Leupold BX-4 Rangefinding Binoculars

What to use for water

tom338

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What should you recommend for purifying water for 2 guys on a 3-4 day spike camp. Darn water to heavy to pack much along for that many days. I will be using a 100 oz bladder. Then need water for cooking Mt house meals (4 per day). What do you recommend I get
 
I'd recommend looking into something along the lines of a Platypus Gravity Works. I much prefer letting gravity filter water then using the pump style filters.
 
I've used half a dozen different filters over the years. The Gravity Works was pretty much in its own category for several years, but now Lifestraw and Sawyer have capitalized on the concept. Last year I got a Sawyer Mini and I like it better than anything else I've tried. It can be used inline or as a gravity filter, but it also works well in several other configurations, including drinking straight from the water source. On top of that, it actually has a slightly better filter specification than the Gravity Works and costs less than 1/2 as much. I would keep your existing bladder for clean water and pick up a cheap alternate bladder for carrying dirty water and for setting it up as a gravity filtering at camp.
 
You can buy Platypus collapsible bottles for about $10 at REI. These are great if you need to shuttle water to camp, keep extra around for cooking etc.
 
Sawyer has a good reputation. I have the big one that attaches to a bucket and a small one. I have not used either, yet, but the price is good on them, too.
 
Katadyn pump style filters have treated me well. The only advantage my hunting partners had on me with the gravity filters was when we would get back to camp at night they would have a bladder full of clean water waiting for them that they had filled up that morning. I would have to go pump. But I could throw my pump in my pack with me in the event I needed more water throughout the day. Just depends on your situation.
 
Iv'e used the Katydn Hiker for many years now. I just carry it with me everywhere I go and fill up as needed for drinking. For cooking I just pull water right out of the creek. You are going to boil it anyways.
 
Another vote for the Sawyer Mini here. I used two of them last year on a wilderness hunt. Actually I only used one, but had a backup just in case. As stated before, they are great as an inline or gravity.

Here is what I did. I filled up the camelback every morning from the creek. Whenever I crossed a spring or creek and I was 1/2 empty I topped it off. When I got back to camp, I would take my Nalgene bottle and let my camelback gravity drain into the nalgene bottle so I had clean water to brush my teeth and for coffee in the morning ( so I didn't have to bring it to boiling). After draining, I would disconnect the Sawyer and drain it. Then wrap it in an unused wool sock and put it in the tent with me so it didn't freeze.

I only flushed it once, on the first night, just to see if it truly needed it. After that I did not flush it ( 3 days later) until I got home. I never experienced a loss of flow through it either.

Great product, weighs nothing, easy to care for.
 
I use purification tablets for clear, moving water. Katadyn pump style filter for cloudy or stagnant water.
 
For years I carried pumps such as the MSR MiniWorks then went to drops as I was tired of carrying the 1lb pump. Then two years ago got a Sawyer mini and now I enjoy fetching water. Use it mostly as a gravity filter but have also used it as a straw and inline. A fraction of the weight and no more pumping is a win-win.
 
house hold unscented bleach. I empty a visine bottle, wrap with duct tape and fill with bleach. 3 drops per liter on clean running water, 4 or 5 drops to dirtier water. After application let the water sit for ten minutes in shade, works great and you don't have to pack a heavy filter around. The duct tape on the visine bottle is critical because the sun takes the effectiveness away from the bleach, you could paint it to, my buddy does that. You wont taste the bleach and its much more convenient then sitting by a creek for twenty minutes pumping water or waiting for gravity to do its work.
 
As a water treatment operator, I really wouldn't recommend not using a filter no matter how clear the water is. Sodium hypochlorite (bleach) in and of itself isn't very effective at killing either Giardia lambia or Cryptosporidium. The potable aqua tablets are more effective against Giardia but not Crypto. I came into contact with crypto tainted water once, and let me tell you it is not something that you want. I didn't leave the toilet for 7 days and I lost over 25 pounds by the time it ran its course. Cryptosporidium is a cyst so the only way to remove it is by filtration. Chlorine or other disinfectants will not penetrate the cyst wall to kill the organism inside. The Sawyer Mini is a great choice, because it allows a 5-log removal (99.99999%) which is equivalent to municipal water filtration standards. You may get lucky for years, but it will only take one organism to make you deathly ill. I think water treatment is definitely something you shouldn't skimp weight on, IMO.
 
Ill stay with my bleach bottle, have been with it for 15 years, never had a problem. Besides I learned this from my brother in law that teaches SEAR training in the air force, hard to argue with special forces training. I use a 6 liter clear platypus foldable tank for camp water, after the initial 10 minutes with bleach put in I leave the tank in the sun. The sun is also effective water treatment. Make sure if you are not pulling from a moving water source, like a lake or pond, pull from the 6-12" below the surface level, the sun has taken care of most things at that depth.
 
