The 11 Best Backpacking Water purifiers (2023 reviews)

There are several advantages of having a backpacking water purifier. Let’s take you step by step, type by type, and find the best backpacking water purifier for you.

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Our Top Picks:

Best Overall: Buy: Sawyer Products Backpacking Water Purifier READ REVIEW

Best For saltwater: Buy: Katadyn Backpacking Water Purifier READ REVIEW

Best For few days: Buy: Lifestraw Backpacking Water Purifier READ REVIEW

Best For outdoorsman: Buy: Waterdrop Backpacking Water Purifier READ REVIEW

Best For third World Travel: Buy: steripen Backpacking Water Purifier READ REVIEW

Best For Hydration Pack: Buy: survivor Filter Backpacking Water Purifier READ REVIEW

Best For hiker: Buy: MSR Backpacking Water Purifier READ REVIEW

Best For An Emergency Replacement: Buy: Membrane Solutions Backpacking Water Purifier READ REVIEW

Best For global Travel: Buy: Grayl Backpacking Water Purifier READ REVIEW

Best For car: Buy: joypur Backpacking Water Purifier READ REVIEW

Best For prepper: Buy: Caredwater Backpacking Water Purifier READ REVIEW

Best Overall: Sawyer Products Backpacking Water Purifier

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Sawyer Products line of purifier come in a pretty wide variety of styles, so you can definitely find one that suits your individual preferences and needs. Weighing just 3 ounces, the versatile, award-winning sawyer squeeze filter is incredibly simple to use and fits in the palm of your hand. They don't take up a lot of space. The bags that come with it are very useful and fairly easy to fill up. The Ounce reusable squeeze pouches roll up when empty, so they won't take up space in your pack or suitcase.

This water filter is excellent for backpacking and hiking because of how light weight they are. The filter will fit on standard sized water bottles in addition to the provided 1l pouch. These filters must be kept from freezing because ice crystals growing within the fibers can compromise it.

• Filters fast, great for backcountry camping
• Convenient and easy to use verses other water filters
• Easy to fill the squeeze bags from a water source

Best For saltwater: Katadyn Backpacking Water Purifier

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Compared with other purifier in this category, the katadyn backpacking water purifier has a convenient design. The Life Straw is compact, lightweight, and inexpensive, good for survival. It comes with a carbon filter and ceramic filter. The impregnated ceramic filter element can last an impressive 50, 000 liter, depending on water quality. It is designed to filter out viruses and sediment contaminants and not pollution. It is great for emergencies and for outdoors.

The filter is designed to extract jet fuel. It is easy to use, easy to clean, and a very solid construction. It gives you the peace of mind knowing that you have a filter that can give you clean drinking water for a very long period of time, if need be.

• Compact, robust, simple and a good to go water filtration system
• Impregnated ceramic element that 's effective against bacteria and protozoa even in extreme conditions
• Great portable dihydrogen monoxide filtration system
• Designed four outdoor enthusiasts and international travelers

Best For few days: Lifestraw Backpacking Water Purifier

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We know from years of feedback from readers, customers and amazon sellers, what most people want in a convenient and appropriate purifier. The lifestraw backpacking water purifier is exactly that - it's a simple purifier that hits all the right notes. It is great for emergencies and your bug out bag. It removes parasites, waterborne nasties such as salmonella, even the iodine taste of the straw's own cleanser. It is light weight and in compact form. It is good for up to 1000 gallons of water.

This is a fairly ingenious device but it does take a bit of suction to get anything out of it. It is great for prepping and to have for any other emergency when traveling in unusual places. It is good for times when you need small amounts of water and awesome for something like a bugout bag where you want items that take up as little space as possible. The outer plastic is sturdy and comes with a cap on both sides to keep the filter clean.

• Simple and effective way to ensure potable water in survival situations
• Has a string to carry around your neck or tie in a pack
• Great for survival and emergency use

Best For outdoorsman: Waterdrop Backpacking Water Purifier

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Waterdrop offers a variety of purifier for personal choice and yet maintaining quality in all the variants. This water filter works in a variety of ways, including as a straw or an inline filer with pump. It comes with two bags plus it is great for fast fill up. The capacity water bag can hold up to 15 gallons of water at a time, which is about 11 bottles of 500 ml bottled purified water, and can meet all. The straw works well and the squeeze bags are the absolute way to go for a river based trip with consistent easy access to water.

It eliminates cumbersome fittings and saves space, brings you pure water with the greatest convenience and comfort, and brings you pure water with the greatest convenience and comfort.

• Small enough to carry around when hiking or really any occasion
• Easy to use and plenty of water comes out
• Excellent water filter for backcountry camping
• Great product, simple design, easy to use and clean

Best For third World Travel: steripen Backpacking Water Purifier

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The steripen backpacking water purifier's material feels more premium than its price would suggest. It's a clever, efficient way to have clean water. This pen will sterilize 1 liter of water at a time by submerging ( up to the battery compartment) and stirring the uv light in a container of water for 90 secs. It is simple but effective, destroying over 99.9 percent of harmful microorganisms. It simply kills bacteria and viruses using UV light to make the water safe to drink.

These are designed with a tapered, rubberized tip to insert the lamp in water bottles. It can you stick the bristles in boiling for a few seconds, soak it in hydrogen peroxide or antibacterial mouthwash. It's compact so it is easy to carry along, too. It's easy to use, reliable, kills/disables viruses as well as bacteria.

