Spent 4 hours fixing a water filter at Glacier National Park

Last summer on the Highline Trail. My Sawyer filter completely clogged on day two. Tried backflushing with the syringe. Nothing. Had to boil water from a stream for dinner. Took me 30 minutes just to get a liter. Next morning I took the whole thing apart, cleaned every piece with my bandana. Got maybe 2 more days out of it. Anyone else run into filter problems on long stretches?

3 comments

3 Comments

nancyg141mo ago

The boiling water thing... ugh, I remember doing that on the JMT myself. My filter just gave up and I ended up drinking stream water cold because I was too tired to boil it.

james_bell1mo ago

Ngl my Platypus did the same thing on the JMT last year, had to boil every sip for three days straight.

the_jamie1mo ago

I actually wonder if some of these filter failures come from how people store them after trips. Never washed mine out properly one time and I swear it did something weird to the internal seals. Little bits of grit or leftover water freezing can mess with the fibers too. Always store them completely dry and clean or you're basically asking for trouble on the next trip. A lot of folks don't think about that part until they're stuck boiling creek water for days.