The Best Backpacking Water Filters

We cover everything you need to know about backpacking water filters—why they’re important, how the different filtration methods work, and which models are our personal favorites.

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Having access to clean water is critical for any backpacking trip or long hike.

While it might appear that the lakes and rivers you hike past are crystal clear, it’s important to properly treat ALL water before drinking it.

Even in the most pristine alpine stream has to potential to contain an array of microscopic pathogens that can make you seriously ill.

Giardia, Cryptosporidium, and E.coli are no joke and have the potential to absolutely ruin your backpacking trip.

Thankfully, there are a lot of water treatment options available so you can turn any water source into safe drinking water. However, this also means it can take a lot of research to find the right system for your personal circumstances. Starting with: the different methods (physical, chemical, or UV), the different designs (gravity, squeeze, pump), flow rate, maintenance schedule. You get it, it’s a lot to sort through.

But, you’re in luck because we’ve done all the hard work for you! We’ve reviewed all the different models and methods, tested out the best products, and compared them against one another. And then we distilled all that info down, so you can make best decision relatively quickly. Read it here.