• Great water purification for travel and backpacking
• Ideal size and totally lightproof, allowing the steripen to do a thorough job
• Designed specifically for outdoor / expedition use
• Secure in backpack in padded cover, easy to use

Best For Hydration Pack: survivor Filter Backpacking Water Purifier

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The survivor filter backpacking water purifier is satisfactory and appropriate and fits well with your daily purpose. It is one of the lightest and most compact water purification filters on the market, a water filter camping, hiking and backpacking approved. It has 3 filters to get your water as clean as can be. It improves taste, thanks to dual hollow fiber membrane (ultra filters) and carbon filtration. It can be used directly from fresh water source, pumped into an attached cup, or pumped into any portable hydration pack.

This is great for camping, hiking, fishing, etc. The survival filter removes all the sediment and much of the tannin count. It is easy to use, well made and it is the absolute best deal going. It is perfect for one or two people's water needs while back packing.

• Compact size, very well made product
• Great pump light and easy to use
• Super good and portable water filter

Best For hiker: MSR Backpacking Water Purifier

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We know from years of feedback from readers, customers and amazon sellers, what most people want in a convenient and appropriate purifier. The msr backpacking water purifier is exactly that - it's a simple purifier that hits all the right notes. The MSR MiniWorks EX Microfilter is wonderful for backpackers, hikers, campers, and the like who need clean, drinkable water in the field. It easily pumps one quart in less than two minutes and attaches to standard screw cap' plastic hiking bottles. It takes less than 5 minutes to fill a liter nalgene bottle. The pump is easy to use and won't fatigue your arm, either.

A 1 micron absolute hollow fiber filter will allow 20%-30% of spores to pass through. This filter is great for travel as well as outdoorsy stuff. It's a highly efferent filter, cleaning is easy, and it works great. This is an irreplaceable addition to your backpack.

• Easily cleaned in the field, no tools necessary
• Perfect product to meet your need for clean water when
• Works great and will make a lot of fresh water in a hurry

Best For An Emergency Replacement: Membrane Solutions Backpacking Water Purifier

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If you want nothing less than best convenient purifier, then membrane solutions backpacking water purifier is the one you should definitely consider. This water filtration system is a life-saver. It contains a variety of filters that will remove nearly 100% of contaminants including bacteria, heavy metal, chlorine, and so on. It is super hard to suck any water out of a cup. The nice thing about the Membrane Solutions filter is that the filter itself is a "straw" style filter that you can use directly to your mouth. It's very light, perfect for backpacking/survival.

The bag does not have a water tight seal on top. It is good for a group of you're not alone. The moisture is what makes water filters work, and without that, they're sitting pretty and ready for use at any time. It is easy to carry on long trips.

• Makes drinking water for campers and preppers
• Great value for camping and emergencies
• Easy to take apart and clean
• Light weight to hike in with

Best For global Travel: Grayl Backpacking Water Purifier

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The grayl backpacking water purifier might be a relatively new release, but it's still nothing short of impressive this year, thanks to multiple price cuts and added new features over the past few months. It provides ergonomic comfort for nonslip, anti-fatiguing pressing. It is placed on all heavy-use surfaces for tactile, nonslip performance. It is ideal for global travel and outdoor adventures (hiking, camping, backpacking, fishing, hunting) and survival. It also fits into any standard sized cupholder.

The Multifunctional Simplevent cap vents air (twisting a small cap 1/2 turn) during purification and protects from cross-contamination. It provides a large pressing surface when flat. The cartridge slows over time, with use. It's well made, durable and the real deal.

• You can have your water purified in just 10 seconds
• Good brand reputation

Best For car: joypur Backpacking Water Purifier

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We would, of course, be remiss if we didn't mention joypur backpacking water purifier for regular usage. A go bag is a backpack that has everything you need to survive for approximately four days. It's compact to carry around and it has a carrying case. It’s simple to use, handy for hikes, and useful for emergencies. The kit includes all of the hoses, extra pre-filters, drinking cup, retaining clip for the hoses, is lightweight and comes with a bag to store it in. It works great for the first 10 gallons but then begins to plug up.

The pump works as intended, the installation and set up is quite clear on the manual, and can fill a gallon of water within 5 min. The water coming out is clean, odorless, and of good quality. It gives you peace of mind when abroad and always protect your drinking water health.

• Light, easy to camp and travel with
• Easy to put together and pump water from a stream
• Good brand reputation

Best For prepper: Caredwater Backpacking Water Purifier

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The caredwater backpacking water purifier is capable of outshining several other purifier featured in this list in overall features in its price range. The CaredWater Portable Electric Camping Hiking Water Filter Purifier is very compact and perfect for taking camping or hiking. The Pre-filter is meant to keep larger particles/sediment out, the KDF+GAC removes heavy metals, odors, chlorine and the ultra filtration membrane is a last stage filter. This ensures that you can drink safely from rivers, streams, or lakes without worrying about getting sick.

The CaredWater water purification system is an excellent addition to any hiker/camper's gear. It's a reliable and convenient water filtration system that will keep you hydrated and connected in even the toughest conditions. The drinking bag that is included is perfect for filling up with clean water, and then folding away flat for the next use. It comes with a carrying/storage case, which is quite nice. The quality of the components is great, and the built in battery of the pump, charges rapidly.

• Worked great for purifying stream water
• Comes with the electric pump, which also doubles as usb type a power source
• A nice, high-quality water filter with a whopping 4, 000l (1, 000 gallon) capacity