Reddit reviews Aquamira - Chlorine Dioxide Water Treatment Two Part Liquid (1 oz Dopper Bottles)

Potential things to drop:

• The Tyvec tent footprint. You really don't need it. The tent floor will be just fine with just a little bit of care clearing the area under it of pointy stuff before you lay down for the night.
  
• The BA bag (is that the Encampment?) is definitely a place you can save some weight with a future upgrade. You could cut the sleeping bag weight in half with a good down bag.
  
• The filter is a pound of weight you can lose. Chlorine Dioxide drops or tabs will do the job at a fraction of the weight.
  
• Swap the Nalgene bottle for a bladder, or just a gatorade bottle, and save another half a pound easy.
  
• Do you really need work gloves? how much bushwacking are you really doing on an average trip?
  
• You can almost certainly save some weight by swapping the SS pot for an aluminum/titanium one. It's a pretty low price/weight-saved ratio though, so I wouldn't make that the first step. (it's a good thing to ask santa for though)
  
• If it's "utensils" plural, you're packing too many. A single spoon or spork is all you need.
  
• If you're not going someplace where you know there's Grizzlies, and there aren't any in Olympic NP, you really don't need the bear spray.
  
• Is that a spool of cord? How much are you carrying? 50' or so is plenty, and the spool itself is dead weight.
  
• Swap the aluminum whisky bottle for another small bladder. Lighter, and doesn't take up space in the pack when empty.
  
• "few garbage bags"? Just take 1.
  
• When you say "mustard and mayo", are you bringing bottles of them? Grab a couple of the little single-use packets from your local deli.
  
• "few t-shirts"? You only need 1 of each clothing type. 1 short-sleeve shirt, 1 long-sleeve shirt, 1 pair of pants, etc. (except for socks. Carry 2 pairs of those). Looks like you're really over-packing on the clothes. "Layers", fleece, long johns, and a parka? And snowboarding pants? Pare that way, way down, and only pack for the conditions you can reasonably expect to encounter.
  
• I'd lose all of the compression sacks. Instead, use light-weight slightly oversized regular stuffsacks to put your stuff in to. Then cram them into the pack and stomp them down with your foot. Basically you'll use your whole pack as a compression sack, and by having the items loose they'll squish into every nook and cranny and actually take up less space than they do in the compression sacks. And weigh less.
  
• With a little homework you can learn to only take 1 fuel canister. Get yourself a digital scale (you'll want one eventually if you keep going down the path to lighter weight hiking anyway) and weigh a full canister. Then take it and your stove and pot out in the backyard and bring a couple of cups of water to a boil to simulate cooking a meal. Then re-weigh the canister and note how much fuel that meal consumed. Then weigh an empty canister. With a little bit of math you can use the full, empty, and consumption numbers to figure out about how many meals are left in a partial can. I make a little scratch on my can after each meal to keep track of how many boils it's been used for.

Get a Sawyer Mini and some disinfectant tablets or drops (Aquamira is popular). Use the Mini when you need water right then, use the tablets when you can wait.

So say you have two water bottles and you come up to a stream and need water. Fill one with water from the source and put the disinfectants in there (making sure to bleed the threads), and put it in your pack. Then take the Mini and fill your other bottle using the squeeze bag OR you can get a bladder and fill it with water straight from the source and have the Mini connected between the bladder and the mouthpiece so it filters as you drink. By the time your bottle with the filtered water runs out, the other bottle of water will be purified. You can also fill both bottles with the filter when you stop if you're gonna take a rest, but you should always have drops or tablets as backups.

EDIT: Outdoor Gear Lab did a good review of water treatment options. It's very comprehensive (as are all their reviews).

How are you going to get filtered water into your bladder? Or effectively get unfiltered water out of it? I do not think the lifestraw can be connected in line with a hose either.

I would look at something like the Sawyer Squeeze: better filtration, can filter more gallons (100,000), able to screw onto a bladder/bottle or use inline with hydration hose (connect between end of hose and mouthpiece).

Or Aqua Mira drops.

Boiling water in steel is not a minimalist solution. If your goal is to simplify your kit - you are headed down the wrong path.

A dropper bottle of AquaMira or Bleach is a more versatile/effective/light/cheap solution. People also bring AquaMira or Iodine tablets as their backup purification method.

• https://www.amazon.com/Aquamira-Chlorine-Dioxide-Treatment-Bottles/dp/B000OR111G
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Potable-Aqua-Chlorine-Dioxide-Purification/dp/B000IBY64W
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Potable-Aqua-Water-Purification-Treatment/dp/B001949TKS
  
  ​
  
  The Sawyer you already have is really the best option. It's quite durable and can be serviced in the field. Paired with the SmartWater bottle it's a great way to clean water. Add a soft bladder like the Evernew or CNOC ones for more flexibility.
  
  ​
  
  However... if you still want a heavy ridgid bottle as a backup water purification system, check these out:
  
  
• https://www.vargooutdoors.com/titanium-water-bottle-with-ti-lid.html
  
• https://www.stanley-pmi.com/shop/adventure-the-nesting-two-cup-cookset
  
• https://snowpeak.com/collections/cookware/products/trek-700-titanium

Military chlor-floc is great stuff, as it will kill nasties and cause sediment to fall out of solution. Aquamira is another good option.

