Old guy at a trailhead told me to ditch my water filter for iodine tablets

Was heading up the High Sierra Trail near Crescent Meadow last summer and this retired ranger saw me messing with my pump filter. He said just use iodine tablets, way lighter and you won't be standing around for 10 minutes at every stream. Tried it on a 4 day stretch and honestly the taste is brutal but he was right about the time savings. Has anyone else switched from filters to chemical treatment?

3 comments

3 Comments

phoenix_singh252d ago

Man that taste is just straight up pool water, but I found a hack. If you drop a little packet of electrolyte powder in there it covers it up almost completely. Did that on the JMT last fall and it made the iodine bearable plus got my salts back after sweating buckets.

theas282d ago

JMT last year for me too, and I did the same thing with those Nuun tablets. Worked like a charm, the citrus flavor nearly killed the iodine taste completely. Plus I swear I felt way less wiped out at the end of the day compared to when I just choked down plain treated water.

colethomas2d ago

Wouldn't the electrolytes make you even more dehydrated in the long run though?