Camping for Trout: Water

I love getting away to fish for trout. My best trout water lies some three-and-a-half hours away. Camping makes a trout road-trip a relaxed, enjoyable weekend outing.

The issue with camping and with hiking-in to remote locations involves water. The trout have plenty. We anglers however struggle a bit.

Water is heavy to carry. It requires prior planning for provisioning. It's precious and requires rationing on-site.

None of these attributes do much for trout hiking and camping.

I've carried water in coolers for car camping which is fine unless I'm hiking six miles to my fishing spot. Packing sufficient water is inconvenient and frustrating given that my ultimate destination is water. A good filter system gives me almost unlimited supplies for coffee, hydration, cooking, and even hygiene.

Wild sources for drinking and hygiene as an alternative? Not so good. Infection and diarrhea are not good souvenirs of a weekend trip.

The Grayl filter set (pictured above on my desk next to a large coffee cup) is a practical reliable solution. I've used it this past year. I'm delighted. The thing fits into my side bag when I'm on the water and in camp keeps me from wondering about the "potable" water available from campsite wells.

The water processed through the Grayl filter also tastes great. You can read the specs on the Grayl website in the link below. Virus, bacteria, cysts, protozoa, heavy metals: removed.

 Mine is an older now discontinued model which weights one pound. The current 'ultralight" model omits the aluminum sleeve in favor of a composite bit for an empty weight of about 11 oz.

The thing works like a coffee press and it works well. Filter capacity runs about 40 gallons for a $25 filter. Pretty good for clean water.

The web site is here.

Above, the component on the left is the outer sleeve.

The component on the right is the inner sleeve with the modular filter (the plastic colored bit) on the bottom.

They work together and process 16 oz of water in about 20 seconds.

Initial position. Fill the outer sleeve with water and set the inner sleeve on it.

 Press the inner sleeve down into the outer sleeve.

Done. Finished position. The inner aluminum sleeve holds the clean water. The top has a solid positive control built-in so the whole unit is a reliable transport bottle for your now clean water. It's got a bunch of silicone gaskets that keep the clean part clean, the dirty part isolated, and your pack dry.

The top -- closed. Open below.

Open -- note the nice large opening hole. You drink, not sip.


I give this the full Amber Angler endorsement as a useful bit of kit. If you're on the water or interested in trout camping, you save a lot of time and frustration with the Grayl filter bottle.



Prost.