Katadyn Pocket Water Purifier
I’m going to state the obvious here. Clean water is an absolute necessity when backpacking. Whether we are camping along a mountain stream or searching for a flowing spring in the desert, treating the water we drink is the best practice because not doing so can result in some nasty stomach viruses that will ruin your trip. There’s a lot written on this subject already so my intent is not to restate everything out there but to just make you aware of the types of purification systems available so you can research which method is best for you.
There are four main ways to purify water in the wild; boiling, adding chemicals, filtering and ultraviolet light.
Boiling: This is a surefire way to kill all of the nasty viruses and organisms in your water. No need to boil for 5 minutes, just bringing the water to a boil is enough. Boiling will not eliminate sediment and of course it uses fuel so there is a trade off.
Chemical Treatments: Traditionally iodine or chlorine tablets are added to water to treat it. These chemicals work well in most cases and they are light weight and inexpensive. The downside is that they aren’t effective against Cryptosporidium and they add an aftertaste to the water. In my opinion, more effective chemical treatments are Aqua Mira, which uses chlorine dioxide and the MSR MIOX purifier which produces a chemical brine that you add to your water for purification.
Filters: The market is flooded with water filters and this seems to be the most popular method of water treatment. In order to keep this brief I am just going to say that if you are considering a water filter, factor in the weight of the unit, the amount of water flow and the filter pore size. Obviously, we are all trying to save weight in our backpacks so we don’t want a filter that’s too heavy but we also don’t want to wear out our arms with a filter that is difficult to pump. The look for a pore size that is .03 or better yet .02 microns. It’s not small enough to get all viruses but it will effectively take care of Giardia and Cryptosporidium.
Ultraviolet Light: The Steripen uses ultraviolet light to kill nasty stuff in the water. I am finding more people that are using this method because the unit is lightweight and effective. The drawbacks to the Steripen are that it doesn’t get rid of sediment and that battery life is questionable.
The amount of choices can be overwhelming but hopefully this information will help you sort through the options. Personally, I use a Katadyn Pocket because I can clean it easily in the field and it comes with a 20 year warranty. So far the thing is bullet proof.
Since this is a big topic, feel free to add comments about your experience with any of the methods or products I mentioned. I’d love to hear what you have to say.
One solution I recommend is to rent a satellite phone. For most people buying a satellite phone is way out of reach but renting a phone, especially if the cost is split among a few people, is pretty reasonable. Depending on the model, the rental fee is anywhere from $10 to $15 a day and if you are just renting for emergency purposes, you don’t have to purchase a minute plan. If all goes well, you shouldn’t have to use the phone at all so purchasing minutes doesn’t make sense anyway. I also recommend going with an Iridium phone. Their signal is reliable, even at the bottom of the Grand Canyon and I’ve heard negative stuff about Globalstar’s coverage so I’d stay away from them for now.
