Tip 1 – Follow the instructions on the pouch!

I love my Sawyer Squeeze, it’s a great little water filter but little did I know that if you’re going to store it away for some time, that there is a flushing procedure you need to carry out before doing so.

I’d stored my filter away for around eighteen months, during that time I’d taken it out and flushed it through, in preparation for a couple of bikepacking adventures that, for one reason or another, didn’t materialise. It was six months since I last did this, but an adventure was on the cards so I attempted to give it a flush alas, no water would pass through it, I could squeeze the pouch as hard as I could with two hand, but nothing!

I was a little baffled as to why this was, and in my efforts to get it working, I noticed that on the pouch is a storage procedure!

This storage procedure involves flushing the filter through with a mix of water and bleach. I never buy bleach, so I tried to flush it and soak it with a white vinegar/water mix. After doing this a small amount of water would flow but only under heavy pouch-squeezing pressure. I tried lemon juice too but still, only a small amount of water would flow. So, I borrowed a small amount of bleach from a friend and soaked and flushed it with a bleach/water mix, and hey presto, the water flows at a decent rate again.

After all this messing around, I was worried that I had compromised the Sawyer’s ability to filter properly, so had no option but to buy a new one. Getting ill on a tour really isn’t something I want.

Tip 2 – How to backflush on the trail without using the syringe

The syringe that comes with the Sawyer Squeeze, for back-flushing, only weighs 27 grams, but it’s big so I don’t take it with me when touring, but always feel vulnerable because I don’t have the ability to back-flush, should I need to.