Sawyer Mini Water Filter review

Sawyer Mini water filter review

With the advent of Sawyer’s Mini filter, I find myself wondering if the pump filter is dead. When you have a 2 ounce water filter that you can drink through, and that doesn’t require cartridge replacements, will the average user ever need to buy anything else?

I’m going to assume that we don’t need to rehash why you should filter your water and get right to the features and my opinions of the Sawyer MINI.

Let’s look at the features and then move on to my opinions of the system:

Features / Specs

• Hollow Fiber Filter,
• Weight: 2 ounces,
• Cartridge Life: up to 100,000 gallons,
• Removes: Bacteria, Protozoa (including Cryptosporidium and Giardia), E. Coli, Vibrio cholerea, Salmonella Typhi,
• Fits in your hand,
• Includes two nipples that attach to standard size hydration hoses,
• Attaches to 28 mm disposable water bottles and sawyer drinking pouches,
• MSRP: $24.95

What’s in the box?

• 1 – Sawyer MINI water filter with cap,
• 1 – 16 oz (0.5 liter) sawyer soft bottle
• 1 – 7” drinking straw
• 1 – Cleaning syringe
• instructions

Testing

I’ve had the Sawyer Mini for a year, and I’ve tested it over that time on hiking trips in the front and back country. I use it to drink straight from streams, through the water bottle and to filter water for others.

What are my thoughts?

I’ve been using Sawyer filters for years… well, actually, the same 2 Sawyer filters for years. I’ve never had a problem with them ever. I used them in South America to filter gallons of undrinkable tap water, and maintenance has always been simple. When Sawyer offered me the mini to test, I was hoping it would solve my one issue: size, and it did.

The fact that they can pack a powerful filter into the palm of your hand… and for $25 is awesome. The fact that it can attach in-line to your water filtration system and attach to a soft bottle and standard disposable water bottles makes it indispensable.

The Backflushing kit is a great (and simple) addition. According to their website, it restores 98.5% of the filters efficiency. I’ve backflushed the filter on multiple occasions, and can confirm that although I’ve not had anywhere near 100,000 gallons, I can still drink through it with ease.

The included kit is pretty well complete, although I would prefer a 32 oz water bottle included (instead of the 16 oz one).

 

Room for improvement?

One thing that I did notice is that the filter doesn’t properly attach to other soft bottles, only the sawyer ones. It’s not a major inconvenience as I my soft bottles are wearing out and I’ll just replace them with sawyer-compatible ones at that point.

Conclusion

Go out and get one. Seriously. I can’t think of a good reason why you would buy any other filter than the sawyer one for individual use. $25 buys you a potentially life-time lasting filter that will never need a replacement. While you’re at it though, buy a larger sawyer bottle so you don’t have to refill as much on the trail.

Disclaimer: Sawyer sent me this filter for review, and all opinions are my own.