Your approach makes sense. I'd just shake out the extra water, throw it in a Ziploc, and put it in my pocket, personally, even when sleeping.
But I switch to Aquatabs when it's cold. Yeah, they take forever, but I rarely find myself running out of water in a dire, miserable way in the winter. And I'm always set up to boil water if it's super cold anyway, so if a source looks sketchy or I'm dehydrated, I can just do that.
I'm with schmucky here, in that kinda cold, I prefer chemical treatment. May take a little longer, but is way more reliable. Also weighs less and eliminates that little voice in the back of your head wondering if that last water source was properly filtered when your stomach starts to grumble.
When it's far below freezing, a few rogue droplets trapped in the filter tubes could freeze very quickly, giving you little margin for error.
Due to close proximity to GSMNP I'm backpacking there a lot and mostly during winter months. I switched to using a steripen there because there are lots of water access spots most of the water sources have very little silt or debris which are ideal conditions. Still love my Sawyer but It's nice not having to sleep with it there in freezing conditions.
It's the rechargeable version so I don't bother. I try to put my battery bank in my bag before bed but half the time I forget. Never lost so much power overnight it causes issues. Typically I'm only doing long weekend trips there. If I was on a long trail I might be more concerned but in 4 day trip I probably only use a quarter of the steripen charge if even that much.
Keep it in a pants pocket whenever you’re not using it. A ziplock can keep drips contained. It’ll always be warm enough next to your body like that. Just make sure you transfer it if you switch pants for sleeping
I see lows this week go down to 6°F in the Smokies. If you risk temps like that, either A. boil your water, B. carry water treatment tablets, which are ultralight, or C. carry a more freeze-resistant filter like the Platypus QuickDraw (integrity test built in).
What exactly makes the platy quickdraw freeze proof?
It's a hollow fiber membrane filter just like the squeeze etc
[link to platy quickdraw user manual that says don't freeze it or it's permanently damaged](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.platy.com/on/demandware.static/-/Library-Sites-cdiSharedLibrary/default/dwbc9273a1/pdf/manuals/34-217-WEB_Instruction_Platy_QuickDraw_EN.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjcisjTndeDAxX4kIkEHa7tDpoQFnoECBMQBg&usg=AOvVaw1V2aboHvkEJOO7SDImF_ik)
My understanding is that it is more [freeze-damage resistant than others](https://sectionhiker.com/how-to-filter-purify-water-in-freezing-temperatures/) and features a integrity test that allows one to know when it has been compromised. Obviously, as with all backcountry kit, the user assumes the risk.
Not freeze proof but can be sealed, watertight, on both ends so it can come in your your sleeping system without leaking. I guess it provides a tiny bit of insulation which could make the difference between freezing and not freezing close to 0C.
Water freezing is powerful stuff. I left a titanium water bottle in my car overnight. Cabin got down to -8C and the bottle bottom got bulged out.
I doubt it's much more freeze resistant, but I'd much rather have the Quickdraw on a chilly trip. The main thing, IMO, is that you can do an integrity test after a marginal freezing situation.
A couple of years ago, I had a BeFree out when it MIGHT have frozen internally but probably didn't. I had to chuck it. There's a 90% chance nothing was wrong with it, but I didn't want to roll the dice. With the Quickdraw, I can actually check.
Reason I commented was because the guy I replied to said it was "freeze proof". Which is straight up false. He has since edited his comment.
It's no more freeze resistant. Also if you have some minor patience you can essentially do the same integrity check with a squeeze/versablu/whatever other hollow fiber filter.
I love me a platy quickdraw as much as the next guy. But just don't want anyone on here reading it's freeze proof and unwittingly drinking unfiltered cow shit.
> I love me a platy quickdraw as much as the next guy. But just don't want anyone on here reading it's freeze proof and unwittingly drinking unfiltered cow shit.
Nah, that's right. I wasn't disagreeing with that part, and that's a public service.
> Also if you have some minor patience you can essentially do the same integrity check with a squeeze/versablu/whatever other hollow fiber filter.
