MSR TrailShot

Our take Straw-style filter designs come with one big problem: They aren’t much good if the water is farther away than the straw is long. This smaller-than-a-Clif-Bar water filter solves that with a 15-inch intake hose that’ll thread into tight places. In lieu of a handle, the TrailShot uses a silicone squeeze pump (think: blood-pressure bulb) to draw water up through the hose and hollow-fiber filter element. It clogged fast when we drank silty water straight off a glacier in Peru, but a few swishes cleaned it. Output-wise, it does about a liter a minute. Caveat: There is no carbon, so it doesn’t do much to improve the taste of water from less-than-desirable sources.

Trail cred “For multiday backpacking trips with regular access to water, I leave the water bottle at home and just bring my TrailShot,” says a thru-hiker.