Water Part I

          There is no life without water so water, especially safe drinking water, should be at the top of everyone's list of prepper items. I purposely live with access to over a dozen different natural water sources within a day's hike (creeks, river, etc) and have the means to make it safe. However, I have noticed what I consider a very bad trend which is that folks tend to read up on wilderness survival and then buy a very inexpensive water filter designed for just that - short term wilderness survival. An example of this is the "Life Straw". It may be great in an emergency for a weekend backpacker but you would have to have a closet full of them as a prepper.

          Just as bad is that most "prepper sites" recommend water filter systems that are very expensive and economically out of reach or impractical for most folks. Not only that but most of these systems are not mobile friendly. An example of this is the "Berkeley" water filter system. This may be great if you have plenty of money to spend, and are bugging in, and have an ample supply of water on hand; but, otherwise you are screwed.

          The best solution is a system that combines the low price and portability of the Life Straw with the high volume of output of a Berkeley. I have and regularly use such a system and highly recommend it. It is the Sawyer Mini Water Filtration System. It can be used as a straw to drink directly from any source (e.g. a stream, water puddle, etc). It is sold with a straw as an extension to reach inside canteens and bottles. It is also sold with a pouch that you can screw it onto and use as a canteen or you can use a bottle to carry as a canteen - it fits most of the screw top bottles that water and soda are sold in. It can be adapted to fit most "Camelback" style backpack water bags or to any larger group sized bag, for using gravity if desired, to slowly fill any receptacle.

          When it comes to volume the Sawyer could last a lifetime for a single person as it has filter life of 100,000 gallons of water. The Life straw only filters 1,000 liters (about 264 gallons). The Berkeley system filter is rated at 3,000 gallons. Easy enough to see the difference! When it comes to safe water the Life Straw only filters down to .2 micron while the Sawyer filters down to .1 micron. When it comes to price I bought my Sawyer mini from Amazon for less than $20 USD. The Life Straw costs about $18 USD and the Berkeley well over $200 USD.

          The Sawyer Mini System is sold as a kit: Sawyer MINI Water Filter, 16 oz Reusable Squeeze Pouch, 7" Drinking Straw, Cleaning Plunger (Syringe), Cleaning and Maintenance Instructions

Stats:

Weight: Kit is 4 ounces, filter alone is 2 ounces

Protection: .1 micron filter removes 7 log (99.99999%) of all bacteria (like salmonella, cholera and E. coli) and 6 log (99.9999%) of all protozoa (like giardia and cryptosporidium).

USE: It takes about 45 seconds to filter 1 liter of water through the Sawyer Mini.

Lifetime Warranty      

          Why have a system you cannot carry on you or one that will not last. Do not just survive - surthrive!