Sawyer Micro Squeeze Review

The Micro Squeeze provides a high flow rate to readily provide fresh, clean water free of bacteria and protozoa. It doesn't protect against viruses but offers stand-up versatility as a 3-in-1 filtration system. Use it like a straw or squeeze filter, or plug it into your favorite inline hydration bladder or gravity setup — all for a great price and fantastic longevity.

Water Quality

Utilizing a hollow fiber filtration system with 0.1-micron pore size, it filters out everything from bacteria to protozoans, including Giardia and Cryptosporidium. You can take water from some of the nastiest sources in North America and expect good, clean water. This filter cannot eliminate viruses, so be aware it can't protect you while traveling internationally, which is problematic.

It removes particulates from clear water sources, and Sawyer claims it exceeds EPA standards. During a taste test, we learned that it also improves water quality, enhancing our tap water's taste! You can expect this filter to work well with backflushing after every use in clear water sources. The filter clogs easily after a few filtrations in water sources that contain lots of sediment, like in the Colorado River (one of the world's most turbid rivers). What's important is ensuring that you carry the backflush syringe that will clear out the filter after every use.

Durability and Maintenance

This filtration system has a very long lifetime, caching in a replacement at around 10,000+ gallons of water. That's approximately 37,850 1-liter fill-ups! While you might have a hard time filtering that much water in your lifetime, it's safe to say that Sawyer does claim an exceptionally long lifetime. That is, however, based on the maintenance that is required.

With the filtration system comes a syringe. Sawyer recommends flushing the filter every time you use it, which isn't hard but requires carrying the syringe with you in the backcountry. On a fastpacking trip, the filter flow started to slow down. We hadn't plunged the system for a day and had been among water sources with heavy sediment. Once we backflushed it, it was fine, processing the same rate of water. As a result, make sure that if you buy this, you bring all the pieces along.

Aside from that, you can't take this filter apart. It seems well-constructed with not too many additional parts. The straw - however - is easy to lose. Luckily, it's compatible with a conventional thicker straw that you can buy at the grocery store, which is nice. Overall, this system does well in this category. Sadly, the bags break after roughly 30-40 uses (in our experience). Given that you don't have to squeeze as hard to increase the flow, like you would with lighter Sawyer products, they don't break as often.

Treatment Time

As an on-the-go filtration system, treatment is instantaneous and works while you drink. You can drink from the filter through the straw, squeeze pouch, or hydration bladder. In all cases, treatment time is minuscule. If you want to squeeze filtered water into another storage container, 1 liter takes 1.5 minutes based on how fast you can collect and squeeze water through. Ideally, this system is a personal system suited for solo use. Filtering water for more than one person becomes a timely chore.

Weight and Packability

This filtration system is lightweight and easy to pack into a backpacking pack. The kit includes a straw, filter, 32-ounce storage pouch, and cleaning syringe weighing about 3.8 ounces. The filter weighs 1.85 ounces, making it a lightweight, on-the-go filtration system.

While it doesn't come with an easy-to-carry case (which would be nice), we put it into a ziplock bag and bring all the pieces. The package is smaller than a Nalgene bottle. As a whole system, it works well for a single person backpacking where water sources are plentiful.

This filtration system works well for on-the-go activities like trail running and mountain biking. The profile is a little fatter than the narrow one, making it harder to fit into small pockets, but it fits easily into the main compartment of any backpack. We don't find it very often that we carry our filter in our pockets.

Ease of Set Up

Setup is pretty straightforward, and it has a plethora of applications, allowing access to varied water sources, small and large.

If you find a shallow puddle and need water quickly, attach the straw to the filter or drink directly from the input end. The straw lets you drink without getting your face right next to the water. If you need to store a little water, you can use the pouch to gather it from medium to large water sources.

You can use a hydration bladder if you need to store more water. Unfortunately, you must load your bladder with contaminated water and put the filter inline. Since it has a drinking end on the filter, you need to switch out the bite valve for the filter.

You can also use it with a gravity filter on the end of the line for easy use. If you've lost your pouch on the trail and happen to find a plastic bottle somewhere, you can affix the threads to the container, and it'll stick. Overall, this filter is easy to set up and very versatile.

Ease of Filtration

Filtration ease in different modes varies. Of all the on-the-go filtration systems, it's one of the easiest to get water from the source into our mouths, which is facilitated by the fatter diameter that can process water faster. Also, the bite valve is big, offering an ample water flow.

For the on-the-go system, it takes a little effort to get the flow of water started through the straw. This system purely runs on sucking force, but once you get it going, it offers an adequate amount of flow. The bag filtration is the same, allowing you to suck a decent amount of water through while squeezing the bag gently and sucking on the bite valve. We didn't have any issues with this.

The hydration bladder, however, is a different story. While this is a cool adaptative piece, we probably wouldn't use it. Simply because the filter fits on the end, it always seems like it might fall off. Besides, you have to work hard to get water, which we don't like. Overall, this is one of the best on-the-go filtration systems because of how easy it is to suck water through the system.

Should You Buy the Sawyer Micro Squeeze?

The Sawyer Micro is a killer filter with impressive performance and versatility. It is more packable than the original Sawyer Squeeze but functions as a personal squeeze filter and straw filter and works with inline gravity filters and hydration bladders. It has a stellar lifespan, allowing you to filter 10,000+ gallons in the cartridges' lifetime. Its Achilles Heel, though, is a flow rate that might leave you wanting more.

What Other Backpacking Water Filters Should You Consider?

The Sawyer Micro Squeeze is a lightweight option for on-the-go filtration. While the bag's durability and slower flow rate leave something to be desired, it remains versatile within an extended cartridge life. An option with slightly better durability and a much greater flow rate is the Katadyn BeFree 0.6L, but really, the LifeStraw Peak Squeeze is where it's at. The sleek design, highly durable construction, and versatile filter make it easy to name the Peak Squeeze our favorite personal filtration system. And if you're curious about our favorite collapsible bottle, the Hydrapak Flux 1.5L provides excellent water quality within a thick and durable construction, a competitive flow rate, and an easy maintenance routine.