Water Filter vs. Purifier for Camping and Hiking   by Allan Lehman

When it comes to spending some quality time out in the elements, you want to make sure that you are just as careful with what you're putting into your body as you would be otherwise. In order to do that, you need to make sure that you have something with you that will purify your water so that the negatives will be taken out while all the natural hydrating benefits are left in. In making your decision, you'll want to think about using a water filtering device or a water purifying device. Both will ultimately give you cleaner water than you would have had otherwise, but you may find that you'll prefer one to the other.

A water filter is a device that passes water through a fine mesh barrier. The mesh will allow water to filter right on through, but it will catch the impurities that are found in water. A water filter will also use a chemical or microbiological process to filter out the impurities that are included in water that has not been filtered. A water filter will filter out types of bacteria such as campylobacter jejuni as well as certain types of protozoan cysts that can be found in water. This will, of course, lead to the consumption of cleaner water which has less of an opportunity to be harmful to your well being.

Definitions of Camping   by Marie Graham

"Roughing it" has many different interpretations. For some, it means spending a couple of hours in a million dollar motor home with internet access and satellite TV. For others, it means carrying as little as possible on your back (for weeks) while purifying your own water and "living off the land". Most of us, however, fall somewhere in the middle when it comes to our camping supply needs. Consider the following (more common) levels of "roughing it":