I’ve carried this water filter for a couple backpacking trips around the rocky mountains in Alberta, Canada. Roughly speaking, I’ve probably filtered around 25 gallons, with this piece of equipment. Here is my review of the Sawyer-Mini.
The Technical Stuff
Sawyer Mini Filter
Height – 5.35 Inches
Width – 1.35 Inches
Weight – 1.4 oz
Filters – Up to 100,000 gallons
Removes – Bacteria, Protozoa, E. Coli, Giardia, Vibrio Cholera, Salmonella Typhi, Leptospirosis, and microplastics
Cleaning Plunger
Height – 6.0 Inches
Width – 1.875 Inches
Weight – 1.23 oz
Squeeze Pouches
16 Oz Squeeze Pouch
Height – 8.75 Inches (not including cap), 9.75 Inches (including cap)
Width – 4.75 Inches
Weight – 0.78 oz
64 Oz Squeeze Pouch
Height – 11.75 Inches (not including cap), 12.75 Inches (including cap)
Width – 7.875 Inches
Weight – 1.72 oz
The Products Bundled with the the Sawyer Mini
When I bought the sawyer mini it came as a bundle with the following.
1 – 16 oz squeeze pouch
2 – 64 oz squeeze pouch
1 – Sawyer mini filter
1 – Cleaning Plunger
This was a while ago and I can’t find the same bundle for now.
The Bundle Review
The Sawyer Mini
Squeeze Method
Initially, I started using the sawyer mini to batch filter water. Normally, I’d filter between 32 – 64 oz of water if I was stopping at a water source with the intent of continuing on the hike.
However, if I was stopping for the night this number would increase to roughly 120 -180 oz depending on how thirsty I was, how many people were in my group, and how lazy I thought I was going to be the next morning.
When I began to use the Sawyer Mini I didn’t use it as a gravity filter. These pouches are called “squeeze pouches” so I started squeezing the pouches to force the water through the filter. This method is slow and can get tiresome if you’re planning to filter water for a group of people.
I decided to see how quickly I could filter water using this method to give you an idea of the speed.
I was able to filter 24 oz in 1 minute 26 seconds, using a moderate amount of pressure, and the 64 oz. squeeze pouch. Not too slow, but I hate the process of having to get the squeeze pouches out, place dirty water into one of the pouches, and then filter it.
Filtering Through a Water Bottle
After watching some youtubers like, IB TAT – Link to his youtube channel HERE, use the Sawyer Mini to filter water from a plastic water bottle. I decided to give this a try.
This method was great! Filling up a small amount of water often, on streams or lakes, lightened my pack. Also, this eliminated the 5-10 minutes we would need to filter water using the squeeze method. For me, attaching the Sawyer mini to a small water bottle was my favorite way to use it.
However, Not all water bottles attach to the Sawyer Mini. Below is a list of some of the different water bottles that do.
- Smartwater – https://amzn.to/3IzsOML
- Dasani – https://amzn.to/3ICA5LJ
- Lifewtr – https://amzn.to/3CAck37
You could always, go to your local convenience store and buy a single, which is what I normally do. But if you want to support this blog, use the affiliate links above.
Gravity Filtering
Although, I don’t use this method to filter water I decided to give this a try in my kitchen to see how long it would take to filter 24 oz of water.
To use this method with the Sawyer Squeeze Pouches you’ll need to make a hole or two on the bottom of the pouches so you can tie paracord to it and hang it upside down. I used a hole punch to do this.
Using this method took 7 minutes and 56 seconds to filter 24 oz of water
This would be useful if you wanted to filter water while doing some kind of task. I personally don’t use this method but maybe you will.
Squeeze Pouches
This bundle came with three squeeze pouches two 64 oz and one 16 oz.
I didn’t find the 16 oz. squeeze pouch to be very useful it was too small. I mainly used the two 64 oz pouches, usually 1 as a dirty water pouch and 1 as a clean water pouch.
Since I mainly use the sawyer mini to filter dirty water in a plastic water bottle, I rarely use the pouches as “squeeze pouches” anymore. Instead, I normally use the 64 oz pouches to purify water using tablets overnight.
Cleaning
I usually bring my cleaning plunger with me on backpacking trips as I get paranoid that for some reason it will clog, or the flow rate will slow down to a point it would be impractical to filter with it. My normal routine is to backwash the filter every 3-4 days.
I’m not sure if this is too much or too little as the sawyer website, says “The frequency of cleaning depends on how dirty the water is.” and “We recommend backwashing your filter when your flow rate begins to diminish, before prolonged storage, and when you are ready to start using your filter again.”
Sanitizing
Before storing the water filter in the offseason it’s recommended that the Sawyer mini and its pouches are sanitized.
I normally do this after each backpacking trip. To do this I use a solution of 4 cups of water to 1 teaspoon of bleach. I’ll run this solution through the filter using the squeeze pouches so I can sanitize both the filter and the squeeze pouches at the same time.
Freezing
Also, you should try and prevent the filter from freezing as any water trapped in the filter will expand and can permanently ruin the filter. If it’s really cold outside, I’ll hike with the filter in my coat and also keep the filter in my sleeping bag for the night.
Final Thoughts
I want to preface this recommendation with, I haven’t tried the Sawyer Squeeze. I just ordered it so hopefully, it’ll arrive soon and I can review the product and give a recommendation as to which is better.
However, I have used the sawyer mini water filter for some time. I think this filter is light which is something I consider to be important. Also, this filter is versatile and can be used as a gravity filter, on top of a plastic water bottle, or as a squeeze filter system.
Overall I think this filter is worth purchasing and it’s pretty economical as well. If you’re looking to use this as a squeeze filter system I wouldn’t get the 16 oz squeeze pouch, instead, I would get a couple of 64 oz squeeze pouches. But it looks as though all the current bundles of Sawyer mini filters come with them.
If you’d like to know more about the sawyer mini you can read about it on their website https://www.sawyer.com/
If you’d like to purchase a Sawyer mini or the pouches below is my affiliate links are below
- Sawyer Mini – https://amzn.to/3GM7133
- Pouches – https://amzn.to/3WX8YPY
Thanks for reading and I hope you’ve found this helpful!
