Adventure Racing Holiday Gifts: Day 6

Posted by Grant on 8. December 2009 19:24

With gift number 6, we're half way through our 12 adventure racing gift ideas.  I think #6 is an exciting product that could revoluntionize the way you approach water filtering.

There comes a time in every adventure racer's career where they have to get serious about consuming water that didn't come out of a tap or a branded bottle (like Evian or Aquafina).  For shorter races, this isn't much of a concern, but once you break through the 12-hour mark you will find teams planning on filtering water on the course.  This means finding lakes, rivers, or sometimes just small streams where you can replenish your water supply.  I don't need to go into the host of bacteria and other "uglies" that can be found in water sources such as this; suffice it to say that you will need to purify the water before consuming it. 

There are lots of different methods to prep your water, and I've used alot of them.  I've used pump systems that push the water through a filter; but the pump system is bulky, and I've had teams pass us during the time it takes to operate the system.  I've used the "scoop and go" system where you scoop the water into your bladder and put some tablets in to kill the dangerous stuff -- this is much faster than pumping, but treatment time is around 30 minutes minimum and so you have to be patient before drinking. 

Of course, I've also gone the "just drink it" approach -- most notably while racing in Patagonia -- where I didn't purify, filter, or worry at all.  This was absolutely the fastest and most convenient (picture me walking down a river, just scooping my water bottle and drinking when I got thirsty).  This also put me in a world of hurt a week after the race, once the microbes had a chance to really have their way with my digestive tract.  It was just fine during the race, though . . .  

I think, with this Christmas gift idea, I may have the perfect approach.  Aquamira makes a "Frontier Pro" attachment for the tube on your hydration pack.  It's a really cool idea, and the act of sucking the water out the nozzle forces the fluid through the filter -- so no pumping is required, and you filter the water one sip at a time.  You get filtered water with a fraction of the effort of using a filter pump. You also aren't stuck lugging a bulky pump all around the course (instead, you've got a more compact attachment to replace the bite valve on your hydration pack). If you want extra protection, you can still use those purification tablets and get an extra level of protection.  Either way, you've got to scoop the water into the bladder some how, so you can toss in some purification tablets when you fill the bladder.  This 2-pronged approach would work well for water that has sediment in it, as the Aquamira tube adapter would block the particles (and pass the water through a filter) while the tablets could work on killing the unwanted microbes in the water.

I've been itching to work this in somewhere . . . but wait, there's more!

The price for the tube filter "Frontier Pro" from the Aquamira website is $25; our friends over at Gossamer Gear have the same Aquamira product for $20.  20% off! 

Maybe put the extra $5 savings into some extra filters for the Frontier Pro, while the capacity is advertised at 50 gallons, you should plan on changing it out every so often. Or, instead, maybe put the $5 into the kitty for your next Untamed Adventure event fund?  That's $5 closer to Switzerland or New England in 2010 . . . 

Here is a good look at the Aquamira mouth piece filter; I don't know how bulky it is in real life, but it looks like something I could live with in place of my regular bite valve: