We backpackers love sipping from cool mountain streams, but we don't love Giardia! Before you drink from natural sources you'll need to filter or treat the water. Fortunately it's fast and easy with one of these popular backpacking water filters.
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Filters take care of bacteria and parasites, but not viruses (which are too small). Filters are good enough in the backcountry, but if traveling to places with less developed sanitation infrastructure or drinking water from high-use recreation areas in developed places, you want a purifier (UV or chemical treatment).
There are many backpacking water filters available, but only a handful are preferred by experienced backpackers. Tap to see them...
Best for: long trips, dirty water, integrating with Smartwater bottles
Challenges: need to backflush often, must protect from freezing temps
Tips: choose original Squeeze model for dirty water (less easily clogged). Use Micro and Mini models only for mostly clear water.
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Best for: turning Sawyer Squeeze into gravity filter
Sawyer Squeeze filters are great, but their squeeze bags are not. Replace with a CNOC Vecto bag for a hands-free gravity filter setup that won't fail.
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Best for: ultralight water filtering (fastpacking, trail running), quick filtering on the go
Challenges: easy to lightly clean but can't be aggressively backflushed if it clogs; must protect from freezing temps
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Best for: filtering 4 liters of water at once, groups of 3+ people, convenient hands-off filtering at camp
Challenges: a bit bulkier and heavier than other models, must be protected from freezing
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Best for: emergency backup, short ultralight trips, clear water, adding purification step to filter when water may have virus contamination
Challenges: must wait before drinking, slight taste, doesn't filter out particulates
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