Dropped $180 on a water filter that clogged on day 2 of the JMT

Bought a Katadyn BeFree on a recommendation and the flow rate dropped to nothing after filtering one murky stream near Thousand Island Lake. Anyone else have better luck with the Sawyer Squeeze for silty Sierra water?

3 comments

3 Comments

tessawebb9d ago

That "clogged on day 2" line hits close to home. I had the exact same issue with the BeFree near Reds Meadow, it went from a nice flow to barely a trickle after one crossing. The problem is those filters just can't handle real silt. The Sawyer Squeeze is way better for that kind of water. You can backflush it on the trail with the included plunger, which the BeFree doesn't have. I just shake out the big particles first, let the water settle in a bag for a minute, then filter the clearer top part. It slows things down a bit but keeps the filter working for weeks instead of hours.

gavin9289d ago

Four days into the JMT with a Squeeze and I already wished I'd brought the BeFree, @tessawebb.

robinl909d ago

Oh man, I've got to say I was totally on the other side of this for a long time. I thought the BeFree was the greatest thing ever because of how fast it flows right out of the box, and I didn't really get why everyone hyped the Sawyer Squeeze so much. But after reading this and thinking about it more, I'm starting to wonder if I just got lucky with clear water sources. The part about letting the water settle first is something I never tried, I always just shake it up and squeeze it in, which probably makes everything worse. It's kind of annoying because I hate the idea of waiting around for my water, but if it means the filter actually lasts more than a couple days, maybe it's worth it. I'm honestly rethinking my whole water filter setup now.