I am a fan of MSR gear so there’s probably some bias there however there will be some more water filter reviews coming soon and all the posts will be updated with a comparison between them all.

I’m already a big fan of the trailshot as it’s just so simple to use and well designed, it’s simple to operate and a reasonable size. The long tube and pump action put it in front of the sawyer mini in my eyes as its just a lot handier!

All you need to do with this is put the tube in the water source, open the black cap, direct that end into your bottle and start squeezing the thing. Couldn’t really be simpler. Price wise you are looking around £40 to £60 which isn’t bad for such a device. Its designed for quick deployment and ease of use, and would be especially good for hikers and adventure trail runners. Weight wise at 142grams it’s barely noticeable in your pack and it can squeeze out 2000 litres in terms of life span. It’s one handy little device, and I’d go as far as saying I actually enjoyed using it.

I’m going to go away and test this cool little item more so I’m not going to drop a rating yet, because I’ll be testing it to death first. Then I’ll update the post accordingly, but it’s looking pretty good! So far it’s been tested wild camping out of a Welsh mountain lake, but more to follow.

Stats according to MSR follow.

  • Tested: Meets U.S. EPA drinking water standards* and NSF protocol P231 for removal of bacteria (99.9999%), protozoa (99.9%), and particulates.
  • Pocket-Sized & Light: Like small water bottles, energy chews, mini bike pumps, and tubes, this 142 g (5 oz.) filter disappears in stash pockets.
  • Instant Hydration: Drink directly from the source—without lying in the dirt—and refill your bottles or hydration reservoir with clean water.
  • Quick-Deploy: Zero set-up and simple one-handed operation fills 1-liter bottles in 60 seconds.
  • Simple to Clean: A few shakes helps restore flow rates in the field; no tools required.