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The Best Tactical Water Filter: Choosing Your Best Option
If you are a backpacker who loves to go adventuring for days on end, it is imperative to have ready access to clean drinking water to keep you hydrated so today we are going to discuss the best tactical water filter for you!
While there may be a river or stream you might encounter along your adventurous journey, you can’t take the safety of these water sources for granted.
Rivers and streams may appear clear and cool to the touch, but these unregulated water sources are home for many parasites, bacteria, and other unhealthy contaminants.
There could be lots of stuff in there to make you sick, so how can you quench your thirst without risking your health? Be equipped with the best tactical water filter!
How Does a Tactical Water Filter work?
The best tactical water filters are also known as survival water filters. Using a tactical water filter gives you the freedom to enjoy an abundant supply of safe drinking water even if you plan to be on your outdoors adventure for over a month. They come in different types and execute different methods, but they all share the use of hollow fiber membrane technology in common.
The filtration process occurs whenever you collect stream or river water and it goes through the tactical filter membranes.
These fiber membranes have pores which are very tiny, even smaller than you may possibly imagine. To help you picture it more clearly, a hair strands size is around 10 – 200 microns wide, while the pores of the best tactical filters can effectively filter out harmful microorganisms that are as small as 0.2 microns.If unsure of access to clean water, it may be a great idea to keep one of these filters in your backpack.
Best Tactical Water Filter: The Various Types to Choose From
Each type and brand have advantages and disadvantages, and so one best tactical filter may have certain advantages over the other under certain circumstances. Given there are several different type tactical water filters available online, it’s a good idea to research the different types before you begin looking at specific brands.
Squeeze Filters
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Squeeze water filters are extremely lightweight and tiny since there’s no need for a pump. Simply fill the collection vessel, either a pouch or a bottle, with water and then screw the filter unit into it. Then you just squeeze the pouch to force the water through the filter, the contaminants are trapped behind and only clean water gets through, ensuring safe potable water for you drink wherever you are.
Apart from its simple use, a squeeze filter is also very flexible and adaptable. You can attach it to a water bladder to make it work like a gravity filter. Or you can also fit it with a straw and sip directly from the water source.
A squeeze filter won’t break your back or squeeze your piggy bank!
Pros:
- Easy to use
- Lightweight and very handy
- Very flexible, can work as a gravity or straw filter
Cons:
- Low water flow rate
Gravity Filters
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This type of tactical water filter has long been a popular choice for family camping and other group activities in the outdoors.
You just fill the pouch with your stream or river water and hang it up on a tree or somewhere high enough for the gravity to work while you are off doing things of more importance.
Hang it up and let gravity takes care of the rest, gravity allows the water to seep through the porous filter membranes so that only safe drinking water comes out to finally quench your thirst.
Pros:
- No need to squeeze or pump
- Can filter plenty of water at once
Cons:
- Slower than moderate filtering time
Straw Filter
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Straw filters provide a very easy and portable way to access clean water to drink on the go. There’s no need to collect water and hang or squeeze a pouch to filter the dirty water. You can simply sip the water directly from its source through the straw filter whenever you feel the need to hydrate.
They are very portable and cost less than most of the other best tactical filters,but just a word of advice, a filter straw needs an available water source, so if you want a straw filter to function while you’re on the move, you must collect water in a separate bottle whenever and wherever you come across with it.
This ensures you have something to sip whenever you need to replenish. This means additional weight and stuff to drag along through the wilderness.
Pros:
- Very affordable
- small and very lightweight
- Very convenient
Cons:
- Needs bottle to collect water for later use
Pump Filters
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This water filter is much like a straw filter because it requires no additional burden of a collection vessel. You simply put one end in the water source and pump, water is pulled into and through the filter cartridge into your mouth or whatever you want to put it.
Wala, safe water to quench your thirst!
Pros:
- Filters quickly
- Applicable for shallow water sources
- Available in various sizes
Cons:
- bulky for single person to use
- While all of these filters do the job in different ways, all of them can protect you from the ill effects of microorganisms. They can effectively filter out salmonella, E. coli, giardia, cryptosporidium, as well as other parasites.
However, majority of users report that the filters don’t do much to deal with odors and tastes of the water. I guess you just need to decide if you want bad health or bad taste!
Last Words
The best tactical water filter is a unit that can effectively remove harmful contaminants as well as some of the bad taste from water, convenient to use and also convenient to bring along on your trip.
High quality straw filters are the best option if traveling alone and always on the go. Just don’t forget to weigh all the possible options at your disposal to survive and enjoy each of your exciting adventures in the great outdoors.
Last update on 2023-01-09 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
About the Author Jack Wilson
Jack Wilson is a water treatment consultant as well as a topic researcher and post editor for all posts on bestpurifiation.com.