Isle Royale Forums

Just back from IR—trip report to follow. My MSR gravity filter is ripe for an upgrade. It holds four liters, which is great, but it is finicky. Prone to air locks, tricky to back flush and, lately, sloooow. Any recommendations?

I came up with a setup for my Sawyer Squeeze years ago that I really like. I bought a CNOC Vecto bag and connected a piece of flexible hose to an adapter that screws onto the "clean end" of the Sawyer Squeeze. I tied a piece of Zing-It to the top part of the Vecto bag so I can hang it from a branch.

It works well for me and has a decent flow rate. But, I also keep up on the maintenance of my Sawyer Squeeze by backflushing and disinfecting it after every trip. Two of my buddies now also use a similar setup.

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Backpacker534 wrote: Mon Aug 25, 2025 1:32 pm
It works well for me and has a decent flow rate. But, I also keep up on the maintenance of my Sawyer Squeeze by backflushing and disinfecting it after every trip.

What's your method for disinfecting?

I like the idea of squeeze systems (because I don't like the taste of chemical treatments) but I've had repeated issues with the filter casings and/or squeeze bags springing leaks. Letting gravity do the squeezing would help with that, I know, but I'M NOT THAT PATIENT!

torpified wrote:

Backpacker534 wrote: Mon Aug 25, 2025 1:32 pm
It works well for me and has a decent flow rate. But, I also keep up on the maintenance of my Sawyer Squeeze by backflushing and disinfecting it after every trip.

What's your method for disinfecting?

I like the idea of squeeze systems (because I don't like the taste of chemical treatments) but I've had repeated issues with the filter casings and/or squeeze bags springing leaks. Letting gravity do the squeezing would help with that, I know, but I'M NOT THAT PATIENT!

If you aren't patient enough for the gravity method, the CNOC Vecto is plenty sturdy enough to squeeze, even with a lot of pressure. And as long as you keep the Sawyer maintained, it provides a good flow rate and makes the water safe to drink; I've used mine for years without issues.

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torpified wrote: Tue Aug 26, 2025 7:24 am

Backpacker534 wrote: Mon Aug 25, 2025 1:32 pm
It works well for me and has a decent flow rate. But, I also keep up on the maintenance of my Sawyer Squeeze by backflushing and disinfecting it after every trip.

What's your method for disinfecting?

I like the idea of squeeze systems (because I don't like the taste of chemical treatments) but I've had repeated issues with the filter casings and/or squeeze bags springing leaks. Letting gravity do the squeezing would help with that, I know, but I'M NOT THAT PATIENT!

I use a sawyer squeeze as my back up filter. It is great, but i have found the bags eventually delaminate. Also, on a recent trip, a sawyer squeeze just stopped passing water through, even though it had been maintained. My theory is they have a lifespan in both liters filtered and simply age. I am just going to periodically replace mine every three years or so.

In such a system, what's the advantage of a Squeeze versus a Mini?

Kelly wrote:In such a system, what's the advantage of a Squeeze versus a Mini?

According to the internet....

"The primary difference is that the Sawyer Squeeze is designed for higher volume filtration with a faster flow rate and is generally preferred by thru-hikers for groups or high-demand scenarios, while the Sawyer Mini is a smaller, lighter, and cheaper personal filter that is excellent for fast-moving individuals but has a significantly slower flow rate and is prone to clogging with heavy use."

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Backpacker534 wrote: Tue Aug 26, 2025 8:44 am It works well for me and has a decent flow rate. But, I also keep up on the maintenance of my Sawyer Squeeze by backflushing and disinfecting it after every trip.

I've never used a gravity water filter. I have a couple of questions...

1. How long does it take to filter 1L of water?
2. What is the necessary maintenance both on the trail and after the trip?

IncaRoads wrote:

Backpacker534 wrote: Tue Aug 26, 2025 8:44 am It works well for me and has a decent flow rate. But, I also keep up on the maintenance of my Sawyer Squeeze by backflushing and disinfecting it after every trip.

I've never used a gravity water filter. I have a couple of questions...

1. How long does it take to filter 1L of water?
2. What is the necessary maintenance both on the trail and after the trip?

Time wise, I've never paid close attention, but it's quick enough that when I have set it up and gone to do other "camp chores", I have returned to find water overflowing the top of my 1L SmartWater bottle. If I had to guess, I would say maybe 1 1/2 - 2 minutes.

In terms of maintenance agyer a trip, I simply backflush the filter, run some diluted bleach water through it, let site for 30 minutes, then flush bleach water out with 1L of distilled water then let it dry out for a week or so before I put it away for the season. Very simple.

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I agree with Backpacker534. The best part of my Platypus 4L gravity filter is that I can set it up and go do something else (or just rest) and it's done for me, no more work needed. On a fresh filter, that one probably takes 5 minutes for 4L.

The one problem I've found, at least with the Platypus, is that after long term storage (from August to May) it can become extremely slow. I can sometimes coax fast filtering back out of it, but after a few years they get quite slow again, even with little use.

dcclark wrote: Thu Aug 28, 2025 6:00 pm The one problem I've found, at least with the Platypus, is that after long term storage (from August to May) it can become extremely slow. I can sometimes coax fast filtering back out of it, but after a few years they get quite slow again, even with little use.

Are you doing sanitizing and flushing with distilled water? The micro-tubes, I've read, can plug up with calcium deposits from hard water. Some recommend soaking with a vinegar solution to dissolve the calcium.

IncaRoads wrote:

dcclark wrote: Thu Aug 28, 2025 6:00 pm The one problem I've found, at least with the Platypus, is that after long term storage (from August to May) it can become extremely slow. I can sometimes coax fast filtering back out of it, but after a few years they get quite slow again, even with little use.

Are you doing sanitizing and flushing with distilled water? The micro-tubes, I've read, can plug up with calcium deposits from hard water. Some recommend soaking with a vinegar solution to dissolve the calcium.

I had that exact problem. I only used tap water to backflush and rinse my filter. I was informed that there may be deposits that solidify when the filter dried out that caused the clogging.

Now I backflush with tap water, run bleach water through to disinfect, then rinse out the bleach with distilled water to prevent clogging from minerals or calcium in the tap water.

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I have used tap water for flushing -- that's probably my problem! Vinegar and distilled water make sense. Thanks, both!

I run a waterdrop and sawyer and love it