Shop some of our faves
SHOP PRODUCTSInternational Header
Petersen's Hunting: Top-Rated Water Purification Systems for the Backcountry Hunter
When it comes to backcountry health, few things trump the importance of clean water.
Petersen's Hunting: Top-Rated Water Purification Systems for the Backcountry Hunter
Last updated:
October 5, 2021
| 5 min read
YouTube video highlight
When it comes to backcountry health, few things trump the importance of clean water.
Read more about the projectPetersen's Hunting: Top-Rated Water Purification Systems for the Backcountry Hunter
No items found.
No items found.
Top-Rated Water Purification Systems for the Backcountry Hunter
When it comes to backcountry health, few things trump the importance of clean water.
From the pages of Backcountry Hunter
When Hugh Glass, depicted by Leonardo DiCaprio in the blockbuster hit The Revenant, dipped his metal canteen into a sputtering creek, he had no pills and no purifier. Just ice-cold mountain water to slake his thirst and cool his bear-claw-ripped throat. The guy sitting across from me in the theater elbowed his buddy and said, “See, we don’t need all that fancy purification crap.”
As tasty as Glass made that water look, the truth is, the backcountry wanderer doesn’t want to follow suit. Sure, you could get lucky—I did for years. Then, one week after a backcountry elk hunt: whammy! I wouldn’t wish a bad case of giardia on my worst enemy, and it took a good bit of time and some magnum-sized antibiotics to rid me of the sickness. And it’s not just giardia. Pour the wrong unfiltered water down your gullet, and you could end up with Guinea worms, schistosomiasis, legionella, or another hard-to-pronounce sickness that could cripple the rest of your hunting season or, worse, put you six feet under.
Today, with the water-purification options available to hunters, there’s really no excuse. Yes, the movies make it look awesome, but I won’t drink water from the most unsullied alpine stream unless I run it through my purifier. In recent years, manufacturers have stepped up their purification game and provided backcountry goers with pump-style filters, bottle/squeeze filters, and those designed to work with gravity. Let’s dive in and find an option or two that will keep you on the hunt and off the porcelain throne.
Petersen's Hunting
Devoted to the sport of recreational hunting.
Top-Rated Water Purification Systems for the Backcountry Hunter
When it comes to backcountry health, few things trump the importance of clean water.
From the pages of Backcountry Hunter
When Hugh Glass, depicted by Leonardo DiCaprio in the blockbuster hit The Revenant, dipped his metal canteen into a sputtering creek, he had no pills and no purifier. Just ice-cold mountain water to slake his thirst and cool his bear-claw-ripped throat. The guy sitting across from me in the theater elbowed his buddy and said, “See, we don’t need all that fancy purification crap.”
As tasty as Glass made that water look, the truth is, the backcountry wanderer doesn’t want to follow suit. Sure, you could get lucky—I did for years. Then, one week after a backcountry elk hunt: whammy! I wouldn’t wish a bad case of giardia on my worst enemy, and it took a good bit of time and some magnum-sized antibiotics to rid me of the sickness. And it’s not just giardia. Pour the wrong unfiltered water down your gullet, and you could end up with Guinea worms, schistosomiasis, legionella, or another hard-to-pronounce sickness that could cripple the rest of your hunting season or, worse, put you six feet under.
Today, with the water-purification options available to hunters, there’s really no excuse. Yes, the movies make it look awesome, but I won’t drink water from the most unsullied alpine stream unless I run it through my purifier. In recent years, manufacturers have stepped up their purification game and provided backcountry goers with pump-style filters, bottle/squeeze filters, and those designed to work with gravity. Let’s dive in and find an option or two that will keep you on the hunt and off the porcelain throne.
Petersen's Hunting
Devoted to the sport of recreational hunting.
Top-Rated Water Purification Systems for the Backcountry Hunter
When it comes to backcountry health, few things trump the importance of clean water.
From the pages of Backcountry Hunter
When Hugh Glass, depicted by Leonardo DiCaprio in the blockbuster hit The Revenant, dipped his metal canteen into a sputtering creek, he had no pills and no purifier. Just ice-cold mountain water to slake his thirst and cool his bear-claw-ripped throat. The guy sitting across from me in the theater elbowed his buddy and said, “See, we don’t need all that fancy purification crap.”
As tasty as Glass made that water look, the truth is, the backcountry wanderer doesn’t want to follow suit. Sure, you could get lucky—I did for years. Then, one week after a backcountry elk hunt: whammy! I wouldn’t wish a bad case of giardia on my worst enemy, and it took a good bit of time and some magnum-sized antibiotics to rid me of the sickness. And it’s not just giardia. Pour the wrong unfiltered water down your gullet, and you could end up with Guinea worms, schistosomiasis, legionella, or another hard-to-pronounce sickness that could cripple the rest of your hunting season or, worse, put you six feet under.
Today, with the water-purification options available to hunters, there’s really no excuse. Yes, the movies make it look awesome, but I won’t drink water from the most unsullied alpine stream unless I run it through my purifier. In recent years, manufacturers have stepped up their purification game and provided backcountry goers with pump-style filters, bottle/squeeze filters, and those designed to work with gravity. Let’s dive in and find an option or two that will keep you on the hunt and off the porcelain throne.
Petersen's Hunting
Devoted to the sport of recreational hunting.
Media Mentions
browse all articlesDown East: Ultra-Athlete Katie Spotz Bikes 360 Miles Across Maine
Read MoreRecent articles
Other categories
You might also like
Media Mentions
We’ve used this filter for over 800 miles in the backcountry and it’s still the best option for clean drinking water.
Brett Kretzer
Adventurer. Writer. Creator.
Media Mentions
Squeeze Water Filtration System by Sawyer
Garage Grown Gear
Media Mentions from Garage Grown Gear
Media Mentions
This popular repellent from Sawyer has 20% Picaridin, which protects against a wide range of insects, including mosquitoes, ticks, biting flies, gnats, chiggers and sand flies.
Amylia Ryan
Associate Editor
Explore All Sawyer has to Offer
Built for the Outdoors
see ALL PRODUCTS
Follow us on Instagram
More Than an Outdoor Company.
@sawyerproducts
Follow Us
From the trail
Meet our ambassadors. They’re experts on the trail who love the way our products stand up to the elements and delight us with stories from their next-level adventures.
meet our ambassadors
