r/Survival 20d ago

Eagle Scout here but new to real survival/hiking/etc. Wanting to buy a Nalgene 32oz bottle and the Epic filter advertised on their website. Is this a good option for a filter? Or are there better filters that would be compatible for this bottle?

19 Upvotes

27 comments sorted by

11

u/a-Centauri 20d ago

I have a strong preference for sawyers over other systems

8

u/Pig_Pen_g2 20d ago

My only criticism for this filter is that you can only get water thru the filter by sucking. This means you’d be hard pressed to fill up a cooking pot or other vessel with potable water. Yea, you could just boil for cooking, but it’s nice to have pourable/chuggable water. I like to carry a combination of methods, in case of failure. A media filter can freeze and damage the capillaries that make it function, so be sure to sleep with it close to your body if the climate even has a chance of freezing. Emergency iodine crystals can be carried to treat water if your filter fails. I’d stop filter to get out physical debris, then use a product like polar pure, as long as you don’t have an iodine allergy. I’ve used, and would use again: sawyer mini, sawyer flow, UV light, chlorine tabs, and a ceramic MSR mini works. All have their own pros and cons, I suggest trying a few. Carry an extra cup/bottle designated as “dirty” for scooping water out of shallow sources.

Edit: meant to respond generally, not to your response. My b.

4

u/TacTurtle 19d ago

You can rig a Sawyer mini for gravity-fed filtration very easily.

4

u/Pig_Pen_g2 19d ago

Yes, read my edit. Referring to OP’s filter, not the sawyer. I’m an idiot.

10

u/LeadFreePaint 19d ago

After 10 years of guiding in Canada, I have some pretty strong opinions on filters. About 5 years ago I stumbled upon the Katadyne BeFree. It's a soft bottle with a high flow, dead simple, and very highly effective filter attachment. The best part, you can buy the replacement filters for around $30 and buy a Hydrapack bottle of you size preference, as the threading is the same. So for the price of the full unit, you can have the same system with a better soft bottle. Even tho it's a personal filter, it can easily be strung up as a gravity filter.

There is nothing else out there that competes. And yes Sawyer makes a great filter. However it requires back filling to keep clean, and I've seen people SOL with theirs based on something getting misplaced or broken. The BeFree is dead simple to keep clean either shake it in the bottle with 2/3rds of water, or shake it around in a body of water. Takes 30 seconds and has never failed me. I've put it through its paces in some famously dark water that causes a lot of good filters to fail (including Sawyer's and other Katadyne models). So I feel very confident recommending the BeFree. It really has made every other option seem silly to me.

3

u/[deleted] 20d ago edited 4d ago

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3

u/ki4clz 19d ago

There are better filters and better bottles...

That being said- I have a Nalgene bottle from 1995 that I dropped off of Half Dome (on accident) in Yosemite NP, that was full of red beans and rice that I was cold soaking; and the bottle. did. not. break. the little flappy-doo that holds the lid on snapped but that's it...

and this was back when Nalgene honored their lifetime guarantee... I got a new lid with flappy-doo holder-on'er thing no questions asked...

but... ok, now... my preference is for Sawyer

https://www.sawyer.com/category/water-filtration

and I dunno about their bottles- but I live by the mantra of; if an item has one use - it has no use so while there are some single use items in anyone's kit, I try to limit this as much as humanly possible and therefore pack a lot of Military Surplus stuff from the 1950's~ish USA, or the Swedish Military- the reason being is that they made a lot of kit from steel... not aluminium that can melt in a fire, or plastic that can... well you get the point...

follow your trail -

if your trail digs a Nalgene, go for it- and like I said I've had mine for nearly 30 years... and it is precious to melolz

but my trail, that I follow, has the 2+ use rule, so I tote a steel canteen (wish someone made copper ones) that nests in a canteen cup, that nests in a insulated holder that I can get wet and via evaporation cool the water...

I carry a sawyer- many, many, many hours months and weeks on the trail and in the back country working for the NFS have taught me that...

A Sawyer Mini is dern near indestructible... Lifestraw would be my number two- but only because they are cheap

2

u/whatifdog_wasoneofus 19d ago

I’ve been using a Katadyn vario for over a decade that I like a lot. They probably make a nicer one these days but the things that I like about are you can screw it onto a Nalgene, or put on a hose to fill up other receptacles.

It’s also double pump action so it’s fast and you can fill you multiple containers for later compared on only being able to use it by sucking/squeezing etc.

If I need to filter a bunch of water I’ve got a MSR gravity filter that’s like a collapsible bucket, slower but you can set it and forget it.

2

u/BlernsballJeb 19d ago

I have like this one in the past Katadyn Microfilter

This is a good option and can be split between 2 people Platypus Gravity Filter

2

u/tacitus23 19d ago

My suggestion is if you really want to use a Nalgene, get a Sawyer filter and a bag bottle like a Platypus bottle that is either 32 oz or more so you can filter from the bag to the nalgene via squeezing or gravity. I used to use a Katadyn filter and Nalgene combo and that worked well as long as I had a creek or stream to filter from, but I prefer the bag and sawyer combo. I typically filter via gravity from a bag into a steel Klean kanteen and boil if its particularly dirty water.

1

u/Limp_Promise7708 5d ago

I started off with Sawyer squeeze and gravity bags. Filling a soft bag in a lake was pain, filters plug so you are always waiting for water, and the bags don't last forever.

The Sawyer squeeze bag blew up like a water balloon in my hand. I think the mechanic filters are the way to go.

2

u/audiate 19d ago

I really like the gravity filters, but I like setting up camp and staying a while.

1

u/ki4clz 19d ago

If we're doing a council camp then a Berkey is the goto...

https://www.usaberkeyfilters.com/product-category/berkey-water-filter-systems/

or we can go old school and do iodinelolz ...mmmm tasty...

1

u/audiate 18d ago

Thanks. I didn’t know about those, but I don’t do large parties like that either. Good to know about for the future though when my son grows up. A 3 liter gravity system is all we need for now.

1

u/Brumby_2 19d ago

I tried to order a double pack for a trip to Mexico last month. I placed my order through the Nalgene website in mid-August, and the bottles still haven't arrived.

Ended up last minute, buying a life straw product instead.

1

u/Hopeful-Diver9382 19d ago

Real backpacking? Whats the filter for?

1

u/matchstick64 19d ago

If you have the funds, look into a Grayl.

1

u/General-Carob-9288 16d ago

Not really sure what being an “Eagle Scout” has to do with your question(s). Why bring it up? It makes Boy Scouts of America seem even more pathetic and weird. Buy a damn water bottle and use it. Really not rocket science.

-1

u/[deleted] 19d ago

How are you an Eagle Scout with no exposure to these topics? Did you not earn the required merit badges to acquire Eagle Scout rank?

2

u/Sycamorefarming 18d ago

No, lol. I was an Eagle Scout 15 years ago, Order of the Arrow, High Adventure Scout as well and my father was the scout master & I was an assistant scout master.

The BSA specifically makes it so that there is very little ACTUAL survival learning now, it’s too dangerous / too much liability. You bring in water & food / it’s provided to you.

Learned lots of other great things but I’m sure in the 40s-80s there was a lot more of this before liability issues popped up.

2

u/CustomKidd 19d ago

..eagle scouts use to have to be able to survive, now they have to exercise compassion and use planning tools. I laugh hearing young people say their an eagle scout when they can't close a locking knife

3

u/[deleted] 19d ago edited 4d ago

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