Bushwalk Australia

I'm curious how people are using prefilters with their Sawyer water filters, and where they got the parts?

A recent trip on K2K I clogged up my Sawyer pretty badly from poor quality water @ Mobbs Swamp, its taken a hell of alot of drying & backwashing to restore normal flow rate. The reduced flow rate slowed down my travels a fair bit and I hadn't taken the backwash syringe on the trip.

Google reveals that coffee filters are the go, and that some people have made inline adaptors. I had a quick look at the hardware store today and couldn't find anything in the right thread that'd be suitable for holding a coffee filter between the dirty bag & sawyer. I also couldn't find a staff member who gave a ****

Prefilter it while filling the bag...

Have you seen this? Looks simple enough.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin ... d_id=89679

Cotton gauze may do the job adequately too, instead of that mesh.

I'm thinking the best prefilter would be inline, ie you screw the filter into the sawyer, and then the water bag screws into the prefilter.

Kurt Suttell posted one on http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin ... d_id=88984

The real hard part is finding something with that thread, in plastic.

Screwing the prefilter between the bag and the filter just means it will block quickly and slow down the flow. Much easier to just strain the water as it enters the bag when filling instead. You could probably even make a screw on prefilter with a Coke bottle lid

How exactly do you prefilter while filling the bag? I fill the bag by using a freezer bag as a funnel, I assume you use some kind of alternative for that, or have 3 arms?

Strider wrote:Screwing the prefilter between the bag and the filter just means it will block quickly and slow down the flow. Much easier to just strain the water as it enters the bag when filling instead. You could probably even make a screw on prefilter with a Coke bottle lid

If the pre-filter blocks quickly due to gunk wouldn't the sawyer mini itself also block quickly if there's no pre-filter? The primary difference being the pre-filter is easier to clean or replace.

Yes I understand that BL. I'm not suggesting not prefiltering. I am suggesting doing it before attaching the filter to the bag.

To prefilter while filling, stretch a Buff or other piece of fine cloth over the opening.

Forget my comment about the coke bottle lid. I am forgetting which end is which on the original Squeeze.

Strider wrote:To prefilter while filling, stretch a Buff or other piece of fine cloth over the opening.

Hmm okay

The other methods I've seen are placing a sponge in the nozzle on the bag after its filled, or replacing the washer in the sawyer with a filtration mesh and thinner washer

But your method would probably be more effective at keeping all sediment out

I'll have to try these out soon I think

If shipping on sawyer parts wasn't so damn expensive ($38 for two replacement 64oz bags? WT *$&#?), another method could be using the tap faucet adaptor

The new Sawyer bags are *&%$#! good though! Better than Evernew.

You can use your shirt if you have nothing else on hand to prefilter

Hmm, I wonder how well this will work as a replacement for the white washer with a very narrow hole that comes with the sawyer zero point one. Seems to work well at home, but I guess I won't know until I try it in the field