Water strainers

[rodar y rodar]

For those of you who use drops or tablets to treat water, are you using some kind of rough filter to get the bugs and little pieces of floaties out before treatment?  If so, what kind of aparatus?  Since I use all big mouth bottles, I made a funnel from an empty 2 liter bottle and tried a coffee filter in my funnel, but it`s too fine a filter- takes a while for the water to drip through.  I was wondering what everyone else ended up with.

  As a side question, does anybody use water from hotsprings?  In a "heavy" trip last year, I was in an area where the only available water for about a 70 mile stretch was from hotsprings.  Since I had several gallons in the BOB that time, I didn`t mess with it, but I might do future trips in that area and it sure would be nice to NOT carry an extra 30 pounds of water along.

[AZTtripper]

I have heard of AZT hikers using a t-shirt to prefilter water be for adding tablets I just can't bring myself to travel with out a filter. I like drinking ground water but I really like having it clear of bugs and chemicals.

As to the hotsprings question I have heard that people do drink from hotsprings on purpose I believe it is an Asian thing. When I lived in the Kern River Valley I used to go to the local hotsprings a lot to soak. There were a number of Asian people who came into the area to use the springs also the white trash had their spring and the Asians mostly stuck to the pay one. There was also one that was fenced off the guy had a FS permit and could have run a pay one but chose not to. The reason I heard was that he bottled the water and took it back to LA to sell. This was all second hand so I don't know for sure. One thing I do know about hotsprings is don't put your head under as there is an something that can cause severe illness and even death an amoeba or something like that gets up your nose but I don't think it can hurt you if you digest it.

[Eric]

I've drunk lots of water from hot springs by necessity. As long as it does not smell like sulfur I guess you're ok. but maybe not. I was / am at least!
Minerals are good for you right?

[AZTtripper]

I've drunk lots of water from hot springs by necessity. As long as it does not smell like sulfur I guess you're ok. but maybe not. I was / am at least!
Minerals are good for you right?

Good point on the sulfur, are minerals good for you yes I should think so at least in moderation.

[rodar y rodar]

Sheesh- a T-shirt!  Why didn`t I think of that in the first place?  It`s just about the right mesh to keep the big stuff out and a rubber band will hold it around the funnel.  Good idea.

About the hotsprings, I know that emmigrants used a lot of them, including the ones I passed last October, and even dug ditches and cooling ponds in many cases.    I just didn`t know whether they were drinking the water themselves or only using it for their stock.  The reason I question the water is that, besides the nasty smell, hotsprings just LOOK bad- funny colors, that wierd rubbery algae that doesn`t grow anywhere else, maybe I`ll just keep them on my "emergency possibilities" list.  Also, I suppose it`s probably a bad idea to generalize as each one will have different characteristics just like creeks, lakes, or cold springs.  Anyway, thanks, and it`s handy to know that at least some people drink the water from some hotsprings.

[SandLizrd]

One more thing about hotsprings - a few of them are mildly radioactive.  They must be straining through some hot rocks (pardon the pun).  Some people like this - must be the same crowd that hangs out in radon-infested caves and tell you how good it is for you!

I don't think I'll worry too much about taking a swim - after all, how many rads are we soaking up on a multi-day trip, anyway - but drinking it is another concern

[brian t]

this works really well. doubles for coffee too.
http://www.prolitegear.com/pl_msr_mugmate_coffee_filter.html