The 7 Best Emergency Water Filter kits (2023 reviews)

We consider a emergency water filter kit to be a worthy investment in the long run. We are here to help you choose the right one for your purposes from all the best available products in market today.

Our review process: Show/Hide

Our Top Picks:

Best Overall: Buy: Sawyer Products Emergency Water Filter Kit READ REVIEW

Best With Gravity Bag: Buy: Sawyer Products Water source READ REVIEW

Best For Any Family Emergency Preparedness Kit: Buy: Platypus Emergency Water Filter Kit READ REVIEW

Best For hiker: Buy: MSR ceramic Filter READ REVIEW

Best For Travel: Buy: Platypus storage Bag READ REVIEW

Best For catastrophes: Buy: MSR Emergency Water Filter Kit READ REVIEW

Best For traveling abroad: Buy: Lifestraw Emergency Water Filter Kit READ REVIEW

Best Overall: Sawyer Products Emergency Water Filter Kit

Buy on Amazon

Here, we review kit that manages to win our hearts. It's the sawyer products emergency water filter kit and it's widely considered as one of best kit you can buy. Thicker fiber walls combined with a smaller inner diameter make sawyer fibers 75% stronger* than typical hollow fiber membranes, giving you a fast flow and enabling the filter to be continually backwashed forcefully to restore up to 98% of the original flow rate. It is great for any bug out bag, outdoors person, or as a safety precaution. The mini also comes with a straw that enables you to drink filtered water directly from a water source.

The filtered water can be boiled as a safety measure if you have to use pond or lake water. It has rubber gaskets so it doesn't leak when screwed on the pouch or a bottle. It is easy to use, and makes water taste even better. The filters are easy to use and don't take much space in your bag or backpack.

• Good for bugout kit, backpacking, riding, etc
• Lightweight, small and easy to setup
• Great for a bug out bag or deep camping kit
• Light weight, compact and essential for every bug out bag, backpack and camping trip

Best With Gravity Bag: Sawyer Products Water source

Buy on Amazon

Sawyer Products is known for creating pragmatic and minimalist kit for people on the go, and its line of sawyer products water source definitely falls in line with that reputation. This water filter is excellent for backpacking and hiking. It is great for travel, you can hook it up to a hose bib and flow a lot of water. It is easy to use portable water filter that removes harmful bacteria, protozoa, cysts, sediment, and 100% of microplastics. The ability to put on 1 liter smartwater and lifewatr bottles is super nice.

You can create a gravity water filtration system using the adapters, included tube/drinking straw, and mesh carrying pouch to hang the squeeze. It's light and compact and easy to bring as a backup. They don't take up a lot of space. It is great for backpacking, foreign travel or emergency kit.

• Filters fast, great for backcountry camping
• Convenient and easy to use verses other water filters
• Perfect for backpackers, hikers, ot any outdoorsman
• Easy to use, light weight, more option for extended hikes

Best For Any Family Emergency Preparedness Kit: Platypus Emergency Water Filter Kit

Buy on Amazon

We would, of course, be remiss if we didn't mention platypus emergency water filter kit for daily purpose. This filter is amazing for backpacking trips. It is great for 95% of the backcountry water sources you'll ever encounter. The water is the color of tea from flowing through the alpine bogs, and lots of pine forest. It is made from food grade materials. The dirty water bag is clearly labeled so you don't get accidental cross-contamination.

This product is great for backpack camping, car camping, emergencies, etc. It is easy to use, and filters fairly quickly with no manual effort. It is compatible with all other hydration systems.

• Makes a lot of bacteria-free water, quickly, from pools and running water
• Works great and takes the worry of safe water away
• Easy to use to clean large quantity of water
• Lightweight and so nice to have 8 litres of water available at camp

Best For hiker: MSR ceramic Filter

Buy on Amazon

Not everyone likes to purchase kit for their daily purpose, but the msr ceramic filter would be an anomoly. It is very portable and good for hiking. The intake pre-filter sits just two inches below the floating inlet foam to avoid junk floating on the water surface. It is designed to avoid cross-contamination. You can take this virtually anywhere and be guaranteed clean, fresh tasting water.

It is easy to fill up a few bottles. The filter is easy to clean and replaceable. It's also recommended on hiking sites. It takes less than 5 minutes to fill a liter nalgene bottle. It is easy to use and easy to clean.

• Tough, simple design and about 16 oz in weight
• Works great., filter is easy to clean in the woods
• Easily cleaned in the field, no tools necessary

Best For Travel: Platypus storage Bag

Buy on Amazon

The platypus storage bag is suitable and reliable and fits well with your regular usage. The super fast filtering of about 1.5L a minute means instant drinking water and refilling all the water bladders and canteens for the group is fast, and no pumping makes it super easy for anyone. It is very easy to use and fast, if you have deep enough water. The 2 liter version filters directly into a 2 liter Platy bottle which is designed to drink out of directly. It also has a back flush to make sure the filter stays clean and doesn't clog.

The purpose of this filter is to not have to use those chemical filters. It is great for camping and even big groups. It comes with a bunch of bottle/reservoir adapters that make it compatible with just about everything. It is easy to use, it’s fast, it does a large volume with minimal effort, and it packs up small.

• Perfect setup for lightweight backpacking & camping
• Light weight & super easy to use
• Easily filters a liter of water in less than a minute without any pumping
• Flow is fast and can fill the 2l clean bottle in about 2 minutes

Best For catastrophes: MSR Emergency Water Filter Kit

Buy on Amazon

The msr emergency water filter kit is suitable and reliable and fits well with your regular usage. The volume that you can pump easily allows you to fill your water bottles extremely fast. It is designed to be a lightweight solo unit. It cleans nasty water so quick. It is a great filter that allows you to easily fill water bottles while on a backpacking trip.

The pump is at a rapid 2.5 liters per minute, treats up to 10, 000 liters of water, and withstands freezing, drops, heavy use, and harsh environments. The zipper and stitching are tough as nails just like the unit itself. It can also be sanitized after use. It cleans on every stroke, providing consistently fast flow rates with zero hassle—no backflushing or filter-scrubbing ever required. It can be used on camping trips or for survival type situations.

• Designed for the larger mouth nalgene style bottle
• Comes in a nice zip up case with a fine mesh screen on
• Works extremely well and easy maintenance
• Easy to use and pumps very efficiently

Best For traveling abroad: Lifestraw Emergency Water Filter Kit

Buy on Amazon

Next on the list, we've got yet another kit that manages to win our hearts. It's the lifestraw emergency water filter kit and it's widely considered as kit that has the most suitable features. It is great for outdoor recreation, hiking, camping, scouting, domestic and international travel, and emergency prepping, the sawyer mini gives you a number of ways to access clean water. It protects against viruses, bacteria, parasites, microplastics, dirt, sand, and cloudiness independently tested, durable and bpa free fill avoids single use plastic bottled water. It comes with a string to tie it to a tree. It is convenient to not have to tote water with you when camping and backpacking.

The mini filter removes 7 log ( 99.99999 % ) of all bacteria ( like salmonella ) as well as other harmful bacteria which causes cholera and e. coli and 6 logs ( 99.9999 % ) of all protozoa such as giardia and cryptosporidium. It is great for backpacking, warning, the filtered water trickles out really slow, but works great. The mini also comes with a straw that enables you to drink filtered water directly from a water source.

• Takes time to set up but is usable when hiking
• Works great for families or cooking
• Amazing device, amazing quality, meets sanitary regulations completely