View Full Version : Water Purification Filters
steve-rawls
12-02-2017, 04:54 PM
I did a quick search and didn't see any threads on this. Does anyone talk about portable water filter pumps here?
You bet. Scads of threads on them.
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/forums/search.php?searchid=3162554
steve-rawls
12-02-2017, 07:21 PM
Strange thing, I get no matches when I click that link. I can see a ton of other posts and stuff though when I look around the forum.
Well what the? Do a search in the search box on "water filters" and you'll get a ton of links come up.
I fixed the original. It should come up now.
Antonyraison
12-03-2017, 07:19 AM
Honestly never used them.. we either use the water purifying drops or tablets.. or we filter and boil the water.. we go very old school out here in Africa... although I heard good thing of the life straw
crashdive123
12-03-2017, 07:29 AM
I did a search on the forum "water+filter" and this is what turned up.
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/forums/search.php?searchid=3165967
hunter63
12-03-2017, 11:39 AM
The like says "no file found?
kyratshooter
12-03-2017, 01:06 PM
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/forums/search.php?searchid=3167999
Just plug in the name of a water filter and it will take you to some of the discussions that might have included any of the popular filters on the market as well as other purification methods.
I keep a Lifestraw in each of my vehicles and have a Sawyer Mini available for general purpose use.
I think I have stated before that I have several friends that are missionaries that I have gifted the Sawyer Mini to. They have been used all over Africa, the mid-east and South America by my friends and have never let the users down. They usually leave the filters with the last host they visit while in country and buy a new one before each trip.
Their high filtration capacity is a huge benefit when out of touch with any Bass Pro or REI that might happen to have the filter cartridge you need when your pump filter stops working half way through a trip to Tanzania.
Billofthenorth
12-10-2017, 12:53 PM
I tried one of the mini-sawyers last spring, brought to my attention on this site. It didn't get as much use as I had hoped but I suffered no ill effects from the trip. For the money and ease of use I'd say that should make the short list.
hunter63
12-10-2017, 01:11 PM
I tried one of the mini-sawyers last spring, brought to my attention on this site. It didn't get as much use as I had hoped but I suffered no ill effects from the trip. For the money and ease of use I'd say that should make the short list.
For a carrying around....Yes I agree.
Antonyraison
12-11-2017, 02:30 AM
I drank a lot of wild waters,
and for the most part boiling and filtering it with a cotton shirt or buff.. works..
the water drops work, the tablets work (but have a weird taste)
I havent used a water filter system yet...
But yeah I can see the benifit of a small portable water filter like a life straw....
Mannlicher
12-31-2017, 07:50 PM
I carry both a Life Straw and a Katadyn Hiker Pro in my pack. To be candid though, I don't often use them any more. My back pack camping days are gone. With car camping, I carry 4 or 6 gallons of water from the casa, and rarely need more.
I have two of those nice bag to bag Aquamira sets, and they are pretty effective. Still have the big Katadyn three filter ltr set also. It is really the best I have ever used.
kyratshooter
12-31-2017, 08:19 PM
Anyone know how to get crushed ice through a Sawyer mini-filter?
All the water in my part of the woods is in its solid state right now.
crashdive123
12-31-2017, 09:30 PM
Send it to Florida. You should be good.
alaskabushman
12-31-2017, 10:29 PM
Water filter technology has come a long way in recent years, this is good if your in the market for one.
I personally don't always carry a filter, since where I live it's fairly safe to drink water untreated (as long as it's not from standing water). But I do use a Katadyn hiker while on extended hunting trips into new territory. My buddy picked up a Sawyer mini and, while not a pump filter, it's really simple. For about $20 you can filter 100,000 gallons!
If your not in a hurry you can always boil the water too, but this is not always as convenient as a filter.
kyratshooter
01-01-2018, 01:19 PM
I have never found boiling to be anything but a last resort.
