Post by keweenawlove on Apr 21, 2014 9:09:25 GMT -5
Does anyone have experience with backpacking water filters? I feel clueless with this. H and I are hiking the Kalalau Trail in a few weeks and trying to figure out what we actually need. I'm just a little confused with how much treatment is necessary.
Most people I've talked to have recommended the MSR filter or something similar but there's some bacteria in the water sources along the trail that can still pass through this type of filter. Iodine seems so be the safest bet to kill everything so we bought some of the tablets.
The main thing I'm unsure of is if we use the iodine, do we need to do anything else to the water? H is worried about drinking sediment, etc that might be left. I just don't want to buy/haul around the $100 filter if we don't need it.
I think this has the same issues as iodine - kills everything but doesn't get rid of the "grit." I did just see they sell a pre-filter to get rid of the bigger particles so that might help.
Post by keweenawlove on Apr 21, 2014 10:29:22 GMT -5
Thanks for the recs Susie and @uwhuskygirl. Have you had any experience with the filters when leptosporosis is a concern? Everything I'm reading on the Kalalau Trail says that most backpacking filters don't work for it so we need iodine or something similar.
Post by emilyinchile on Apr 21, 2014 10:30:05 GMT -5
Yeah, it wouldn't filter the grit, but friends who backpack a lot have used their Steripen in the US, Peru and the Philippines I believe with no additional filtering and no problem. /anecdote
Thanks for the recs Susie and @uwhuskygirl. Have you had any experience with the filters when leptosporosis is a concern? Everything I'm reading on the Kalalau Trail says that most backpacking filters don't work for it so we need iodine or something similar.
Is that what I have my dogs vaccinated against, when they ask if we take them to streams/lakes/swimming and we say yes?
I honestly don't know if it's a concern where we use it. We backpack in the Adirondacks. The biggest concern there is giardia.
Thanks for the recs Susie and @uwhuskygirl. Have you had any experience with the filters when leptosporosis is a concern? Everything I'm reading on the Kalalau Trail says that most backpacking filters don't work for it so we need iodine or something similar.
H only used it in the Pacific NW and Canada, so he never had to worry about anything more extreme than giardia.
If you have an REI near you I'd suggest going to talk to the people there. They've always been super helpful and knowledgeable when we needed camping stuff.
Thanks for the recs Susie and @uwhuskygirl. Have you had any experience with the filters when leptosporosis is a concern? Everything I'm reading on the Kalalau Trail says that most backpacking filters don't work for it so we need iodine or something similar.
Is that what I have my dogs vaccinated against, when they ask if we take them to streams/lakes/swimming and we say yes?
I honestly don't know if it's a concern where we use it. We backpack in the Adirondacks. The biggest concern there is giardia.
I think it's something different. I know that vaccine you're thinking of. We get asked the same question and say yes.
From what I can tell, Leptospira is fairly common in steams in Kauai and is long and skinny (less than 1 micron in diameter) and most filters are only rated down to a micron.
I'm not familiar with that specific trail, but we always use chlorine dioxide drops. It is the same idea as iodine, but without the taste. Unless you are going to be drinking from really stagnant water sources, I wouldn't worry about sediment. A few floaties never killed anyone. We have always managed to skim reasonably clean water from the top of a moving water source. If there is a lot of sediment, it will usually sink well enough by letting it sit a few minutes. Best of all, the drops are only about $15.
Post by sillygoosegirl on Apr 26, 2014 10:39:27 GMT -5
We normally use a GravityWorks filter, but it's no good for purification in Hawaii for reasons stated above. On the Kalalau trail, we used iodine. Other particulates in the water were not an issue along the Kalalau trail for us (even--especially--with a good backpacking filter, you need to find a place where the water is free from other crud before you use the filter or you will just clog it up!), but we post filtered through our regular filter with a carbon attachment to get the nasty iodine taste out.
But I'm trying to think how to make it not a lot of money, if you don't normally backpack and don't have the regular gear already.
The Platypus carbon filter is only $13 (again, won't purify your water, but will remove the nasty iodine taste), so if you have compatible waterbottles or hydration packs, that could be done for a reasonable price.
Another option on the iodine-taste front is to just flavor all your drinking water with powdered drink mixes: tang, gaterade, crystal light, instant coffee, tea, spiced cider, hot chocolate, etc.
The chlorine dioxide tablets are a good alternative to iodine (do verify they are appropriate for Hawaii--I think so, but don't remember), and they don't have a nasty taste, but unfortunately they take 4 hours to work, compared with 30 minute for iodine. Personally, I'm not willing to carry full water bottles that aren't going to be safe to drink for that long during the day, but they are certainly a great way to purify water overnight, so you can have some water the tastes great on your trip.
Post by keweenawlove on Apr 27, 2014 8:37:00 GMT -5
Thanks for the reply sillygoosegirl. I remember you saying you did the trail. I knew we wanted to do iodine because that's the thing that's recommended by just about everything I read. H was just (probably overly) concerned about bigger particulates in the water.
I ended up buying the prefilter for the Steripen for $10 to have just in case. I actually tried the iodine to see how it tasted yesterday and it wasn't as bad as I thought. I have a fried who said she loves the taste because she just associates it with being outside. We'll probably just carry some Nunn or Gatorade in case we get sick of it.
I'm getting way too excited. Any other tips for the trail? I've read probably way too many blogs on it so I hope we know what we're in for.