Trying to design flexible lightweight water filter setup for travel & camping

Hello!

As the title says, we're trying to design a decent setup that's lightweight and flexible for travel/camping/bikepacking in US/Canada (mostly, at this point). We use a Berkey (black cartridge) filter at home with the additional chlorine elements and we do have a very small travel Berkey. This is great for certain situations but it's slow (given that it only uses one of the black elements), rather bulky, and fairly heavy. I think I can come up with something that will meet our needs and be smaller/lighter in the process.

Since we're used to well filtered water, we hate drinking "tap" water when we travel, even at hotels, etc. We also want a system that will work for camping/bike packing as well. I'm thinking of using the new CNOC Vecto bags as the base of the system since they can be used a number of ways (gravity, squeeze, etc). I'd like to design a setup that could be used either gravity (which I'd use most of the time) or squeezed (in case we wanted some water quickly or perhaps somewhere like in the car, while driving a long distance). Additional methods are a bonus.

I've run across a couple of possibilities that I'd love to hear thoughts on (and certainly any other options you might know of!). I'm amazed how few options are coming up on Google and Amazon searches for alternatives to the couple of "big" name water filter brands. Having said that, there are a couple of options made by those brands that look interesting.

The first is the new option the LifeStraw Flex. It has a 2-stage filtration including a replaceable carbon filter and it also filters lead. It can be used 5 different ways (including the ways I need) and is $35. It filters 2k litres/500gal for the main filter and 100/25 for the replaceable carbon filter. However, the replacement carbon filters aren't available yet with no date given which is disappointing (just says ASAP - so no idea how soon that actually will be!). You can see it here: https://lifestraw.eartheasy.com/products/lifestraw-flex

The next option is something like the Sawyer Squeeze (or similar from another brand, if a better option exists). This has a very high volume water filter, for basic water safety and very popular. I've seen it used with the Vecto bags (as it was designed for this purpose) and also as a gravity feed system with the CNOC bags/Squeeze. I realize that it doesn't have the carbon filter but when I use it as a gravity feed system, I could add something like the Platypus in-line carbon filter. Specs vary from it lasting 1500 to just 300 litres. It costs $19.95. If it were 1500 litres, it's a decent value but not so much at 300 litres (compared to the LifeStraw as they carbon replacement filters for the other new filters are only $10 for a 2 pack). Having said that, the Sawyer Squeeze lasts much longer than the main filter of the LifeStraw so I suppose that a difference too. I couldn't use the carbon filter anyway but gravity feed, I think, which is a point away from this one. More parts to juggle/deal with. You can see the carbon element here: https://www.platy.com/gravityworks-carbon-element. I also just found the Katadan Charcoal in-line filter. It appears a little biklier but is refillable with activated charcoal which makes the price much lower. I'm still trying to figure out if it works with a gravity feed system as opinions differ but I think it does. Any info on whether this will work gravity would be great. You can see it here: https://www.katadyn.com/us/us/268-80...bottle-adaptor It also appears that there are other "hacks" for creating your own DIY carbon filter add on for something like the Sawyer Squeeze. I don't yet know enough to know if it's worth pursuing. I don't want to have to worry about it working correctly. I do however like the idea of a refillable option like the Katadyn as there would likely be even less expensive options for obtaining activated charcoal to refill it with.

I also stumbled upon a 3-stage filter on Amazon that gets decent reviews - though discussions on other sites say it's rather cheap and breaks easily - which is obviously greatly concerning. I don't know how great it actually is. Wondering how well it would work for gravity from a couple of comments (like you have to suck on it to get the feed started, etc). It's called the Survivor Filter (according to one post I read, it looks like it may be the same company as Renovo Trio and Miniwell). https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LA97I8M...filter%20straw

I've looked at options like the Grayl in the past but I just don't think it's worth the price/gallon plus the effort of pressing for a minute for every bottle. Making several litres at a time would be a pain.

I'm sure there are other options and I'd love to hear your thoughts. Obviously, the Sawyers seem very popular and I hear a lot about their versatility - which I don't fully understand at this point (though I'd like to!). I'm not as interested in the original LifeStraw but the new Flex seems to be q good improvement and I like that it removes lead and other things that others don't. Advice, opinions, other options, experience, etc would be greatly appreciated. (Sorry for the post length...trying to give good info.) Thanks in advance!

PS One thought is that regardless of which way I go now, I could eventually "upgrade" the setup to a Sawyer Zero PointTwo if I ever needed to take it out of the country or in virus prone areas for any length of time. Obviously boiling will work for short term stuff but I could still use the bags/tubing, etc with the virus capable filter, if needed. The flow rate on it remains a decent 1l/minute for gravity.

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Trying to design flexible lightweight water filter setup for travel & camping