Indians For Guns

All ye outdoors enthusiasts!

Might be old news, but I thought I will just share this.

Eureka Forbes has introduced water bottles with attached filters / purifiers on the top, under their Aquaguard brand. MRP INR 600. I picked up a couple at a Big Bazaar outlet, so I can assume Future Group is one of their authorised retailers.

Here's the company link: http://www.eurekaforbes.com/Product/Wat ... Go?pid=233

Good "sipper" type design, but the flip cap joint (the transparent thingie on top of the bottle in the pic) is a bit weak (my kid dropped a full bottle and the flip joint cracked). The filter unit is attached to the cap and comes out along with it (like those Borosil teapots). Unfortunately, it does not have a suitable attachment point for carabiners, etc. You would need to create a webbing sling to carry it slung from a belt or rucksack strap (the contouring on the bottle would help). It is designed more for the net pockets on the sides of backpacks.

Pack graphics ar a bit jazzy for my taste. No camo option!!!

Haven't tested it with really bad water as yet, but if this works, it could be a decent substitute for the highly expensive Katadyns available at Basecamp. And carrying iodine around is such a pain!!

By the way, I honestly don't know what a "nano sized positively charged media" is!! Going more by brand trust!

I keep one as a backup in the "mobile emergency kit", aka car boot.

And just for the record, I don't work for Eureka Forbes, nor am I in any way benefited if anyone buys this bottle.

I've seen something similar at a few Chemists recently, goes by the brand name "Life Straw" IIRC the pricing was similar or maybe a little more. A good piece of kit to have handy if you travel a lot.

Back in the 70's & 80's potassium permanganate is what we used to use for water purification on road trips. Those were the days before bottled water became available almost everywhere, IIRC it used to make the water taste absolutely horrible!

Cheers!
Abhijeet

mundaire wrote:I've seen something similar at a few Chemists recently, goes by the brand name "Life Straw" IIRC the pricing was similar or maybe a little more. A good piece of kit to have handy if you travel a lot.

Back in the 70's & 80's potassium permanganate is what we used to use for water purification on road trips. Those were the days before bottled water became available almost everywhere, IIRC it used to make the water taste absolutely horrible!

Cheers!
Abhijeet

Lifestraw seems to be a popular brand here.

I too remember the taste of Permanganate but it brings back some fond memories

However when back country camping here, we don't carry more that a liter or two of bottled water as it's too heavy. In addition, my daughter and I both have water bladders in our packs. Mine is a two liter and hers is a Liter and a half or so.
In the field, we use boiling and Iodine tablets, which doesn't make the water taste any better than the Permanganate.
Generally we use a mechanical water filter, boiling and iodine tabs. This allows you to get water from anywhere, including puddles. You can use this for an extended period of time.

Katadyn camping water filters.
This triple method may seem excessive but a Giardia infection when you are days from civilization would be a real pain.

Something like the Lifestraw will let you get by for a weekend camping trip with no problem. It is supposed to be good for 1000 liters and it beats all the hassle that we go through.

In Mumbai, Katadyns and Life Straws are available at Base Camp stores.

Abhijeet, I personally find the chemists in Delhi / NCR light years ahead of their brothers in Mumbai, esp when keeping slightly uncommon stuff is concerned. I had to specially order butterfly closures at my neighborhood chemist, and got it after a month!!

I used to used KMnO4 like you guys, and still remember the taste. Plus I got a shirt patterned in "purple camo" once. Here even that isn't very widely available. Can we use iodine tincture for this? I normally have a bottle or two lying about the house. I am also looking to make friends with a guy in a nearby club, to get access to the swimming pool chlorine (aka "pool shock").

Essdee, you can purchase chlorine/ other water purification tablets at your local chemists. I tend to keep a little potassium permanganate in my travel first aid kit as it is great for other things as well (anti-fungal, washing veggies/ fruits, etc.).... and if you want to impress the kids you can put a couple of drops of car coolant/ anti-freeze on to a few crystals for an instant fire!

I carry a small packet of KMNO4 in the side pocket of my wallet with a similar sized packet of Alum. If one in not in a hurry a small crystal of alum for about an hour will settle down all the sediments and a crystal of KMNO4 will disinfect about a liter of water.

In an emergency a drop or two of tincture can also be used and drunk after 2/3 hours. But, i guess this is an SOS measure only not to be consumed frequently.