John Harper wrote: ↑Mon Jun 06, 2022 11:24 am
Isn't that the Micro Squeeze?
John
John... It's the traditional, standard, (biggest version of the bunch) Sawyer Squeeze...100% sure. Have the packaging, plus Sawyer replaced it with the proper Squeeze too. In other words, no doubts.
Ironically I got the Squeeze instead of its smaller cousins to be on the safe side...aka "the bigger version the better". Hah!
P.S. The Platypus Quickdraw may end up being the better choice in terms of design and features. However, I am not going to draw any conclusions until I field test both of them later this summer.
So what about storage? I find this an issue. I don’t camp all year long. When the weather is nice that’s when I get out. I emailed Sawyer and here’s what they recommended for storage. But what say you out there? I did have a dried out Squeeze this season but followed Sawyers recommendation to bring it back to life with the warm water treatment and its worked fine. But I don’t want to do this every spring. And the damp towel/ziplock/dark place urban-myth to me, sounds dubious.
<< Thank you for reaching out to us and for using our fitler. Here is what we would recommend.
For Long-term Storage:
Backwash the filter as outlined above.
Fill the pouch with water and add 1 capful of bleach.
Attach filter to the bag.
Open flip-top cap and squeeze some of the bleach water through the filter.
Close flip-top cap and let stand for one hour.
Drain bleach water from bag and allow all components to air dry.
Some of our customers have stored the filter damp, keeping it in a ziplock bag or wrapped in a damp paper towel, they have found that when they take it out of storage the filter requires less maintenance to start using it again when they store it that way. If you choose to do that try to store the filter in a cool location out of UV light.
Save yourself the unnecessary weight! You most likely don't need a filter. The mountains in the east require treating drinking water, due to proximity to civilization, farming, warmer water and congested campsites. But not the Sierra. Few places in the Sierra warrant treating drinking water, according to field tests conducted by various institutions over the decades. The truth is most alleged water illnesses are actually caused by improper personal hygiene, prior to food preparation. (ehh!)
Sierra water quality is generally superior to that of municipal tap water. This information assumes you are not drawing from a brackish pond or warm shallow source with minimal flow. You can find the most recent water quality surveys by surfing the web. The suspect areas - and they are indeed just a few - are where cattle grazing is permitted, and areas of intense use by casual tourist, hikers and pack animal operators. Of course major rivers are suspect, as they carry everything down their course. Even along the JMT/PCT expressway high quality water is to be found by studying the map for freshets and side creeks that lack trails in their upstream watershed. Furthermore most of the microbes found in mountain stream water die off during the winter freeze, so the the watershed gets a reset every season, and the amount of bugs present in early season water is minimal, wherever a freeze cycle persists for a while.
I do carry the two-step chlorination pills for the few instances I am unsure of my water source. This generally happens when I am forced to deviate from my preplanned stops; otherwise I have not bothered treating the vast majority of my water in my 60+ years camping in the Sierra.
I have been using a Sawyer filter for about ten years and I generally like it. I have had a few issues with it drying out after long periods of non-use. I soak the filter in a clean sink with warm water for an hour or so and that seems to do the trick. I am pretty fastidious about following all of the manufacturer's other recommendations for backflushing, etc. I've had some success using the Sawyer as a gravity filter. On the other hand, I have a couple of friends who scoff at filtering water in the Eastern Sierra and they never have any problems.
@Iriscaddis Yeah, that whole rigmarole for the storage sounds 'suspect' to me too. When I borrowed a Squeeze from a guy on my spring trip (as the "second" go around with mine had failed) the guy said he did 'nothing' with the filter as per pre-soaking and all that and the flow was fantastic.
My theory is that some of these new small filters are just "hydrophobic" - to varying degrees. Maybe most are fine, or are slightly 'restricted' but without side-by-side comparisons who would know?! Certainly my new one c/o Sawyer (thus the "third" go around) is just fine and puts water out as per the propaganda video they have online.
I am not storing it in any fancy way, just room dried after a final pre-winter storage flush. Then in my camping box, with lid on box, but the Squeeze just lying open (without cap device which I do not use) on top of my sundry gear.
I will find out next year if this method "works" or not...though I will probably chicken out and do a pre-soak for a day before a trip, as it seemed to help my backup Platypus Quickdraw to behave properly on last sojourn.
P.S. Ref. Gogd... Ummmm, not filtering even the best of Sierra water is "psychologically" not an option for me. After 3+ years of chronic, undiagnosed, very high levels of Giardia (don't ask - and the GI doc who blew it is still subject to Voodoo doll pins and flames in my thoughts!) going 'native' is unnerving. Too much life-long gut damage (and other blowback). And that was 23 years ago...Each to their own.
@ Michaelzim
I can appreciate your aversion to water borne illnesses. I used to have a steel gut, but health conditions have compromised my durability, such that every trip I have taken to Latin America over the last 15 years has given me severe dysentery. I no longer wish to visits my old haunts south.
I do take additional precautions with wild Sierra water. The only time Sierra water ever made me sick was as a scout. I loved the water, so took a gallon home with me, left it in the refrigerator for a week before savoring it. Gave me dysentery for a day or two. The lesson: Bottling it and storing it created ideal conditions to incubate all of the bugs. So in addition to knowing what the field research indicates, regarding water quality, I keep my bulk storage vessels in the shade to reduce heating up the contents, and I always purge and refill my water containers before breakfast and dinner, so any buildup of bugs is kept to a minimum.
All good and funny replies. I’m with @michaelzim , I don’t want to fuss, nor go native. Not worth the side effects. I’ll keep Sawyers email as a paper trail for next season. Best.
My Sawyer squeeze has performed well for me, but I have noticed that if I do not do the pre-trip routine it takes a while to get good flow - I assume because until the entire filter "wets out", flow is not optimal. So I follow their instructions for both pre and post trip care. On trail, I shake it dry after each use, and cap the outlet end. I do the gravity thing, using a CNOC bag - which I think is far superior to the Sawyer and platypus bags. I almost never wish it was running faster - and sometimes I wish it was slower, as I forget briefly and then find it has overflowed my bottle and I am wasting filtered water.
Philosophically , I generally filter in most places, but if I can see the snowbank it is melting out of, or I am at a spring, then I drink it straight. On ski trips, I drink any liquid water I can find unless it is muddy. No limit on how many pine needles per liter.
M.