99% of the hiking/backpacking (aka H/B) filters are for backcountry water that needs little to no treatment to begin with. They are more window dressing than anything practical. Boiling is plenty for such sources. Heck, heating to 165?F for at least three minutes generally suffices.
Remember that boiiling, even twenty minutes at a full rolling, neither removes nor kills every bacteria or pathogen. Boiling merely kills *or temporarily inactivates* the majority of bacteria that *normally* cause issues with humans.
None of the H/B filters are fully addressing the actual contaminants in the less than pristine wilderness situations we currently face in almost all areas. O(f course, even municipal water treatment plants aren't 100% effective on all contaminants.) This concerns me as conditions worsen year by year yet all the while most folks are going along believing their filters are fully protecting them. Typical First Order thinking.
Sawyer has a history of lies, dubious testing and claims. (There were many articles about this when they first hit the scene.) They spend far more on advertising than research and testing. But then, all that is pretty much SOP for the H/B filter industry.
The Rule of Thumb is the cheaper, lighter, easier to maintain, faster flow and/or larger number of gallons it treats... the less that particular filter is doing. There is no way around this.
Since no one likes more expensive, heavier, more difficult to maintain, slower flow and fewer gallons the manufacturers are in a Catch 22.