Better than both, I hear, is a Sawyer mini.

Iodine sucks. Don't use it.

I use Aqua Mira drops. Doesn't have the iodine flavor and a little quicker too.

http://www.amazon.com/GSI-Quality-All-In-One-Outdoor-Exercise/dp/B00478G8K2/ref=wl_it_dp_v_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=3I02IFBND6AJB&coliid=I26LGNNW3O7RDY

http://www.amazon.com/Aquamira-Water-Treatment-Drops-1oz/dp/B000OR111G/ref=wl_it_dp_v_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=3I02IFBND6AJB&coliid=I2YLPSX1OC4D6&psc=1

$59.42

Thanks for the contest!

My water treatment method of choice is always Aqua Mira

Sure, no problem.

FWIW, we carried 3 days worth of food and water (about 4L each) and our packs weighed ~ 35lbs each. Since the days are really cool, we didn't consume a lot during the day. We planned our meals to require as little water as possible. Although, it turned out that water wasn't so much of an issue because of all the snow that we could have melted.

> (which I'm fine with treating...)

You should always treat water regardless of the water source (unless it is marked as potable water). I use Aquamira. It's extremely light to carry, and is supposed to do a much better job at purifying water than water filters etc. If the water has a lot of particles in it, we'll use a coffee filter to filter them out before purifying it.

For that price you won't be getting ultralight on the big 3: backpack, sleeping bag, and tent. Unfortunately those are the largest, heaviest, and most difficult to go light weight on a budget. The majority of the other items are pretty good UL gear. You can, for example, get a lighter titanium stove. It'll save you about 2oz and double the cost. Eventually the 2oz there and a few more oz here and there on a number of pieces of gear really add up so you may want to swap it out as you upgrade your gear over time. But for right now one in the price/weight range I suggested is really good ultra light weight bang for your buck.

1. Alice Backpack $35 -- Watch some youtube videos on how to strap your tent/sleeping bag/sleeping pad to the pack safely and securely. Alternatively buy a used backpack off Craigslist for dirt cheap. This is the third thing I'd upgrade, once you have a lighter/smaller sleeping bag and tent.
   
2. Slumberjack 40 degree sleeping bag $98 -- Upgrade to down-filled rather than synthetic if you can, also make sure it's temperature appropriate for your trips. This is the first place I'd personally choose to upgrade.
   
3. Coleman Sundome $36 -- Any name brand dome tent is great for beginners. I picked a 2-person since you don't seem to know what you're doing (not an insult) I assume you'll be bringing a buddy! This is the 2nd thing I'd personally choose to upgrade to something that compacts down small enough to fit inside my backpack.
   
4. MSR Pocket Rocket butane stove $32 -- Not the greatest or the absolute lightest, but one of the more popular light weight stoves. A can of fuel is $5 at Wal-Mart or pretty much any sporting goods store.
   
5. Primus Litech 10oz kettle $25-- From this kit you really just want the pot and lid. You can leave the pan at home. According to the ad it is big enough to hold the 230g sized butane cannister previously mentioned. I suggest either eating things that require no cooking or just boiling water like any number of Mountain House or alternative meals available in the sporting goods section of Wal-Mart or any sporting goods store.
   
6. Stansport Back Packing Pad $10 -- One of the simplest items to upgrade, but "nicer" ones are $30-100+.
   
7. Titanium Spork $9 -- The only cookware you'll need for most those backpacking freeze-dried meals where you just add hot water and eat out of the pouch.
   
8. 4-pack of ponchos $4 -- These are stupid small and light. They're shit quality and rip easy so they're mostly one time use.. but at $1/ea you can pack one per day, who cares? Nice rain gear is hella expensive.
   
9. Base Layer -- If you don't already own it, buy some polyester/spandex "athletic" under-shirts and pants. They're stupid light, wick away your sweat, and add lots of warmth per ounce and cubic inch of pack space. I picked up a random set from Ross yesterday (bottoms and short sleeve top) for $20 combined. Generally speaking, avoid cotton for all clothing.
   
10. Rip-Stop/hiking/tactical pants $40/pair -- I can't pick these out for you because sizing/style preference, but the fairly cheap ones are about that price per pair.
    
11. AMK First Aid Kit $23 -- This is likely way more than you need and you could probably put together a decent one in a zip-loc baggy with stuff you have around the house. Don't forget to add any prescriptions you have or anything for special needs (allergies).
    
12. Survival Whistle $6 -- You can find cheaper ones at Wal-Mart maybe...
    
13. Signal Mirror $8 -- A woman's "compact" makeup mirror could get you this for free
    
14. Aquamira water treatment drops $14 -- You may also prefer iodine tablets or a filter. You can get a basic Sawyer filter from Wal-Mart for about $25.
    
    That totals out at $365 and covers most of your bases of things you'll need to buy. Most everything else is going to be like soap, toothbrush, etc. which I'm assuming you already have. I really like the HikeLight 3-day camping checklist. You won't be able to get most (any?) of the gear on this list at your price range, but just make sure you have a comparable replacement. Yours will likely just be bigger and/or heavier than their suggested ones. http://hikelight.com/gearlist.html
    
    Happy backpacking!