There’s an old saying that “its better to have one and not need it, than need one and not have it” – and thats my mentality towards water filters when hiking and especially when traveling. I’ve been using the Sawyer Squeeze for a over a year now, and its gotten the job done quite well (check out My Gear Bag for more info). And so naturally, I’m stoked to have Sawyer Products on board as a Silver Level Sponsor for my upcoming trip to South Africa with RachelMeetsPlanet! Sawyer has been a leader in filter and hydration products for over 30 years now, and Sawyer is going to help us get to some more places to put their strong little filter to the test in South Africa.
When I ran out of water halfway through a 9 mile hike in Yosemite, haing a filter came in clutch – I was able to take a muddy trickle and easily turn it into a half full hydration pack. When we couldn’t find bottled water nearby in Cuba, we just went ahead and filtered the tap water, and no one got sick or died. At just a few ounces in weight, I never even notice it in my bag, and like the sense of security that it brings.
While its fairly common knowledge, its important to remember that the longest a human go without water is about a week. We can survive several weeks without food, but you are literally a ticking time bomb if you are in a survival situation without access to water. Having a filter in your bag can dramatically increase your chances of survival if you ever find yourself in that situation. We’re not planning to be faced with any life or death survival situations in Africa, but its nice to know that if it came to it, I could turn a puddle of fly infested mud water into something drinkable by filtering out harmful bacteria (like salmonella), protozoa, or cysts like E. coli, Giardia, Vibrio cholerae, Salmonella typhi and more.
Sawyer has also used their years of experience and expertise in all that is clean water to help get clean water to those less fortunate. One major project Sawyer has worked on is to help save trees in Haiti through the use of their water filters. Many Haitians rely on trees as a fuel source to boil water – and estimates say that a single Sawyer filter can help save several hundred trees per year – per family. I applaud Sawyer for not only putting their profits to good use, but by solving two problems at once with one innovative product. We are excited to have a company that cares about the environment as much as we do helping to fund our trip!
Even though most resources say that clean, drinkable tapwater is widely available in South Africa, the Sawyer Squeeze is still coming along! Bear Grylls once strained water from elephant dung and drank that – imagine how much easier that would have been with a Sawyer Squeeze. However, even with a sawyer, I don’t recommend straining, filtering and drinking the water from elephant poop – unless you’re Bear Grylls that is.
If you’d like to get your own Sawyer Filter or learn more, visit Sawyer.com.
Roulette Travel is made possible through our proud sponsors and the gear and funding they provide. Without them, many of my recent and future trips would not have been possible! Keep an eye out on instagram for upcoming stories filtering some water while we travel from Johannesburg to Cape Town! If you’d like to get your own Sawyer Filter that helps get you (and many others) clean water, just head over to Sawyer.com!
If you or your organization would like to become a sponsor for Roulette Travel and RachelMeetsPlanet’s upcoming trip to South Africa, click here to learn more, or get in contact below!
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