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A place to chat about gear and the philosphy of ultralight. Ultralight bushwalking or backpacking focuses on carrying the lightest and simplest kit. There is still a good focus on safety and skill.

Forum rules

Ultralight Bushwalking/backpacking is about more than just gear lists. Ultralight walkers carefully consider gear based on the environment they are entering, the weather forecast, their own skill, other people in the group. Gear and systems are tested and tweaked.
If you are new to this area then welcome - Please remember that although the same ultralight philosophy can be used in all environments that the specific gear and skill required will vary greatly. It is very dangerous to assume that you can just copy someone else's gear list, but you are encouraged to ask questions, learn and start reducing the pack weight and enjoying the freedom that comes.

Common words
Base pack backpacking the mass of the backpack and the gear inside - not including consumables such as food, water and fuel
light backpacking base weight less than 9.1kg
ultralight backpacking base weight less than 4.5kg
super-ultralight backpacking base weight less than 2.3kg
extreme-ultralight backpacking base weight less than 1.4kg
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UL options for decontaminating water

Wed 23 Oct, 2019 10:00 am

I have a trip coming up where I expect all the water will need decontaminating due to giardia/crypto risk.

I have tablets however I’m a bit wary of using them for the 20-25L of water I’m likely to consume/need over the period of the walk. Often I’ve found there is quite a few tiny tablet particles still in the water after an hours dwell time. I don’t like the idea of consuming left overs from 20 tablets.

After suggestions for UL alternatives

  • I'l have 500ml pot/mug. So I could cool boiled water but 500ml is not practical for cooling 2L of water.
  • Im happy to use contaminated water for cooking/hot drinks as I'l be boiling it anyway.
  • I have a sawyer squeeze, while it works, it takes quite a while and is relatively heavy at 115 grams including the dirty water squeeze bottle.
  • Are those life straw bottle/filter combo things easy to use and more light weight than the sawyer/PET bottle combo?

Any new products offering UL decontaminatation I’ve missed?

Still thinking of using tablets as once I discount the boiled cooking water, Id only be using 10.

my drinking bottles will be two 1 L PET@ 32 grams each

Re: UL options for decontaminating water

Wed 23 Oct, 2019 10:23 am

Personally, I think its hard to beat the sawyer squeeze. Maybe try a CNOC bladder in conjunction with the squeeze. It certainly helped me move the water faster through the filter.


No affiliation, just a happy customer - https://ultralighthiker.com.au/collecti ... adder-28mm

Re: UL options for decontaminating water

Wed 23 Oct, 2019 10:32 am

I like Aqua Mira liquid and have used it on some very long trips. It is light and reliable, and the water tastes fine.

Re: UL options for decontaminating water

Wed 23 Oct, 2019 10:43 am

+1 for the Sawyer Squeeze, -1 for the Sawyer Mini, way to slow.
I'm a Katadyn Befree convert these days, the ability to scoop and go as opposed to having to hang around filtering water is a game changer for me. People complain they block and get really slow, I've never had a problem with mine. I do carry a Squeeze as backup just in case the flexible BeFree bottle fails.

Re: UL options for decontaminating water

Wed 23 Oct, 2019 11:37 am

I can't believe you haven't mentioned the Steripen.
Uses ultraviolet light. One litre appx 1 minute.
Hospitals have used such technology for decades.
I am still using my original steripen, purchased nearly twenty years ago.

Re: UL options for decontaminating water

Wed 23 Oct, 2019 1:34 pm

There is now a Sawyer Squeeze Micro and it weighs 57 grams.



I have a Squeeze and 2 Squeeze Minis. The flow rate from this new Micro looks good.

Re: UL options for decontaminating water

Wed 23 Oct, 2019 2:00 pm

Thanks All, lots of great suggestions.

The Aqua Mira liquid seems like it could fit the bill.

Turfa (or anyone) any idea where I can purchase aqua mira drops in Sydney?

I found a few online but no bricks and mortar stores. Failing that online with fast shipping!

Re: UL options for decontaminating water

Wed 23 Oct, 2019 3:36 pm

Zapruda wrote:Personally, I think its hard to beat the sawyer squeeze. Maybe try a CNOC bladder in conjunction with the squeeze. It certainly helped me move the water faster through the filter.


