vapur.us $70

The Good: Lightweight water bottle packs down small when not in use, fast filtration for less worry in the woods. Filter works in both sized flexible water bottles.

The Bad: On the pricy side for a personal filter designed for limited volume use.

The Awesome: Being able to filter that cold mountain water on the go, without the risk of spending the night regretting it.

Keeping hydrated in the wild is always going to be a challenge, even the most pristine water can be home to all types of nasty that can wreak serious havoc on your gut. The problem with many filters is the bulk and effort required to filter that questionable aqua into something safe to guzzle. While pumps or gravity filters provide dependable high volume results in some of the worst water conditions, fast integrated filters are a great lightweight option for scrubbing that alpine water on the go, or even as an ultrahigh option for a few day trip.  The Vapor Microfilter is designed with the filter medium integrated directly into the mouthpiece so all that’s necessary is to fill the bladder and drink right through the mouthpiece. The filter traps 99.99% of both bacteria like salmonella and giardia, and protozoa like giardia; what this means for you is less risk off spending the trip behind the nearest bush.

The collapsible 1L bottle with filters weighs in at 2.7oz and can be used as a drinking bottle, drinking straw, or squeeze filter to fill other containers. While it worked well during hikes and camping, using it to filter large volumes took quite a bit of time. The filter also blocked off quickly in murky water with a lot of floating materials (best bet in that situation is to gather water and let it settle out the sediment for about half an hour before filtering). The small packable bag was exceptionally easy to stow in a backpack, shaving substantial weight compared to more traditional filters. Overall, the Microfilmed did a great job supporting a single hiker, but don’t depend on filtering in volume to support more than a couple of adventurers at a time.