A detailed look at the Sawyer Squeeze Water Filtration System. //// The Sawyer Squeeze caught my eye recently in the Backpacker Magazine Gear Guide as an editor’s choice. After a little research, I was quite intrigued. This system filters water down to 0.1 Absolute Microns, weighs 3oz, and has no mechanical parts. Which means less opportunity to fail out in the field. Always a plus.
But most importantly? No pumping! Sounds simple enough, but after several collective hours squatting over various streams and puddles, I’ve had about enough of that. Another cool part of this system is the ability to fill up one of the supplied collapsible water pouches with unfiltered water while on the go, and not have to worry about filtering it until later when you need it. In fact, the system comes with a sports bottle style cap on the filtering end, so you can actually drink out of it AS you filter the water.
The kit I bought here came with the filter long with 3 different size water pouches: 16 oz, 32 oz, and 64 oz. Choose whichever you need for your trip and go. Or bring all three. Just thread your chosen pouch onto the filtering unit and squeeze away. An added bonus: the filter’s threads will fit most plastic drink bottles including standard 2 liter bottles, so your choice of filter vessel options just got a lot larger. I also found that the clean water side fits into my USGI surplus military canteen perfectly. Nice.
If your wondering how often you’ll have to replace the filter and more importantly, how much it will cost, I have good news for you. According to our friends at Sawyer, you’ll never have to worry about that. This system uses a Hollow Membrane Carbon Membrane filter which compared to Ceramic filters, has a cleaning ratio of 20 to 1. Although the manufacturer says you wont need to do it often, the kit does come with a large syringe to perform a periodic backwash of your filter. Basically, you just fill it with water and blast it through the Sawyer Squeeze in reverse.
All in all, I’m pretty excited about this system. I was looking for a simple ultra-light water filtration option for solo hiking, and I think this fits the bill quite nicely.
Some more stats:
0.1 micron absolute hollow fiber membrane inline filter
Includes three collapsible pouch sizes
Removes 99.99999% bacteria and 99.9999% Protozoa/Cysts
Field maintainable
Comes with manufacture’s 1 million gallon guarantee
And for good measure, the official manufacturer’s description:
The NEW Sawyer Squeeze Filter is the lightest and most versatile filtration system on the market. With a total field weight of 3 ounces and ability to roll up, it takes up virtually no space in your pack. This product includes 3 pouches (0.5 L, 1 L and 2 L) that can be reused hundreds of times. Simply fill up the pouch of your choice at a lake, stream or river, screw the filter directly onto the pouch and 1) Squeeze the bag and filter water into your water bottle or container of choice, 2) Drink directly from the filter which has a built in push pull cap for on/off functions, 3) Attach the filter onto most threaded water bottles including 2 liter bottles. Kit includes: 3 – Lightweight Durable Collapsible Pouches (0.5 L , 1 L, and 2 L pouch), Sawyer 0.10 Absolute Micron Hollow Fiber Membrane Screw On/Off Water Filter, Replaceable Pop Up Drinking Spout, Cleaning Syringe. Life Expectancy: 1 Million Gallons Guaranteed.