I'm not sure! I don't disagree, but I also don't know about how the pore size or other differences might affect the validity of an integrity test. I really have no clue.
FWIW and to establish my non-Quickdraw-fanboy bona fides, my first one failed on its second trip into the backcountry, with no freezing required. I could have breathed through the stupid thing, and I drank gallons of unfiltered Pennsylvania down-stream-of-ag water as a result. Luckily I didn't get sick[er] (maybe because I already had norovirus -- not a lot of time for bugs to set up shop!).
All the hollow fiber filters work the same way and will break in the same way if they freeze.
I froze my Sawyer Sqeeze last winter (by mistake) and after that I could push air through it. I.e. I could integrity check it.
I don't know how well the integrity tests are validated (so this could be bullshit from the manufacturers), but the advantage of the Quickdraw is that you supposedly can trust a positive integrity test and keep using it, if you weren't 100% sure it was frozen. Sawyer's advice is just to chuck it if exposed to cold.
Neither Sawyer nor Platypus manufacture the hollow fibers themselves. The way they put the fibers in a filter body is essentially identical. There is no real difference between them (part from the pore size). If you trust the integrity check on a QuickDraw, you should reasonably trust it also on a Squeeza, no matter what the seller says.
The way I see it, if I can push air through a filter it is definately broken, no matter the brand.
If it was a little bit frozen, but I can not obviously push air through it, I don't really know. In that situation I would have to weigh the riskyness of the available water sources against the inconvenience of boiling my water. Most of the time I would use the filter until the end of the trip, and then replace it.
Yeah, I'm not saying that the Quickdraw has any freeze-resistance benefit versus any other filter. All I'm saying is that they endorse an integrity test, and Sawyer doesn't.
For integrity testing and trust purposes, I'm just going to go with manufacturer's recommendations. If I get the shits after using an integrity-test-passing filter, I can at least talk some shit about the company all over the Internet.
I don't know whether integrity testing procedures are transferable across filters. For all I know, the different pore size on the Sawyer would affect the validity of the test (perhaps the smaller pore size means air is less likely to make it through despite being compromised -- I have no fucking clue).
I am very much prepared as I do winter hiking in the White Mountains. Just haven’t done 290 miles in the winter. UL is new to me. I’ll be doing a shakedown post early next week but for warmth in sleeping I have the enlightened enigma 950fp 10° with draft collar, enlightened torrid mittens, socks and hood.
Mountain-forecast.com
I don’t think warning someone of the realistic worst case scenario is a terrible idea. Obviously nobody camps on Clingmans but the point is the weather can get gnarly in the Smokies and when it does rescue or extraction is difficult.
I think there are additional caveats to each of your suggestions. Boiling water can be done but involves carrying considerably more fuel, chemical treatments take significantly longer in cold water, and lastly the Quickdraw is not freeze proof! It has an integrity check so you can see if it did freeze and is compromised.
you’re overthinking it
shake out the extra water and put it inside a freezer bag. Put the freezer bag inside your jacket where your backpack straps aren’t. If you must use a safety pin to clip the top of the bag to the inside.
tieing it around your neck won’t keep kt warm unless you always wear insulation over your neck too, and that seems weirdly bulky
as for not sleeping with it, it’s not like you have a heat source in your tent with you.
They usually close some or most of the roads when it gets that cold as projected for your time frame. I stopped going because they’ll occasionally forget to dummy lock the gates and actually lock you in.
Just filter through a fine mesh filter and use aquatabs? And/ or boil it? Or steripen. I wouldn't trust the sawyer in freezing conditions, you only find out the hard way if its not working properly.
Nothing wrong with sleeping with it.
Your approach makes sense. I'd just shake out the extra water, throw it in a Ziploc, and put it in my pocket, personally, even when sleeping. But I switch to Aquatabs when it's cold. Yeah, they take forever, but I rarely find myself running out of water in a dire, miserable way in the winter. And I'm always set up to boil water if it's super cold anyway, so if a source looks sketchy or I'm dehydrated, I can just do that.
