The Best Backpacking Water Filters

A favorite of ultralight hikers, backpackers, bikers, and travelers, the Sawyer Squeeze filter is the gold standard in water filters for anyone concerned about weight and universal compatibility. The Squeeze weighs just 3 ounces, has a filtration level of 0.1 microns (which gets rid E. coli, salmonella, giardia, cryptosporidium, and other common problems), and claims to filter 100,000 gallons of water before it needs replacing. The Squeeze also connects to any 28-mm diameter soda bottle (your basic 20-ounce Coke bottle, for example), which means you never have to worry about damaging a bottle, since a replacement can be easily found anywhere in the world.

You can buy the Sawyer Squeeze as either the filter alone or as a kit with a couple of water bladders and connecting hoses. The kit-included bladders work fine, but I generally skip them and filter into a Smart Water bottle. As the name suggests, the Squeeze is meant to be squeezed, though it does work fine as a gravity filter, just slower.

After years of testing and tweaking, my setup for the Sawyer Squeeze is a 2L Cnoc VectoX water bladder ($25) for dirty water, which connects directly to the Squeeze, and then two Smart Water bottles for my clean water, which connect directly to the filter outlet. For trips with infrequent water sources, I bring an additional 2L HydraPak bladder ($25). This setup allows me to get two liters of clean drinking water in about 4 minutes if I squeeze, and more like 6 to 8 liters if I hang it and let gravity do the work. The speed does fluctuate quite a bit based on how clean the filter is, and these numbers are based on a freshly cleaned filter.

Cleaning is the one downside to the Sawyer. To give it a good cleaning you’ll need the included back-flushing syringe, which is regrettably bulky. My experience has been that, if you can find good, clean sources of water, without a ton of silt or debris, the Squeeze easily goes seven days without needing a cleaning. For longer trips, I pack the syringe. It’s also worth noting that there is Sawyer Mini ($17) is even lighter but less robust. In my testing, the weight savings of the Mini is trumped by the faster flow rate of the Squeeze, but if you’re at the cutting-the-handles-off-toothbrushes stage, the Mini is a better choice.