Unless you are planning for boiling most hikers/campers will not have a container large enough to boil enough water for proper hydration. A little 2 quart pot, canteen cup or the 1 liter pot from the backpacking cook set is not going to do the job.
I used to carry at least 4 liters of water while long distance hiking and toting a one gallon cook-pot hanging from the pack is past most people's tolerance levels. Add to that the need to carry extra fuel in areas where fires can not be built and the choice becomes carry a filter, or carry more than the filter's weight in fuel.
Add to that the fact that most people are not inclined to stop, build a fire and boil water at every canteen fill up during the day and you have the recipe for water born illness due to someone running short and getting dehydrated, coming across water that looks ok but is not, drinking it raw due to being in a hurry, and getting sick.
madmax
01-01-2018, 01:27 PM
Kyratshooter makes a good point about boiling. You need a bigger pot than usual and factor in cooling the water. A lesson learned on our first Pot and Machete.
alaskabushman
01-01-2018, 01:33 PM
I did say it was not convienent. I feel like boiling water is a perfectly viable option, but you have to be willing to stop and build a fire and kill an hour at least. You also have to do it [I]before[I] you actually run out, otherwise your drinking warm water, not always pleasant. I'm a tea drinker so I always have a small pot with me so when I stop I can boil up some water for tea.
I live in an area where I can build a fire anywhere, so carrying extra fuel (unless of course isobutane canisters or the like) is foreign to me. This would certainly be a consideration in those kinds of places.
Boiling is not a perfect or fast option, but it IS an option.
Filters are far more convenient, and they have advanced to the point that there is really no good reason not to have at least one.
kyratshooter
01-01-2018, 06:33 PM
I just remember that when I was hiking I drank an exceptionally great amount of water. Two gallons daily was common. Besides the regular one liter water bottles everyone carried I had two, 2 liter plastic bottles in my pack and I topped them up whenever possible. I was known to fill a third if headed into a dry camp for the night, or if the weather was very hot and I was going to be sweating a lot.
And being in the south "cool" water was unknown. After you carried it for an hour it was all at air temp, which was usually above 90f.
Water was often the largest part of my pack weight each morning when I started the daily jaunt through the woods.
Back in those days we did not have the nice filters at a price point that I could afford, so either purification tablets or drops were my standard.
Lord only knows how much chlorine and iodine I have consumed over the decades.
But like most of the others here, my backpacking days are over. If I can not paddle, peddle, or motor into the campsite I will just have to pass. Fortunately my area has a lot of good places to motor in without being restricted to public campgrounds.
crashdive123
01-01-2018, 08:05 PM
I drink a lot of water. My back packing days may come back some day, but for now I can carry all the water I need. Day hikes I carry a few bottles with a filter as a back up.
hunter63
01-01-2018, 08:44 PM
I drink a lot of water. My back packing days may come back some day, but for now I can carry all the water I need. Day hikes I carry a few bottles with a filter as a back up.
That's kinda my plan...these days....used to carry only the tablets...actually still do...(wonder if they are still ok?)
Used the lifestraw filter a few of times....should have tried it at home first...first few sips were kinda nasty......kinda hard to get enough for a cup of coffee
The Kadyn pump water filter is in the trucks BOB....
Some times I wish the SHTF would just show up and get it over with......doing everything over and over get old....(just kidding)
worldwanderer
01-08-2018, 08:00 AM
I always use the water filter when I'm out in the woods (better safe than sorry). I have this for more than a year - Katadyn Hiker Pro (https://www.rei.com/product/116363/katadyn-hiker-pro-clear-microfilter) and it's just great. I highly recommend it.
DSJohnson
01-15-2018, 11:23 PM
Some times I wish the SHTF would just show up and get it over with......doing everything over and over get old....(just kidding)
I will not lie, I have had the same thought.
Antonyraison
05-09-2018, 04:57 AM
I have never found boiling to be anything but a last resort.
Unless you are planning for boiling most hikers/campers will not have a container large enough to boil enough water for proper hydration. A little 2 quart pot, canteen cup or the 1 liter pot from the backpacking cook set is not going to do the job.