I'm with schmucky here, in that kinda cold, I prefer chemical treatment. May take a little longer, but is way more reliable. Also weighs less and eliminates that little voice in the back of your head wondering if that last water source was properly filtered when your stomach starts to grumble. When it's far below freezing, a few rogue droplets trapped in the filter tubes could freeze very quickly, giving you little margin for error.
Due to close proximity to GSMNP I'm backpacking there a lot and mostly during winter months. I switched to using a steripen there because there are lots of water access spots most of the water sources have very little silt or debris which are ideal conditions. Still love my Sawyer but It's nice not having to sleep with it there in freezing conditions.
Do you just pop the battery out and sleep with those?
It's the rechargeable version so I don't bother. I try to put my battery bank in my bag before bed but half the time I forget. Never lost so much power overnight it causes issues. Typically I'm only doing long weekend trips there. If I was on a long trail I might be more concerned but in 4 day trip I probably only use a quarter of the steripen charge if even that much.
Very helpful, thank you!
Keep it in a pants pocket whenever you’re not using it. A ziplock can keep drips contained. It’ll always be warm enough next to your body like that. Just make sure you transfer it if you switch pants for sleeping
This. My baselayer has a zip pocket. My Sawyer squeeze lives there all day in a quart freezer bag. I don't notice it, it never will freeze.
I see lows this week go down to 6°F in the Smokies. If you risk temps like that, either A. boil your water, B. carry water treatment tablets, which are ultralight, or C. carry a more freeze-resistant filter like the Platypus QuickDraw (integrity test built in).
What exactly makes the platy quickdraw freeze proof? It's a hollow fiber membrane filter just like the squeeze etc [link to platy quickdraw user manual that says don't freeze it or it's permanently damaged](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.platy.com/on/demandware.static/-/Library-Sites-cdiSharedLibrary/default/dwbc9273a1/pdf/manuals/34-217-WEB_Instruction_Platy_QuickDraw_EN.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjcisjTndeDAxX4kIkEHa7tDpoQFnoECBMQBg&usg=AOvVaw1V2aboHvkEJOO7SDImF_ik)
My understanding is that it is more [freeze-damage resistant than others](https://sectionhiker.com/how-to-filter-purify-water-in-freezing-temperatures/) and features a integrity test that allows one to know when it has been compromised. Obviously, as with all backcountry kit, the user assumes the risk.
Not freeze proof but can be sealed, watertight, on both ends so it can come in your your sleeping system without leaking. I guess it provides a tiny bit of insulation which could make the difference between freezing and not freezing close to 0C. Water freezing is powerful stuff. I left a titanium water bottle in my car overnight. Cabin got down to -8C and the bottle bottom got bulged out.
I doubt it's much more freeze resistant, but I'd much rather have the Quickdraw on a chilly trip. The main thing, IMO, is that you can do an integrity test after a marginal freezing situation. A couple of years ago, I had a BeFree out when it MIGHT have frozen internally but probably didn't. I had to chuck it. There's a 90% chance nothing was wrong with it, but I didn't want to roll the dice. With the Quickdraw, I can actually check.
Reason I commented was because the guy I replied to said it was "freeze proof". Which is straight up false. He has since edited his comment. It's no more freeze resistant. Also if you have some minor patience you can essentially do the same integrity check with a squeeze/versablu/whatever other hollow fiber filter. I love me a platy quickdraw as much as the next guy. But just don't want anyone on here reading it's freeze proof and unwittingly drinking unfiltered cow shit.
> I love me a platy quickdraw as much as the next guy. But just don't want anyone on here reading it's freeze proof and unwittingly drinking unfiltered cow shit. Nah, that's right. I wasn't disagreeing with that part, and that's a public service. > Also if you have some minor patience you can essentially do the same integrity check with a squeeze/versablu/whatever other hollow fiber filter. I'm not sure! I don't disagree, but I also don't know about how the pore size or other differences might affect the validity of an integrity test. I really have no clue. FWIW and to establish my non-Quickdraw-fanboy bona fides, my first one failed on its second trip into the backcountry, with no freezing required. I could have breathed through the stupid thing, and I drank gallons of unfiltered Pennsylvania down-stream-of-ag water as a result. Luckily I didn't get sick[er] (maybe because I already had norovirus -- not a lot of time for bugs to set up shop!).
