On my first camping trip in 2021, the sled has only so much room for supplies. Fresh clean Drinking Water is most important. After day one at the Bushcraft camp I ran out and need to melt, boil and filter the deep snow with my MSR Water filtration kit.
Ultimate DIY Water Filter! This Homemade Water Purifier is extremely effective and super easy to make. The “2 Stage” design purifies almost all water sources to 99.999%. Starts to produce clean/clear (super hot) water within 20 seconds! uses no electricity. great to have in a SHTF/Emergency situation or for everyday use. *also doubles as a water heater and stove burner!. you can cook on top of the coil at the same time the water is heating/purifing! water purifier, water heater and stove all in one! *and with the exception of the activated carbon and the copper coil, the filter is made almost entirely out of “free stuff” (recycled/reused metal cans, plastic bottle, glass jar – along with sand and gravel). note that the “1st stage” of the filter (activated carbon part) removes predominantly the chemical impurities (along with bad taste/color/odor/sediment). while the “2nd stage” (heated coil) predominantly removes the biological contaminants (parasites/bacteria/viruses etc…) when used together they’re extremely effective as a filtering system. should purify almost all water sources. note – one of the few things it won’t remove is salt from salt water and certain minerals. of interest: total length of copper tubing is 10 ft. tubing is 1/4″. a crumpled up piece of coffee filter paper can be used in place of the cotton balls. i was able to purifiy 12oz of water every 3 mins or so (about 1/2 gallon every 15 mins). it uses about 25 cents worth of 70% isopropyl alcohol to purify a gallon. (i imagine in a pinch, since the can that holds the copper coil is very similar to a tin can stove, you could use small sticks, twigs and leaves as a fuel source instead of the alcohol). Of note: it only “steams up” for a few seconds every few minutes or so. most of the time the flow of escaping water vapor/steam is light and barely visible.