People are keen on outdoor activities such as camping and hiking. We cannot wait to go outside and get in touch with the natural world. While we are enjoying the outdoor activities and exploring nature, we must pay extra attention to drinking water safety.
Why Do You Need to Treat Water When Backpacking?
Drinking water in the wild could be a difficult problem. Because of the inconvenience and heavy weight, people often don’t carry a lot of water. It is almost an instinct to fetch water from the wild when you run out of fresh water.
Yet, those seemingly clear rivers, streams, and springs often hide dangerous microorganisms, bacteria, and even viruses. The consumption of contaminated water can cause diarrhea, vomiting, fever, and sometimes can even be life-threatening.
Therefore, it is very necessary to treat the water you sourced in the wild before drinking. The common water treatments include chemical disinfection and water filtration. As chemical disinfection requires much effort and tools, we recommend using a water filter for easy and efficient water filtration.
How to Choose Backpacking Water Filters or Purifiers
With the fast development within the water filtration industry, water filters are no longer designed to be used at home alone. Portable water purifiers have become very popular because many people want to purify drinking water when they are outdoors. There are many types of water purifiers on the market, with large price differences, uneven product quality, and mixed reviews. The following section will talk about how to choose the best portable water filter.
To shortlist the products, we will evaluate each product with factors like filtration performance, the conveniences to use, the number of people, and the cost.
3 Best Portable Water Filters for Outdoor
Below are the top three best portable water filters that we have shortlisted for your reference.
Gravity-Fed Water Filter
The gravity-fed water filter is a type of water filter that uses gravity to filter out the impurities in water. The filtration media used in the filter is mainly activated carbon. The activated carbon made of natural coconut shell is considered the best filter element in this type of filter.
Waterdrop King Tank Stainless Steel Gravity-Fed Water Filter
The Waterdrop King Tank gravity-fed water filter is a powerful water filter system that can be installed on the table or bracket. Simply pour water from any source into the top chamber of the system, and you can easily access purified water through a convenient faucet. The system is easy to use and requires no electricity, tools, or plumbing.
What we like about it:
- The system can reduce up to up to 98% fluorine reduction rate and 98.95% of chlorine reduction.
- Large capacity to meet the water needs of a big group of people.
- Ability to yield clean, delicious pure water while keeping healthy minerals like calcium and magnetism.
- No electricity required, perfect for camping use.
- Waterdrop offers a complete accessory kit for free that includes anything you need.
The limitations:
- The tank is big and heavy, which makes it not ideal for backpacking users.
- The large capacity demands a quite long time to finish the filtration process.
Waterdrop Water Filter Pitcher
Water filter pitcher is one of the most popular water filters on the market. Similar to the King Tank gravity-fed water filter, the Waterdrop filter pitcher is a mini version of the water filter tank that works through gravity. The main filtration media in the pitcher is the activated carbon filter that is made of the natural coconut shell.
What we like about it:
- This water filter pitcher can effectively remove heavy metals, particulate impurities, plankton, peculiar smell, etc. to improve water quality and taste.
- Accomplish the job of dechlorination excellently without sacrificing the life of the filter element or the flow rate.
- Fast filtration speed.
- Extended filter life for up to 3 months or 200 gallons
- Economical price for most consumers
The limitations:
- The filtration performance is less competitive compared to the other two portable filters.
- Not ideal for large groups that consume gallons of water in a day.
Straw Filters
The water filter straw would not be a new concept for outdoor enthusiasts. It is one of the most practical and convenient choices to access clean water during outdoor activities. The filter is shaped like a thick fountain pen and you can drink directly from the stream, lake, or river through the filter straw.
Waterdrop Water Filter Straw with Gravity Water Bag
What we like about it:
- With a filtration accuracy of 0.1 microns, the Waterdrop filter straw adopts an advanced ultrafiltration membrane that can effectively filter out sands, bacteria, living microorganisms, parasites, and etc.
- The lightweight makes it the best choice for lovers of adventure, mountaineering, hiking, camping, and other outdoor activities to obtain safe drinking water on the spot during outdoor activities.
- The innovative backwash design can help you keep the filter straw clean after every usage.
- When the water consumption is large, you can use the gravity water bag for rapid water filtration. After the water is filled and connected to the outdoor large water bag, clean and safe water can be obtained through gravity filtration by the filter straw. The bag is perfect for a group of people where a large amount of clean water is needed, which saves time and effort.
The limitations:
- It cannot filter out viruses, heavy metals, seawater and colored beverages.
- The filter element cannot be replaced.