I ordered the Sawyer Mini back in March of 2015 with pretty high hopes, which were mostly held up. It was an opportunity to own a lighter, cheaper version of the Sawyer way I already owned. After a year and a half of use however, I’m ditching it and switching back to my old Sawyer 3 way filter.

Basically, the pros of the filter are clear:

light (weighs 2oz dry (56g))

cheap (mine was $15)

functional (it works)

versatile (using both inline and on top of a smart water bottle)

However, over time the cons started to piss me off:

difficult to use inline with my platypus system (a total pain in the ass to connect and disconnect to the hoses, requiring a butter knife to pry the hoses off)

useless in a gravity system

clogs easily, requiring back flushing and maintenance after every single trip to keep the flow rate as high as possible (even overnighters)

requires a lot of effort to squeeze from a SMART water bottle, easily as much effort as just using a pump filter like my old MSR Sweetwater

poor flow rate, which was for me the worst of all

The poor flow rate in particular came to bite me in the ass on the hike I linked to. Basically, you have to suck like hell sometimes to get any water to come through. Over time, I thought I was getting more water in than I really was. In fact I was losing the game, and became dehydrated. This resulted in a pretty panicky moment once I realized what was happening. It took hours to “catch up” and re hydrate.

The incident was so bad, that on my next hike on the Timberline Trail I took my old Sawyer 3 way instead. On a long hike like that, I didn’t want to take any chances. Problems solved. The flow rate is quick, it didn’t clog or slow down, it is easily used in a gravity system, and connects to my platypus system with great ease. I can’t use it on a SMART water bottle, but I can easily squeeze 3 liters through it in a fraction of the time. I even filtered silty glacier water with it and I couldn’t tell a difference in the flow rate.

So for now, the Sawyer Mini will be relegated to the Earthquake Kit for a true emergency. I know a lot of folks like theirs and will keep using them, but for me the problems therein weren’t worth it when I already owned something that was so much better. Many also upgrade to the Sawyer Squeeze, a much more capable filter compared to the Mini. I’ll also likely never have to replace the Sawyer 3 way since it has a lifetime warranty.