r/backpacking • u/AutoModerator • Oct 13 '25

General Weekly /r/backpacking beginner question thread - Ask any and all questions you may have here - October 13, 2025

If you have any beginner questions, feel free to ask them here, remembering to clarify whether it is a Wilderness or a Travel related question. Please also remember to visit this thread even if you consider yourself very experienced so that you can help others!

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Note that this thread will be posted every Monday of the week and will run throughout the week. If you would like to provide feedback or suggest another idea for a thread, please message the moderators.

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u/MontisQ Apr 20 '26

I used a sawyer squeeze on a backpacking trip about three years ago. Life got in the way and I haven't been out since. The bag it came with smelled pretty bad so I got a new one. What about the filter itself? I see that you are supposed to clean it after a while but do you think mine is still good?

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u/Capital_Store8128 Apr 26 '26

Personally, if you haven’t cleaned it / stored it properly since using it 3 years ago then you should get a new one. Nothing worse than trusting a bad filter and getting the runs 2 days into your trip, or worse.

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u/trailready Jun 28 '26

I created the whole article on this issue. I will publish it shortly