this post was submitted on 04 Jun 2025
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Boiling isn't necessary. They make antimicrobial tablets you can add as well. We used them when I was on a 2 week backpacking trip and basically just used a bandana folded over 4 times for sediment, fill at the top of the water with the neck facing downstream, and then add a disinfectant tab and let it sit for however long it says. It tasted a bit like pool water if you drank it immediately, but if you filled all your bottles at once, they usually didn't taste very chlorinated and it was pretty amazing water.
I mean, everything that kills the bad stuff works. If you had a strong portable radioactivity source, that would probably work just fine, too. Sadly, the people at the airport don't like it when I bring my enriched uranium to the camping vacation.
Jokes aside, I would say that chlorine tabs are nice for an emergency, but for a planned trip I'd assume I'd have access to heat anyway. Or, just bring a filter.
When we're hiking 15 miles per day and were drinking 4 gallons of water per person in the New Mexico heat, stopping to set up a fire and boil ~40 gallons of water in the middle of the hike wasn't really an option. I also appreciated not having to carry 32lbs of water on me all day long.
Fair point. My last camping trip was in mid-temperature weather, and rather relaxed, so I basically lived off instant coffee and tea. Plus, the water was really clean, so in some cases I just risked filling my bottle from like the middle of a lake without treatment. But a filter is definitely on my to-buy list.
The chlorine tablets taste like ass IMO getting a good filter is the way to go.