the backcountry. Sorry Sawyer, I love your filter, but I need an alternative dirty bag replacement for my Sawyer Mini. Enter CNOC.
How I Discovered CNOC
I first heard about the CNOC Vecto water bag in the garage of a new friend as we compared gear choices after a four day bikepacking race. He had found it by accident on Amazon while searching for hydration bladders, and noticed in the reviews that people were using it as an alternative squeeze bag for the Sawyer Mini. He tried it, fell in love, and the rest is history.
A few months later I ordered one with some skepticism. If it was so great, why hadn’t I heard about it before? I put it to the test on some overnight backpacking trips, then a month-long bicycle tour through Sudan,* and most recently almost 100 days of thru hiking on the Colorado and Arizona trails.
* Note: The water in Sudan requires purification, not just filtration, which the Sawyer Squeeze does not do. I used a combination of the Sawyer and chlorine dioxide to safely purify my water there. For more details on this crucial difference, see this post on water purification for travelers.
I am now convinced that this lovely little bag is one of the best-kept secrets in the outdoor gear world. (Update: as of 2021, based on how many people I’ve seen using it recently, it seems to not be a secret anymore!) In this post I’ll explain how to use the CNOC Vecto as a versatile Sawyer Squeeze bag replacement and more.
It’s a bummer that I have to clarify this, but such is the state of the internet these days: Nobody paid me to write this and I bought all my CNOC bags (I now own three) with my own money.
CNOC Vecto Review Summary (28 mm thread)
Price: $19.99 on Amazon (2 L), $21.99 on Amazon (3 L)
Capacity: 2 liter or 3 liter
Weight: 2.6 oz (2 L), 3.1 oz (3 L)
My Rating: 5 / 5 stars
Note on thread types: This review is for the 28mm thread version, because that’s what fits the Sawyer filter. CNOC also has a 42mm thread version, also available in both 2 and 3 liter sizes, that screws onto the Katadyn BeFree filter. It’s important to choose the correct thread type for your filter.
Review Summary: The CNOC Vecto water bag is a thoughtfully designed, lightweight, versatile dirty bag alternative for the Sawyer Squeeze and Katadyn BeFree water filters. It’s an essential part of my go-to filter setup for everything from backpacking to bikepack racing to international travel.
What I Love
- Screws securely onto my Sawyer filter
- Flexible material rolls up small
- Wide opening is easy to fill even from shallow sources
- Plastic slide-closure is easy to hang for use as gravity filter
- Has never leaked in my backpack or panniers
What I Don’t Love
- The only drawback I can think of is weight: the CNOC weighs 2.95 oz for a 2 liter bag compared to 1.4 oz for the Sawyer squeeze bag. But, it’s 100% worth the extra weight in my opinion.
Options
Size: The CNOC Vecto water bag comes in both 2 liter and 3 liter sizes. For some fast-and-light solo hikers, 2 liters might be just right. But if you often fill up with more than 2 liters at a time, or are sharing the filter in a group, definitely get the 3 liter version.
Color: Blue or orange, take your pick. This may seem minor, but being able to tell whose bag is whose can be handy when using multiple bags on the same trip, especially if one member of the household group tends to not clean his gear as well as the other member of the household… 🙂 It can also help you distinguish between between dirty and clean bags if using one on each end of your filter.
Thread type: The 28 mm thread is the correct size for use with a Sawyer filter. CNOC also offers a 44 mm version that screws onto a Katadyn BeFree, so be sure to order the correct thread type for your filter.
Design Features
A water bag seems like a simple thing, but the devil’s in the details as they say, and the CNOC Vecto stands out for its thoughtful design. It was a Kickstarter project, after all, and the team seems to be all about design and innovation.
Dual Opening
This is the key. One end screws onto your Sawyer filter, just like the original Sawyer pouches do. But instead of trying to fill the bag from a shallow stream through that same tiny opening, you can slide off the plastic clamp on the other end and fill through the full-width opening instead. It sounds like a small thing, but when you’re hot and tired after hiking/biking/running all day long and you just want to filter some damn water asap, this is magic.
Plastic Clamp = Gravity Filter
Another seemingly small detail, the sliding clamp has a loop for attaching some cord (not included). This allows you to transform the Sawyer “Squeeze” filter into a gravity filter! Instead of sitting there squeezing water from a pouch, you can simply hang the Vecto from a tree branch (or doorknob in your guesthouse room, or the handlebars of your bike, or a tripod of hiking poles) and let gravity do the work while you eat a snack.
