Would you say a pump or scoop is necessary? I'm pretty fond of my gravity setup. What I really want, is an ultralight pump w/out a filter that I could use to fill my gravity bag. Something like the MSR TrailShot w/out filter.
Would you say a pump or scoop is necessary? I'm pretty fond of my gravity setup. What I really want, is an ultralight pump w/out a filter that I could use to fill my gravity bag. Something like the MSR TrailShot w/out filter.
Getting crazy ideas... (8.8oz)
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Pumps, whether hand or battery, are heavy!
Something as simple as a small plastic bowl from a Chinese take-out restaurant is fine. I used a 20oz Gatorade bottle and it worked A-OK.
Treat with Aquamira or Aquatabs, which are the most economical chem treatment I have found.
We can argue the merits of filter vs chem all day long, but all I can say is I ain't been sick yet. FWIW.
One thing I have not used before but am going to experiment with is Alum (aluminum sulfate flocculant) to see if it helps with the taste of lake water, which often tastes "dirty" to me. Generally, the smaller the pond the worse the water tastes. I'm not too picky but that really bothers me sometimes... even messes up the taste of my strong coffee, which is super annoying.
Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter (not me... the great Cam Honan of OZ)
“If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.” ~ Gen. George S Patton
When I did the trip 3 years ago in mid October with 20oz Gatorade bottles it was not A OK and I was grateful for my partner who had carried his Katadyn. Like I said, it's hit or miss in the fall and might just take a little more effort to make a squeeze system work. It's definitely been wetter this season and most water sources we came by were going pretty well. Still, on the west side as you got towards Old Speck things were starting to have weaker flows. The sources at Slide Mtn and Sargent Brook weren't much more than a trickle last week.
Just finished a 4 day Loop, counter-clockwise from the north - JoshandBaron we might have passed each other. I found nice hanging at Sargent Brook, Stewart, and Lane, and enough water everywhere. In a couple weeks you might not want to depend on finding water at Stewart, but the trees are sucking up less water as they turn autumnal so you might be fine everywhere else.
I hope you have a great trip!
Also worth mentioning: there are bear boxes at the sites on the western portion, but not the eastern.
I use an MSR filter, so I can't speak to filling your gravity thing except by imagination. I was able to find good gravel-bottom pools or deep enough water that my filter wasn't in the muck at every spot I used.
That was me in Miles Notch. What a sweet treat the weather was that day!
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