The best camping water filters to keep you hydrated in any clime and place

What’s the most important thing to pack when you step off for a hike, camping trip, or field exercise? Famed collegiate football player and hydration expert Robert Boucher Jr. will tell you it’s none other than high-quality H2O. Water might not always be the single most critical thing on your list, but it’s certainly near the top, so you better have plenty. Notice we said to have plenty – not to pack plenty – because water is also very heavy. If you want a gallon a day, that’s more than eight pounds you need to lug around, not to mention all those empty containers. You’re much better off packing a hydration bladder or water bottle and a water filter to turn every stream and lake into your own water fountain.

Being able to purify water on the go isn’t just a great way to reduce your pack’s weight: it’s a reliable, sustainable way to stay hydrated for as long as you need.

Types of camping water filters

Camping water filters can basically be classified by the amount of convenience they offer. You’ll probably be able to process the highest volume of water with an active unit operated by a hand pump. These function like a backwoods faucet, turning any water source into your immediate supply. Next up are gravity-fed options that use two bladders separated by a filtration system. These do all the hard work automatically, but you have to be patient and keep track of which bladder is for clean water and which is for unfiltered water. Lastly, there are personal options like filtered water bottles and filtration straws. These are fast and easy, but not designed for filtering large volumes of water at once.

Continue reading about the best camping water filter for you written by Scott Murdock here.