The fact that the clamp sticks out beyond the edges of the bag makes the height of the gravity setup adjustable. Just loop the cord around the edges a couple times to shorten it if you have a lower hanging point. I use a loop that is about 22 inches around and find that it’s very versatile for both long and short setups.
Graduated Markings
Always a nice touch, the bag has volume markings so you can see exactly how much water you’re about to filter.
Leak-Proof?
Sometimes I like to just fill up my dirty bag, carry it to camp in my backpack or bike bag, and do the filtering later. So far I’m happy to report, the CNOC Vecto has never leaked while doing this. I even carried it as extra water capacity, completely full, for 4 days in a bike pannier while crossing the desert in Sudan and it leaked not a single drop.
Durability
The bag’s flexible fabric and light weight might make you worry about its durability. So far, I have had no issues. This includes a month of daily use while bicycle touring through Egypt and Sudan, nearly 100 total days on the Colorado Trail and Arizona Trail, plus a number of shorter backpacking and bikepacking trips closer to home.
That said, it’s nice to know the CNOC online store offers replacement plastic parts, should we ever need them.
Final Thoughts
If you are looking for a better squeeze bag for your Sawyer filter, I highly recommend the CNOC Vecto. The designers clearly put a lot of thought into the design, which means I don’t have to put much thought into filtering my drinking water at the end of a long day on the trail. Sometimes the best gear is the gear that works so well, you barely even notice it.
About the Author
Hi there, I’m Alissa. I’ve had the pleasure of hiking the Arizona Trail, Colorado Trail, John Muir Trail, Tahoe Rim Trail, and countless shorter amazing trails throughout the US and abroad. I love solitude, big views, and a good lightweight gear setup. Learn more or say hi.
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Quote from an old friend: “there is no advantage without disadvantage”
So there must be some downside to this design. Balanced reviews are more credible, etc.
True enough in some cases, but not here. You’re probably thinking this is a sponsored post (sad that this is the state of the internet these days) but actually it’s just me writing about my personal experience because I was excited to share it. If that doesn’t make it credible, I don’t know what would!
I thought the review was exactly what it should have been – the balancing was comparing the existing crappy Sawyer bag (a disadvantage) with the advantage of this CNOC alternative. Anyone who’s had the mouth of their Sawyer bag rip open on multiple occasions is dying for any workable alternative. I found this site by looking for alternatives to the Sawyer bag and am getting one of these CNOC bags as a result of this review. Thanks!
A trekking pole suspension can be arranged with two poles, a piece of thin line and a tent peg.
Lean the poles away from the tent peg. It’s surprisingly solid 🙂
Ah, very nice!
Is there some type of screen or filter that can be placed in before the Sawyer that would keep larger pieces of debris out?
Yes, you can just screw the filter over a thin cloth like a bandana, buff, or piece of nylon pantyhose (if you happen to have any of those around). If it’s thin enough, it will fit between the threads.
No mention of the taste of the H2O from this bag. I do not want to be out in the wilderness with pristine creeks and have plastic taste from my water. I have found many hydration bladders have this problem. I suggest a test of filling the bag and leaving the water in it for a few hours then see if the taste is affected. Thanks
Good point, I hate that plastic taste too. I’ve never noticed it with this bag, even when new and when used to store water overnight.
Do you use your CNOC Vecto to carry water inside your pack? I thought this being a container that water goes in, meant for the backpacking crowd, that it’s a no-brainer to say “yes” to this question… yet CNOC themselves, on their 2022 FAQ specifically say they “don’t recommend putting your full Vecto inside your pack if you’re concerned about leaking”!!! So what the heck? I don’t get it. A water bladder for hiking that you CAN’T put in your pack if there’s water in it???
I usually don’t keep it full inside my pack, except briefly when carrying extra dirty water to a dry camp. I think it’s fairly reliable but does seem a little less robust than my Platypus bladder. But unless you’re filtering inline, sucking water through the filter as you drink (which I find annoying), I don’t see a need to keep the CNOC full in your pack. It’s designed to hold dirty water before it goes through your filter, and most people stop to filter into their bottles or hydration bladder and then continue on.