No affiliation, just a happy customer - https://ultralighthiker.com.au/collecti ... adder-28mm


Yes to the above!
I personally recommend the Sawyer Squeeze (not Micro or Mini) and if I was still feeling uncertain on my filtering, then I would throw in an Aquatab. I had a Sawyer Mini in 2017 and it was the SLOWEST filter system. A lot of fellow hikers were using the Sawyer Micro this past year, and a number of them were throwing them in the hiker boxes, as it was taking them over 10 minutes to filter one bottle of water and the filter was blocking over time. After contacting Sawyer, a few hikers got responses saying that at first the Sawyer Micro has a similar flow speed rate as the Sawyer Squeeze, but due to it being smaller size/lighter weight, the Micro needs to be backwashed more frequently. So over time, if it's not kept clean, it just gives up.

Be aware though, the Sawyer bags are heavy and bust easy, and Platypus have changed their screw top to not suit a Sawyer attachment. As mentioned above, CNOC's vecto bladders are compatible and highly recommended! Their company and customer service is great too.
Hope that helps with your search!

Re: UL options for decontaminating water

Wed 23 Oct, 2019 4:21 pm

I’m similar to others here:

I carry 2 x PET bottles with potable water only. Either 1 or 1.5 L depending on how I feel.
I carry a Sawyer Squeeze and a 2L Sawyer bag with cap.

That gives me the ability to carry a spare 2L of (unfiltered) water with me that I can filter down the track if the availability of water is uncertain.

I have, on occasion, carried a few Sawyer bags if I knew I would need to carry more water.

I’ll have to check out the lighter bags however I don’t find the Sawyer bags to be an issue.

I also don’t find the time to filter the water to be an issue.

Re: UL options for decontaminating water

Thu 24 Oct, 2019 6:52 am

I also reccomend Aqua Mira drops.

You won't find them in a bricks and mortar store here but I did find them online here:

https://www.travel-products.com.au/Aqua ... on%20Drops

Otherwise Zpacks sell them but you are looking at min $20US postage, unless you can piggyback on someone's order.

I find the Evernew bladders sold by Their Gear to be a good quality alternative to the Sawyer ones.

Re: UL options for decontaminating water

Thu 24 Oct, 2019 10:49 am

wildwanderer wrote:Thanks All, lots of great suggestions.
The Aqua Mira liquid seems like it could fit the bill.
Turfa (or anyone) any idea where I can purchase aqua mira drops in Sydney?
I found a few online but no bricks and mortar stores. Failing that online with fast shipping!


Sorry, I have never seen them in any store in Sydney. I have always purchased on-line.

Re: UL options for decontaminating water

Fri 25 Oct, 2019 5:36 am

I bought Aquamira from Trek and Travel in Kent St a couple of months back.
Its upstairs in the gear section

Re: UL options for decontaminating water

Fri 25 Oct, 2019 5:58 am

Its Chlorine dioxide so other brands may be available. Life systems?

Re: UL options for decontaminating water

Fri 25 Oct, 2019 7:44 am

Thanks. I'll try trek and travel.

I've used life systems before in the tablet form. Didn't realise they also do liquid.

Re: UL options for decontaminating water

Fri 25 Oct, 2019 11:36 pm

It can depend a lot on the water source you are likely to treat, is it from lakes, streams, farms, human sewage and where abouts exactly?

A lot of Sawyer lovers out there but it’s filter pore size is 0.1 micron while virus can be much less and get through. Things like Hep A and gastro virus may get through. However, many people seem to get by without issues perhaps where virus isn’t a problem where they hike.

Aquamira with chlorine dioxide is quite good and kills everything but it can take up to 4 hours to kill enough of the robust shell coated of giardia so may not be good on the run.

UV units also kill everything within 90sec but turbid water and particles can reduce the kill rate and hide bugs that the UV light cannot irradiate. A prefilter is needed then but it still won’t resolve turbid water.

A combination of Sawyer filter to filter the large bugs like bacteria/giardia/particles and then chlorine dioxide or simple chlorine to kill tiny virus is a full proof method but adds a little more complexity.
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