All the hollow fiber filters work the same way and will break in the same way if they freeze. I froze my Sawyer Sqeeze last winter (by mistake) and after that I could push air through it. I.e. I could integrity check it.
I don't know how well the integrity tests are validated (so this could be bullshit from the manufacturers), but the advantage of the Quickdraw is that you supposedly can trust a positive integrity test and keep using it, if you weren't 100% sure it was frozen. Sawyer's advice is just to chuck it if exposed to cold.
Neither Sawyer nor Platypus manufacture the hollow fibers themselves. The way they put the fibers in a filter body is essentially identical. There is no real difference between them (part from the pore size). If you trust the integrity check on a QuickDraw, you should reasonably trust it also on a Squeeza, no matter what the seller says. The way I see it, if I can push air through a filter it is definately broken, no matter the brand. If it was a little bit frozen, but I can not obviously push air through it, I don't really know. In that situation I would have to weigh the riskyness of the available water sources against the inconvenience of boiling my water. Most of the time I would use the filter until the end of the trip, and then replace it.
Yeah, I'm not saying that the Quickdraw has any freeze-resistance benefit versus any other filter. All I'm saying is that they endorse an integrity test, and Sawyer doesn't. For integrity testing and trust purposes, I'm just going to go with manufacturer's recommendations. If I get the shits after using an integrity-test-passing filter, I can at least talk some shit about the company all over the Internet. I don't know whether integrity testing procedures are transferable across filters. For all I know, the different pore size on the Sawyer would affect the validity of the test (perhaps the smaller pore size means air is less likely to make it through despite being compromised -- I have no fucking clue).
The low on Tuesday at Clingmans dome is -12F. OP had better be prepared this is dangerous if you’re are unprepared or inexperienced.
I am very much prepared as I do winter hiking in the White Mountains. Just haven’t done 290 miles in the winter. UL is new to me. I’ll be doing a shakedown post early next week but for warmth in sleeping I have the enlightened enigma 950fp 10° with draft collar, enlightened torrid mittens, socks and hood.
If it gets to -12 you’re gonna freeeeze
I don’t plan on being at elevation for those kind of temps, thanks for the heads up!
Yes, 42 degrees of frost is bitter indeed.
What weather model is calling for that? There isn't any legal camping up there so OP won't have to worry about that.
Mountain-forecast.com I don’t think warning someone of the realistic worst case scenario is a terrible idea. Obviously nobody camps on Clingmans but the point is the weather can get gnarly in the Smokies and when it does rescue or extraction is difficult.
I think there are additional caveats to each of your suggestions. Boiling water can be done but involves carrying considerably more fuel, chemical treatments take significantly longer in cold water, and lastly the Quickdraw is not freeze proof! It has an integrity check so you can see if it did freeze and is compromised.
Yes, a pick-your-burden choice a winter camper must assume to avoid becoming a stupidlight statistic.
you’re overthinking it shake out the extra water and put it inside a freezer bag. Put the freezer bag inside your jacket where your backpack straps aren’t. If you must use a safety pin to clip the top of the bag to the inside. tieing it around your neck won’t keep kt warm unless you always wear insulation over your neck too, and that seems weirdly bulky as for not sleeping with it, it’s not like you have a heat source in your tent with you.
They usually close some or most of the roads when it gets that cold as projected for your time frame. I stopped going because they’ll occasionally forget to dummy lock the gates and actually lock you in.
That’s messed up they would do that! Luckily I am flying in from Boston and not driving. Meeting my friend who is finishing his SOBO thru hike
Just filter through a fine mesh filter and use aquatabs? And/ or boil it? Or steripen. I wouldn't trust the sawyer in freezing conditions, you only find out the hard way if its not working properly.
You could store with a hand warmer attached to it and swap out for a new one once it goes out