I used to carry at least 4 liters of water while long distance hiking and toting a one gallon cook-pot hanging from the pack is past most people's tolerance levels. Add to that the need to carry extra fuel in areas where fires can not be built and the choice becomes carry a filter, or carry more than the filter's weight in fuel.
Add to that the fact that most people are not inclined to stop, build a fire and boil water at every canteen fill up during the day and you have the recipe for water born illness due to someone running short and getting dehydrated, coming across water that looks ok but is not, drinking it raw due to being in a hurry, and getting sick.
100% yeah you need a billy can or a pot or canteen cup, larger is better.. Generally yes is last resort, but is how we generally required to do it on on excursions, when we hike we use water drops and take from clear running creaks.. (not really the most ideal, generally last ditch) but is how we train here in SA Minimal equipment... Also made filters from discarded bottles, charcoal, stones grass etc.. Also works... but I still boil it also.
Alan R McDaniel Jr
05-10-2018, 10:47 PM
Not so much any more, but in the past we had a lot of "Hikers" down here in South Texas. Some of those guys (the ones who knew where they were going) could hike about 50 miles a day. Every one of them had a gallon jug, or a big coke bottle on a string, or some kind of container used as a canteen. They were cheap (free) and could be discarded if the hiker had to hike real fast to stay ahead of the "Hiker Patrol". Those guys had zero food, and took water from windmills, water troughs and cisterns. It wasn't always the cleanest and the didn't have filters (except their internal ones).
Unless you can draw water straight off the standpipe, the water from ranch cisterns and troughs is a protozoa paradise. We were about 70 miles, as the crow flies (or as the hiker hikes) from the river. Some guys could make it in two days easy, others a week. The more experienced could make it to clean water in pretty good shape. We'd feed them, work the ones who wanted to stay, and send them on their way. The ones who took a week to get there were usually pretty sick by the time they pulled up. There's no doctor to call so they could bunk out in the barn until their scours stopped and they got a little strength back.
The reason I bring all this up is two fold. #1. Even someone who has been used to drinking less than potable water all their lives can get deathly sick drinking water that looks good. And 2. There are still people in this world who can cover 35-50 miles a day on foot through rough brush if they know where the safe water is and do not succumb to the temptation to drink anything questionable.
Oh, and always drink up stream from the horses.
Alan
Antonyraison
05-11-2018, 01:48 AM
Not so much any more, but in the past we had a lot of "Hikers" down here in South Texas. Some of those guys (the ones who knew where they were going) could hike about 50 miles a day. Every one of them had a gallon jug, or a big coke bottle on a string, or some kind of container used as a canteen. They were cheap (free) and could be discarded if the hiker had to hike real fast to stay ahead of the "Hiker Patrol". Those guys had zero food, and took water from windmills, water troughs and cisterns. It wasn't always the cleanest and the didn't have filters (except their internal ones).
Unless you can draw water straight off the standpipe, the water from ranch cisterns and troughs is a protozoa paradise. We were about 70 miles, as the crow flies (or as the hiker hikes) from the river. Some guys could make it in two days easy, others a week. The more experienced could make it to clean water in pretty good shape. We'd feed them, work the ones who wanted to stay, and send them on their way. The ones who took a week to get there were usually pretty sick by the time they pulled up. There's no doctor to call so they could bunk out in the barn until their scours stopped and they got a little strength back.
The reason I bring all this up is two fold. #1. Even someone who has been used to drinking less than potable water all their lives can get deathly sick drinking water that looks good. And 2. There are still people in this world who can cover 35-50 miles a day on foot through rough brush if they know where the safe water is and do not succumb to the temptation to drink anything questionable.
Oh, and always drink up stream from the horses.
Alan
Agreed you must always treat any wild water as unsafe and do you best to Filter and boil and make as safe as you can to drink
I'll bet your barn smelled better when just the horses were there than when the scours hit. Pee U.
crashdive123
05-11-2018, 08:05 PM
I see what you did there.