Ill stay with my bleach bottle, have been with it for 15 years, never had a problem. Besides I learned this from my brother in law that teaches SEAR training in the air force, hard to argue with special forces training. I use a 6 liter clear platypus foldable tank for camp water, after the initial 10 minutes with bleach put in I leave the tank in the sun. The sun is also effective water treatment. Make sure if you are not pulling from a moving water source, like a lake or pond, pull from the 6-12" below the surface level, the sun has taken care of most things at that depth.

I drove without a seatbelt for a decade when first got my license. Had a highway patrolman swear wearing no seatbelt was best since he had been to fatalities where the person would have possibly lived if had been thrown clear of the vehicle during the accident. This was the early 1970s. I followed his advice. Patrolman was college-educated and had been MP in Army. Confident guy. That was good enough for me. Who could possibly be smarter about seatbelt vs no seatbelt than a trooper? Safety is his life. I went a decade with great results.

Changed my habit when was provided solid information my prior choice was prone to increasing my risk of injury and death. I could have kept my old habit. Facts are different than personal past experience. Wear a seatbelt. Properly treat water.
 
I use the same MSR pump for 20years and it works. Maybe a bit heavier then newer ones,but it works ,always.
I have pills in pack for back-up...for 20years....lol,never needed.
Gravity bags are fine with streams,lakes springs and cleaner water source.
I live in NM.Not many of those here.
I can pump out of a stock tank or rain puddle,which are common hunting.

I was trained,lic.ed,& operated public water systems & swimming pools for a CA county for 16 years. Multiple sources of water,locations and systems.
I would not rely only on chlorine.
I would not rely on one Gov. agency alone for state of art,let alone SOP.
The military in particular...
 
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As a water treatment operator, I really wouldn't recommend not using a filter no matter how clear the water is. Sodium hypochlorite (bleach) in and of itself isn't very effective at killing either Giardia lambia or Cryptosporidium. The potable aqua tablets are more effective against Giardia but not Crypto. I came into contact with crypto tainted water once, and let me tell you it is not something that you want. I didn't leave the toilet for 7 days and I lost over 25 pounds by the time it ran its course. Cryptosporidium is a cyst so the only way to remove it is by filtration. Chlorine or other disinfectants will not penetrate the cyst wall to kill the organism inside. The Sawyer Mini is a great choice, because it allows a 5-log removal (99.99999%) which is equivalent to municipal water filtration standards. You may get lucky for years, but it will only take one organism to make you deathly ill. I think water treatment is definitely something you shouldn't skimp weight on, IMO.

X2 from another "A" licensed water Treatment Plant operator. I have tried the lifestraw just to test it out and it is extremely hard to suck water through. It is currently in the bottom of my scouting pack with some iodine packets. But I carry water with me since I do long treking style hunts where I have to carry all the water I have.
 
Ah the age of information, turned everybody into a bunch of softies. I will agree with everything written above, bleach is by no means the most effective way to treat water in the back country. I choose my water sources carefully and if it wasnt so abundant from ground seeps in the Colorado high country, which in my opinion is the safest back country source of water there is, I probably would use a filter.
 
I did for most of my life.
Hell we would drink out of water troughs,let alone any stream or spring.The ex got Girardia on a trip and it was eye opener.
We checked everything at home & cabin. Treated springs,tanks ,wells. Then I got trained at work officially.
You can get girardia easier from a restaurant I've been told. Healthcare official...off record.
One of these days I'll have my wells tested. Until then I drink out of the windmill all the time,but not the drinker/tank anymore.
 
Ah the age of information, turned everybody into a bunch of softies. I will agree with everything written above, bleach is by no means the most effective way to treat water in the back country. I choose my water sources carefully and if it wasnt so abundant from ground seeps in the Colorado high country, which in my opinion is the safest back country source of water there is, I probably would use a filter.

I grew up doing the same here in Florida. We drank all kinda of crazy water it's a miracle I never got seriously sick from it with all the swamp water we drank running around.

Check this out. Not new technology. But the size is what is cool.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZKPcVZ9tUs
 
I drove without a seatbelt for a decade when first got my license. Had a highway patrolman swear wearing no seatbelt was best since he had been to fatalities where the person would have possibly lived if had been thrown clear of the vehicle during the accident. This was the early 1970s. I followed his advice. Patrolman was college-educated and had been MP in Army. Confident guy. That was good enough for me. Who could possibly be smarter about seatbelt vs no seatbelt than a trooper? Safety is his life. I went a decade with great results.

Changed my habit when was provided solid information my prior choice was prone to increasing my risk of injury and death. I could have kept my old habit. Facts are different than personal past experience. Wear a seatbelt. Properly treat water.


Not it taking safety advise on anything, water filtration included, from anyone who could think not wearing a seat belt and being thrown out of a vehicle gave better odds of survival for auto accidents. LOL
 

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