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I have used pic related for about 8 years now. I do not filter the water, and I do not boil it. I just scoop it directly from the water source into my bottle, add the drops, let the activated water flow onto the bottle's threads, wait a little bit before drinking, and that's it.
I picked up one of those Sawyer mini filters recently, which is just a life-straw type thing with threads that will fit some water bottles, intending to have it supplement my Aqua Mira system, but I just haven't used it. The issue I have is that it's hard to get the filter completely dry by night time, and if the temps fall below freezing, there's a possibility of the ice crystals damaging the water filter. Plus, it's just heavier when it's wet. The manufacturer includes a big plastic syringe that you could probably use for enemas, as a way to flush the water out of the filter, but that's more bulk in my backpack.
