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A Sawyer syringe and other tools for backflushing.
Photo by Natalie McMillan
Review pt. 3: Should I carry the Sawyer syringe?
The Sawyer syringe is not the best or lightest-weight tool to backflush your Sawyer filter.
Paul Bodnar Tech on the Trail 04/26/2019
Paul Bodnar
Tech on the Trail
04/26/2019
The Sawyer Squeeze, Sawyer Mini, and Sawyer Micro filters are among the most popular water filters used by backpackers. After a lot of use, these filters must be “backflushed” (or “backwashed”), which means pushing water backwards through the filter to flush out dirt that clogs the filter. Sawyer recommends backflushing when the flow rate diminishes, before long-term storage, and before using the filter after storage. Most long-distance backpackers backflush at least once a week.
Sawyer filters come with a 31-gram/1.1-oz. syringe used to backflush the filter. Since long-distance backpackers are concerned with weight, I wanted to see if there is a lighter-weight alternative to carrying the Sawyer syringe for occasional backflush use.
This post is part 3 in a series of Sawyer filter reviews. Prior posts:
Left to right: Sawyer Squeeze, Sawyer Mini, Sawyer Micro
Common backflushing devices
Sawyer 50 ml syringe (top), Sawyer coupling device (lower left), and 0.7-liter Smartwater bottle flip-top nozzle (lower right)
I tested the effectiveness of backflushing the Sawyer Squeeze, Sawyer Mini, and Sawyer Micro using three methods:
1. Sawyer Syringe (31 grams)
2. Sawyer coupler (6 grams)
3. Flip-top nozzle from a 0.7-liter Smartwater bottle (6 grams)
The photos below demonstrate how to use each device to backflush. Note that you cannot use the Sawyer coupler to backflush the Sawyer Mini.
How to backflush
Syringe backflush of original Sawyer Squeeze. The syringe can also be used to backflush the Sawyer Mini and the Sawyer Micro.
Coupler backflush of Sawyer Micro. (The coupler’s threads match the Smartwater Bottle.) The coupler also works with the original Sawyer, but not with the Sawyer Mini.
Smartwater bottle nozzle backflush of a Sawyer Mini. The nozzle may also be used to backflush the original Sawyer Squeeze and the Sawyer Micro.
Lightweight options work best
Backflush flow rate in Liters per Minute. The lightweight Sawyer coupler and the Smartwater bottle nozzle outperform the Sawyer syringe in all cases.
Our tests demonstrate that backflushing with the Sawyer coupler or the Smartwater bottle nozzle is better in all cases than using the Sawyer syringe. The best backflush flow rate was observed with the Sawyer coupler + original Sawyer Squeeze combination.
You save 25 grams / 0.9 oz. weight and have better results if you use the Sawyer coupler or a Smartwater Bottle nozzle to backflush your Sawyer filter.
Bottom line, TL;DR
What should you use for your long-distance backpacking trip? In combination with my Sawyer filter analysis in earlier posts (here and here), I recommend the original Sawyer Squeeze or Sawyer Micro in combination with the Sawyer coupler or Smartwater bottle with nozzle for backflushing.
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Showers Lake Vista, Tahoe Rim Trail
Photo courtesy of the Tahoe Rim Trail Association
Showers Lake Vista, Tahoe Rim Trail
Photo courtesy of the Tahoe Rim Trail Association
Trail guides that get you to places you’ve dreamed of.
As the makers of Guthook Guides, Bikepacking Guides, and Cyclewayz, we help you navigate the most popular trails around the world on your smartphone. Our hiking guides and biking guides work completely offline. Let Guthook guide your next adventure!
Download our popular hiking and biking guides!
About the Author
Paul Bodnar
Paul has always liked hiking and thru-hiked the Pacific Crest Trail in 1997 after college. After years of working in chemistry, he wanted to create a career involving the outdoors, so he hiked the Pacific Crest Trail again in 2010 to do research for his guide book Pocket PCT. He realized that creating a smartphone app for navigating the outdoors would make it easier to keep the data current and provide a better way to navigate. While hiking with Ryan (aka Guthook) in 2010, they decided to work together to create the first comprehensive smartphone guide for the Pacific Crest Trail. Now with the help of a team of great people they have created over 50 guides for trails around the world.
