Sawyer Gravity Filter, and other product review

SAWYER 2L Gravity Water Filtration System/ SAWYER Permethrin Insect Repellent/ SAWYER Stay-Put Sunscreen SPF-30

Editor: Cory

Just the Facts:
SP162 – 2 Liter Dual Bag Complete System Includes:
• 2 Liter Gray Reservoir Marked DIRTY
• 2 Liter Blue Reservoir Marked CLEAN
• Sawyer PointONE Hollow Fiber Membrane Filter
• Faucet Adapter
• Drink Tube
• Quick-Release Hose Adapter
• Instructions for Use

Features:
• This Sawyer system provides 2 liters of potable water in as little as 1.5 min.
• Simply fill the included gray reservoir with unfiltered water, attach the filter and filter hose and let gravity fill the included blue reservoir with clean water
• Use the clean water in your blue reservoir as a campsite water source for dirty dishes and filling water bottles, by simply hanging the reservoir from its handle.
• Or, attach the included drink tube and a bite valve (sold separately) and use the reservoir as a convenient pack hydration system
• Filter removes particles, protozoa, and bacteria down to 0.1 micron in size, including giardia, salmonella and cryptosporidia
• The Complete system includes a faucet adapter for an even more thorough backwash when you get back home to your faucet.
• But just in case you never go back home, the included Sawyer filter is fully field maintainable to ensure a fast flow of water
• Setup is simple and the system packs easily, with a packable weight at just 12 oz.

Features:
• This insect-killing repellent for your clothing is effective against ticks, chiggers, mites and mosquitoes for up to six weeks.
• This nonaerosol pump bottle contains enough spray to coat full outfits
• Although we consider a full outfit to be one shirt, trousers and socks; we recommend you still pack underwear.
• One treatment will last up to six washings or six weeks before clothing has to be treated again
• If you treat your tent, you can expect full potency for up to 40 days of direct sunlight. This is a great way to give your entire campsite a barrier of protection
• Use it while hunting for an odorless way to protect yourself from common bugs
• Effective against ticks that carry Lyme disease and other fairly common diseases like Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
• Repellent should be applied outdoors and before clothing is worn; after it’s treated, hang clothing and let dry two hours (four hours in humid conditions)
• Avoid contact with skin and eyes during application phase
• Active Ingredient: Permethrin (0.5%)

Features:
• One application penetrates deeper into skin lasting all day
• Will not rub off
• Sweat proof
• Engineered to be effective when combined with the application of Sawyer Insect Repellents
• Enriched with Aloe Vera and Vitamins
• Airline Friendly Sizes
• Active Ingredients: Octinoxate, Octisalate, Homosalate, Oxybenzone.
Available Sizes:
[SP1181] – 1 ounce
[SP1302] – 2 ounces
[SP1188] – 8 ounces

Oh what a combination. A water filtration system and a hydration bladder all in one! I have waited far too long to give this a try. My days of living like a pioneer pumping water are over. When you are thirsty, hot, tiered, and in need of water the last thing you want to do is hunch down over some stream or pond and pump, and pump, and pump….
SAWYER has taken all the pain out of the game. This easy to use system lets the forces of nature do the work for you. I don’t feel that I need to explain gravity and how it works, but in the event you need a refresher gravity is the force that pulls things towards the earth. It makes things that are up come down. Get it? Good! A pump is a very effective way to move water but there is one problem that is abundantly clear when using one. You are going to be fighting gravity. You have to suck the water up and force it through a filter where it will be collected into whatever container you are using. This is, as I said, a very effective way to move, filter, and capture water. SAWYER just took that idea and made it better.
Why fight something that you don’t have to? Gravity can be your friend so why not use it? That is exactly what they did. The problem is that most filters require you to use pressure to force the water through a filtration system. So SAWYER had to create a filtration system that was efficient enough to allow the water to free flow through the filter using only the force of gravity. SAWYERS hollow fiber filters fit the bill perfectly. There is a lot of science behind this little fellas that I’ll not try to explain here. A visit to https://sawyer.com/technology/water-filtration/ will give you a very in-depth look at just how these filters operate.

So now that we know what and how these filters work let’s talk about how my personal experience with this great filter went. A co-worker and I planned hiking trip into the Eagle Cap Wilderness in Oregon. Everything was set save for my water filtration set. During a moment of poor judgment I had left my old filter on my porch to dry out. Not a problem unless you have a lab puppy in the area. Well, I’m sure you can see where this is going. So I reached out to the good people at SAWYER to see if we could work together on a review. After a few emails and the taillights of a delivery truck I had a new filter on my front porch, away from the puppy. The great reputation SAWYER had was strengthened as I opened the package to find they had also included a bottle of their Permethrin Insect Replant and a tube of Stay-Put Sunscreen SPF-30. This was a welcome sight as reports had been that the area I planned to hike was having a banner year for mosquitoes. I promptly treated my clothing and awaited the beginning of my trip. My pack was complete and we were ready to go.
The water that I had in my bottle held me for the first 3 hours of hiking but after making our first camp it was time for a refill. I had purchased a small compression sack to keep the filter kit in I pulled it out of my pack. Filling the dirty water bladder was a breeze as I put it into the running water of an alpine creek.

