Best Backpacking Water Filters of 2025, Tests and Reviews

A favorite of Ultralight hikers, backpackers, bikers and travelers, the Sawyer Squeeze filter is the gold standard for water filters for those worried about weight and universal compatibility. The squeeze weighs only 3 ounces, and the filtration level is 0.1 microns (e.g. coli, salmonella, giardia, cryptosporidium, and other common problems, claiming to filter 100,000 gallons of water before replacement is necessary. The squeeze is also connected to a 28 mm diameter soda bottle (for example, a basic 20 ounce coke bottle), meaning you don’t have to worry about damage to the bottle.

The Sawyer Squeeze can be purchased with just a filter or as a kit with several water bladders and connection hoses. The blades that the kit includes work fine, but I generally skip them and filter them into a smart water bottle. As the name suggests, the aperture is intended to be narrowed, but it works fine as a gravity filter.

After years of testing and tweaking, my setup for Sawyer Speeze is 2L CNOC Vectox Water Bladder ($25) For dirty water that connects directly to the squeeze, and for my clean water, two smart water bottles connect directly to the filter outlet. For trips with rare water sources, I bring an additional 2L Hydrapack Bladder ($25). With this setup, you can get 2 liters of clean drinking water in about 4 minutes when squeezed, and when you apply it to create gravity, it will look like 6-8 liters. Speed ​​fluctuates considerably based on what is clean in the filter, and these numbers are based on fresh cleaning filters.

Cleaning is a drawback for Sawyer. To provide good cleaning, you will need the included backflush syringe. Unfortunately, this is bulky. My experience is that if you can find a clean and clean water source without lots of silt or debris, squeezes are easy to go for 7 days without needing cleaning. For longer trips, I pack a syringe. It is also worth noting that there is Sawyer Mini ($17) It’s even lighter, but less robust. In my test, mini weight savings are played by faster flow of squeeze, but for the handle off – Tooth Brici Stage, mini is a better choice.