Sawyer Squeeze Lockup - Pre-Check Reminder and Easy Remedy

I recently took my 13 year old twins on their first backpacking trip - an overnight at Raven Rock State Park. It’s an easy 2.5-3 miles to a backcountry campsite with a vault toilet. It’s enough to practice backpacking but still have an easy out if there’s an issue.

Since it was an easy trip, I made an ASSumption that my filters were working properly. I we went into the woods with 2 Sawyer Squeezes and a gravity setup, and Potable Aqua tabs for backup. We had a great time hiking to the campsite. We went and gathered our water for the night (our 1L Smartwaters were still full) and when we got back to camp I set up our gravity system. Instead of a decent water flow, there was barely a trickle, even when I squeezed the bladder. Switched to the second filter and had the same issue. There was just enough flow that by using gravity, we were able to fill our bottles after dinner at the rate of 1L per 30 minutes.

THE FIX: When I got home, I submerged the filters (including our third one we didn’t take) in white vinegar overnight. The next day, I filled my CNOC bag with fresh distilled water, attached a filter, and presto! Flow rate was as good as new. I then used distilled water to flush each filter and ensured that there was no vinegar taste to the filtered water.

So, a reminder to all — make sure to test and check all your critical gear PRIOR to getting in the field. But if anyone has an issue with Sawyer lockup, the fix is simple.