Back at camp I slightly struggled to clip the small S-biner into the small hole in the top of the grey bag. The plastic D loop on the top of the hanging strap was not a great fit for the tree limbs but I solved that with another carbineer that I had on hand. I clipped in the grey hose and allowed it to purge the air and promptly clipped it into the grey end of the filter.

Once I had flow I clipped the blue end to the blue bag and we were flowing. In just under 2 minutes I had two liters of clear, cold, drinkable water.

I traded out the blue and grey bags on the hanging strap and using the blue clean water hose I filled my water bottle. I prefer to use a bottle while at camp. SAWYER does not have bite valves for the clean water system and so I had to purchase a separate clean water hose and bite valve. This system comes fully prepared to filter 2 liters of water but not to be a bladder system. That is an area that could be improved on and would take this system over the top. They do have a conversion kit to make this an inline system that turns the grey bag into a bladder and that is a very nice feature however a hose or bite valve would also have to be purchased.
Each day I filled and filtered around 4 liters of water. That is a bit over 16 gallons of water for the entire trip. Nowhere near exceeding the 1 million gallons that the filter is rated for. I filled from lakes and creeks and found each to be relatively easy. Filling from large standing water does require that you move the bag back and forth but it was not a difficult task to fill. This filter never slowed down and I never felt it necessary to do a backflush. That can be done simply by pressing on the full clean water bag until water runs clean from the filter. At home before I stored the system I did place the faucet adapter on the filter and back flushed it with my city water. I got to tell this filter is really something else as it is far less maintenance than any filter I have ever used.

The 2 Liter Filtration system is an absolute must for any serious backpacker. While SAWYER does have other squeeze systems available that are also fantastic they are not nearly as efficient as this system. My hiking partner was using the SAWYER Squeeze system which afforded me a head to head comparison.

Now, with areas that are rich in lakes and creeks so too are they rich in life. Sadly, that life can include mosquitoes and all other manner of parasitic vermin. The SAWYER Permethrin Insect Repellent is unlike those that you are used to. This is a one-time treatment of the clothing not your skin. Permethrin is an active ingredient in many insecticides and once dry it is harmless. Well, to people and pets anyway. Here is a little more of the science behind it https://sawyer.com/technology/permethrin/. The bottom line is bugs hate it and I love that. I treated my Columbia conversion shorts/pants and 3 shirts with the bottle that I was sent. I am happy to report that I came out of the woods with not on single bug bite. This stuff just flat out works and with an effectiveness of up to 42 days it is worth every penny.
The weather was great but hovering around the 7300 to 8200 foot elevation level the temperature was often mild enough to wear a light long sleeve shirt. That left my face and neck the only real areas of concern for the treachery that is the sun’s rays. Most of the area we were hiking in is white granite and it reflects the suns skin burning rays quite nicely. I was glad that I had some defense. Sunscreen is nothing glorious and thus I have no great story to tell about its use. Nothing more really than just to say that it worked. How do I make such a claim? Well, I used to sunscreen on my face and ears for the first two full days of hiking. No burns. No problems. The last day however I decided that it was no big deal and I made the final walk to the end of our journey unguarded from the sun. I arrived at the car with a very, very, pink face and clear evidence of the shape of my sunglasses. Lesson learned. The SAWYER Stay-Put Sunscreen really does work. Check out the science behind it here- https://sawyer.com/technology/sunscreens/ you might learn something you didn’t know.
In the end all three of the products that I was sent from SAWYER turned out to be simply fantastic. They are all effective at what they are designed to do and I am very comforted in knowing that the people at SAWYER have gone to such lengths to do sound research that has created incredible products. I highly recommend that you check out SAWYER products for your next trip into the hills. You will not regret it.

What could be done better?
The Permethrin Insect Replant and a tube of Stay-Put Sunscreen SPF-30 can do nothing more they are great just as they are. The SAWYER 2L Gravity Water Filtration System is flat out fantastic! There are just a few places that I could suggest improvement. I would like to see it come with a tube and bite valve so it is complete and ready to be a hydration bladder system right out of the box. I would like to see the strap that holds both bags come with a bigger S-biner as I found it to be a little stubborn to get into the small hole. I would also like to see the plastic D loop replaced with a larger carabineer. The dirty water bag has two areas that I see could be improved. First, the drain could be moved to corner of the bag to help eliminate small amount of water being trapped in the bag. Second, the fill area could be slightly larger to make filling from standing water a little more convenient. As far as the functionality of the product, it is flawless. This system works, and works well!! I very seriously recommend looking into SAWYER water filters, yes I said filters, because as I said my hiking partner also was using a SAWYER product and it worked well. I am a huge fan of the 2 Liter Water Filtration System and expect to have many great adventures with it in my pack. Fine Job SAWYER

I give all the SAWYER products 5 stars even though there are a few little things that I would change the bottom line is that they work.