MSR TrailShot Microfilter Water Purifier review

I do love a gadget!

When I saw this advertised online and watched a few videos about it on youtube I had to have one.

Techno mouse

Up until now I have been using an MSR Mini works filter for water purification. Now don't get me wrong the Mini works is absolutely fantastic and I have filtered hundreds of liters of water with it from some very questionable sources, most recently the Bann River on a canoe trip where i produced drinking water for about 6 guys. The water was then boiled to remove viruses.

Making drinking water on the River Bann with MSR Miniworks.

So i got a hold of a MSR trailshot and took it with me on a trip to Kilbroney Forest Park in County Down.( cost me £45) I had my wife and two daughters with me and the mission was to provide our water for the day. It was very hot during our adventure and it went up to 22C which for Northern Ireland is a heat wave!

Walking the mountain trails

Anyway when our shop bought bottle of water ran out (1 Litre) I went about finding a source of water to try out the MSR Trailshot. The source I found was a mountain stream running off a mountain that I could see the summit of from where I was standing. For a first test it was not much of a challenge as the water was cold, crystal clear and I would probably have had a go at drinking it straight from the stream if my family was not involved.

Anyway I found a nice pool of water and went about the task of using the little device to fill my water bottle. Msr claims a flow rate of 1 litre every minute and my experience is that this is accurate. The water tasted great to .

The filter will treat 2000L before needing replacement parts but the main thing which attracted me to it is the weight which is a very light 115g according to the manufacturer- I would not dispute it either.

This thing fits in your pocket and is so light you don't notice it.

The long tube can be placed in difficult to reach water for pumping to which is a bonus.

An overall brilliant little device.

Click the link below to buy one off Amazon. ( I get a very small commission if you do which helps the blog)

Msr Trailshot Water Filter

Water purification by Chlorine dioxide

 Hi,

I have been looking into a lot of different water purification methods recently. Generally we are lucky in N.Ireland to have good good water quality in most places. Obviously you can't drink the water from the river Lagan in the centre of Belfast but the water in the hills, mountains and upland areas is usually ok to drink from source.

All the same it is best to treat all water as bad if you are out for any length of time because getting sick ruins a trip.

There are lots of different pro's and cons of different methods which I am not going to go into.

This is obviously chemical!

You can buy Chlorine Dioxide from Life Systems in droplet form or as tablets.

The tablet version which is what I bought came in a hard plastic box which is easy to open and close and is quite tough.

The instruction are clearly printed on the back of the box and on each individually foil wrapped tablet too.


I took 1 litre of clear water from a local river and added 1 tablet. The water was visibly clear to begin with which is good for chemical means which can be unreliable in turbid water. I added 1 tablet and waited 30 minutes. I also turned the bottle unside down and loosened the cap slightly to allow the chemicals to cleanse the threads too.

The water took on a very slight greenish tinge and had a detectable chlorine scent and slight taste. The taste was much better than the old chlorine tablets by far.


I would definitly use this method again if the available water is clear. In combination with a filter it would be unbeatable really.

Purification of water by boiling in a beer bottle.

Hi,

I was out for a wander today and was quite thirsty so decided to get a drink from a stream in the forest. I wasnt going to drink the water straight from the stream and risk an upset stomach so had to boil it.

I had a scout about and soon found an old beer bottle.

I washed it out in the stream because a small ecosystem had developed inside. I used a stick to loosen the dirt then shook it.
Then i filled it with water.

So i got a small fire going quickly behind a fallen tree root plate.

Tinder of grass and bracken.

I let the water heat a bit and then put a larger log on the fire and put the bottle into the fire. To sudden and it might crack. It took about 10 minutes or less to boil up to a good rolling boil which i maintained for several minutes.

A little video of the water boiling is above. Make sure that the bubbles are coming from all of the water and not just the top. The heat will kill everything. If there is organic matter in it, this can kind of sheild the bugs so boil it longer to compensate for this.

I then let it cool for a while and at the same time some of the organic matter sank to the bottom. I could have filtered it through my t-shirt but i am not to fussy.

Then down the hatch.

Some Sorrel growing by the stream.

I made a bottle holder from a mature bracken frond.

Simply bend it and bend it again and then trap the bottle neck in the bend. easy.

Lit my fire next to a woodmouse cone processing factory.

I also found this which is never good. Ergot, a very dangerous fungi which grows on cereal. Pic is poor sorry.