Water is probably the most important item you can take with when going hiking or trail running, especially if there is no water on the mountain. It’s critical to take enough, and not just for the duration of your outing, but in case something goes wrong and you need to spend more time than planned on the mountain.
So what happens when you run out and you are far from home, facing a good few hours, or more, on the mountain before you find clean drinking water? This is even more serious if it’s hot outside. Trust me things can go pear shaped very quickly.
What are your solutions?
Well you can go Bear Grylls Style and drink your own pee, not very tasty, but it will provide you with some hydration, in the short term at least. So you look around and find a stagnant puddle. It’s water but by drinking it, you could find yourself in a far worse situation. Stagnant water, and even sometimes running water, can carry a range of unhealthy bacteria including salmonella, cholera and E.coli. You can try filtering the dirty water through a t-shirt or something, but while this will filter out the bits and pieces, it won’t remove any harmful bacteria.
The solution
The good news is there is an affordable and effective solution, one that has become a permanent fixture in my hiking
pack. It doesn’t take up much room, is flexible and could possibly save you or your hiking buddy’s life.
Introducing the Sawyer MINI water filtration system. Weighing between 50 and 60g and fitting in the palm of your hand, this system removes 99.9999 % of all bacteria.
The system comes with a straw, allowing you to drink straight from the source, if you wish, two small drinking pouches, and it has connections allowing you attach direct to a regular bottle or even your drinking pouch. (It doesn’t fit every conceivable water carrier, but enough for a reliable solution).
The system is good for up to about 300 000 litres, which means it will last you a lifetime, or pretty close. Use it for hiking, camping and for travelling abroad, where often the tap water, and sometimes even the bottled water,, is not suitable for drinking. Like I said, you’ll never leave home without it.
I’ve use mine a number times, the water tastes clean and fresh and even the the fussy kids like it.
Benefits
The MINI can be cleaned and reused as many times as you like, and with no expensive cartridges to replace. You should give it a regular clean and sanitize it from time to time, but those are minor inconveniences for a very useful,and possibly invaluable, tool.
Visit www.iamearth.co.zato order yours.
