To be honest, I didn’t necessarily need the Sawyer Mini Water Filter. I had happily been using the Sawyer Personal Water Bottle Filter, though I frequently just used the included filter without the bottle. The Mini uses the same filter type but in a smaller, lighter form factor. What prompted me to pick one up, however, was the brilliant idea to include threads on the housing so that you can attach the Mini directly to many store-bought “disposable” water bottles. This feature, in combination with the several other ways to use the filter (I’ll get into those below) made the Sawyer Mini an irresistible addition to my backpacking kit because it is just so practical and versatile. Its light weight and small size only served to seal the deal.
