The Best Backpacking Water Filters of 2024

We pumped hundreds of liters of dirty water to find the fastest and most reliable filter

Imagine this: you’re in the backcountry, nearly out of liquids on a scorcher of a day, when you hit the first water source you’ve seen for hours. You sit down, pull out your bladder and your pump, and drop the intake tube into the water. But when you go to pump, the pressure goes slack. Or the nozzle jams, barely a drop coming out no matter how much you squeeze. Chances are, if you’ve spent enough time in the backcountry, you don’t have to imagine this scenario: It’s happened to you. Maybe more than once.

It’s certainly happened to me. So for Outdoor Life’s test of the best backpacking water filters, we decided to see which models from the top brands—including MSR, Lifestraw, Katadyn, Grayl, Platypus, and RapidPure—could handle the gnarliest water conditions backpackers can expect to find: stagnant water with high levels of bacterial contamination, the dark-tea tannin-filled water of a wetland, and silt-filled glacial runoff.

  • Fastest Flow: Platypus QuickDraw
  • Easiest to Use: Katadyn BeFree
  • Best Value: Sawyer Squeeze
  • Best Lightweight: Sawyer Squeeze Mini
  • Best Gravity: Katadyn Gravity BeFree
  • Best for Groups: Platypus GravityWorks
  • Most Reliable: MSR Guardian
  • Best Treatment Drops: Aquamira
  • Best Backup: Aquatabs
  • Best UV: SteriPEN Ultralight
  • Best for International Travel: Grayl Ultrapress

Continue learning more about the best backpacking water filters, written by Laura Lancaster here.

LAST UPDATED

October 27, 2024

Written by
Photo thumbnail Blog Author

Laura Lancaster

Outdoor Life

Explore More Content

Media Mentions

All three of our experts love the Sawyer filtration systems for durability, quality, and ease of use.

The Healthy
Media Mentions from The Healthy

Media Mentions

Here are the things you need for an easy weekend vacation

Consumer Affairs
Media Mentions from Consumer Affairs

Media Mentions

For this guide we focused on gear that could be more easily carried in a backpack, emphasizing lightness and portability wherever possible.

Wirecutter
Media Mentions from Wirecutter