Alan R McDaniel Jr
05-11-2018, 10:42 PM
My barn couldn't smell. It was a barn. At times it had a definite stench (that's polite for stink, as in stink, stank, stunk)....
Once I had two exchange students show up one evening. I fed them and showed them the room in the barn. They were over joyed to see that they had an entire 12x12 room with mattresses all to themselves. Next morning they said they wanted to stay and work, $5/day and meals.... There was plenty that needed to be done so we had a deal. First order of business was to dig a latrine. When it was finished I set an old lawn chair over it that had a hole in the seat and put toilet paper in a coffee can next to it. We went on and worked that day. My grandmother and great grandmother lived in the house where the barn was. I lived down the road. Next morning only one of them was waiting for me to go to work. I figured the other was on his way. I look up and he's coming out of the brush line about 200 yards behind the house. I asked the guy standing there what the other one was doing. He said he went to take a dump. I asked him what the hell he thought the big hole he dug yesterday was for? "Por elllas" he said pointing at the house. I told him, "No, my grandmother and great grandmother were not going to use the latrine, no matter how nice it was.... That it was for them"...
This would not be my last exasperation with third world culture. But, I will tell you that both of those guys weren't 5'3" and 125# soaking wet and they nearly worked me to death. They didn't know anything about clocks. The sun came up, start working. The sun goes down, stop working.
All this hubbub with the immigrants of today doesn't hold water to any of those guys back then. Anyone who will walk through the brush into another country to work harder and longer than ANYONE in this country has my total respect. At that time $5/day (and food) was about 10 times what they could make at home, if they could find someone with money to work for.
Over time though, things change, and that changed for the worse.
There are still those who will work hard, but they don't really want to stay here. They want to work and go home. The ones who want to stay here are mostly those who don't want to work but want our government's handouts.
Alan
Fatizi
06-01-2018, 09:59 AM
I have used the following:
Tincture of iodine........brilliantly effective but has a slight taste, and shouldn't be used for long periods (your body has a limit as to how much iodine it should ingest in a lifetime).
madmax
06-01-2018, 10:44 AM
Boiling water in an onsite made bamboo container. With palm string. This was on a Pot and Machete Challenge in FL.
https://i.imgur.com/m6IkS3F.jpg
We're not gonna ask you to clarify the "pot" statement. Not gonna do it. Nope.
madmax
06-01-2018, 02:38 PM
The cookies didn't last long.
davidgoldberg
07-25-2018, 11:32 AM
Don't want to post a new thread, so let me ask you guys here: water purification fillter or water purification tablets? Which one is better, what do you think?
kyratshooter
07-25-2018, 12:27 PM
Don't want to post a new thread, so let me ask you guys here: water purification fillter or water purification tablets? Which one is better, what do you think?
You did not go back and read the entire thread did you?
Some like boiling, some like tablets, some like drops, others like filters.
For long term use in the woods filters have the lead due to the amount of water they will process. That bottle of pills only has 20-30 tablets, the drops might give you 15 gallons of water.
The Lifestraw and the Sawyer will filter one year or more of daily drinking water. If you factor the cost alone the filters will save you a fortune if you are needing to purify on a regular basis.
I figure that the one I bought will last me the rest of my life in the woods. BTW I have a close friend in the mid-east on a mission effort who is sucking all his drinking water through a Sawyer right now. He spends 3-6 months each year in desolate locations and has carried the Sawyer on each trip since I gifted him his first one about 5 years ago. Before the Sawyer he was sick on his trips constantly, even though he only drank bottled water. It seems that some foreign suppliers simply put tap water in the bottles.
Wise Old Owl
08-03-2018, 05:40 PM
Kyratshooter makes a good point about boiling. You need a bigger pot than usual and factor in cooling the water. A lesson learned on our first Pot and Machete.
After boiling - put the pot back in the stream - cools fast.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.2 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.