I was wondering what most of you use for water filtration and purification while out in the bush for prolonged periods of time?

I am wondering primarily because I am looking at an alternative to hualing a weeks worth of water for a group of 6 guys into the bush for a hunting trip?

Any help or insight into this would be greatly appreciated
thank you

My mustache, mostly.....

I bought a big water filter pump for fieldwork a few years back. It works OK, as long as you have a student along to run the thing. Take extra filters if you have to use glacial water - gets hard to pump after maybe 15 gallons when you're sucking silt. Cleaning the filter off like the directions say will make it happy - for about another quart.

http://www.msrcorp.com/filters/waterworks_ex.asp

I have no idea what this thing is, but it looks interesting:

http://www.msrcorp.com/filters/miox.asp

I have a small cheapy filter that I use if I'm not somewhere I want to just drink the water, but I sure wouldn't want to make water for more than a couple people with it.

We use hand pump water filters for four guys at moose camp, but have seen some that you just hang a bag and gravity does the work. Might have to try that.

One thing on the silty water, if you have some time and buckets, is to fill a couple of 5 gallon buckets with the water and let it sit for a time so the silt settles to the bottom, then filter. Otherwise, Dusty is right on. Those filters hate silty water and will clog up real quick.

-TJ

I never bothered to filter any of it. The rivers where I hang around are pretty clean. I'm sure there is giardia in them but so far so good. Without knowing the area you are going to be in it's impossible to say what might be around.

In your situation I think I would take one of those filter pitchers and some spare elements for it. That should produce enough for drinking. I wouldn't worry about cooking water. Letting the silt settle is a good recommendation.

Or, you could just boil it, use iodine tablets, or a dash of Clorox per 5 gallons.

Last hunt I was on I had a pump Katydan filter. It broke after about 10 gallons. I sure was glad I had iodine tablets along. That is all I will bring from now on.

I use a cheapo camp trails filter for my mountain and fly out hunts. It works pretty good, but takes forever.

run water threw cloth and boil it

Most of my extensive camping was last winter so I melted snow.
I usually haul water for a camp trip that is only a few days.
Beyond that I would treat it with something, filter, boil, iodine etc. Don't take a chance on the giardia unless you can see the water coming out of the ground.
Funny I grew up in Montana and drank out of every stream I came to growing up.
Came to Alaska and got it drinking from a stream in the winter about 15 years ago. Holy cow you don't want to go there. That would make your hunting trip a drag.

A few years ago I also got what the doctor called Campylobacter a few days after drinking from the Anchor river. They said it most likely came from a food but I say not. I thought I was going to die and went to the hospital to get rehydrated. I also missed the last 5 days of moose season either in bed or on the toilet.

Treat the water unless it is coming out of the ground is now my moto!

thanks guys

I hate the iodine tablets -- can't gag the stuff down.

I have the gravity filter. Real slick. Just fill the bag, hang it a few feet off the ground, go set up your tent, and you have a couple gallons of purified water.

I also frequently just boil the water before drinking. I don't drink out of streams (who wants the runs when you're on vacation?), unless its a spring coming right out of a mountain.

Jim

James,

What model of the gravity filter do you have? If our attempt to put in a well at moose camp doesn't work, we are going to go with a couple of those. How do you like it.

-TJ

I use the gravity filter and as back up I carry Aerobic 07 at http://www.Nitro-Pak.com

I can't remember the make of the one I got. Got it from Cabelas some years back. It uses collapsible bags to contain the water. Doesn't take up much space.

I've seen other makes at REI and Cabelas that are even slicker, if you have the space. They use a big plastic jug with two compartments. Put the raw water in the top, it runs through a filter, and you have filtered water in the bottom, dispensed by a twist-valve.

I think the gravity filter is the easiest way to get pure water.

Incidentally, if you're stuck trying to filter nothing but glacial water, and don't have a bucket or the time to let it settle out, a coffee filter can be used as a pre- or pre-pre-filter to strain out the silt. Better take plenty of coffee filters, though.

Jim