The Grayl Water Purifiers provide you with clean filtered water removing a wide range of bacteria, viruses and toxins. With a replaceable cartridge and ingenious way of ‘pushing’ the water through quickly by using your own body weight you get to chug clean water everywhere you go.

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Full Review

When you are thirsty its ‘All about the CHUG‘

What do I mean by ‘The Chug’?! Well there are lots of water filtration systems out there that pump by hand, or you suck water through a tube to filter but what sets the Grayl systems apart is the amount of water you can quickly filter and that you can gulp it all down from a nice wide bottle rather than little sips through a straw. What we all know as ‘The Chug’.

In my review I looked at both the Geopress and Ultralight versions so I’ll start with the common features for both.

How do the Grayl Bottles Work ?

This is the first time I’ve seen a ‘push system’ work to purify water and its got some very big advantages. The Grayl bottles come with an outer sleeve that you fill with water up to the maximum fill line before then inserting the ‘inner’ bottle into the same sleeve and pushing down.

The process of pushing down forces the dirty water in the outer sleeve up and through the filter at the bottom of the inner sleeve pushing clean filtered water into the inner bottle ready to drink. Its simple, and using your own body weight to push down makes it incredibly fast. I’ve seen other filters make about 1 to 2 Liters per minute but the Grayl can make up to 8L per minute which is impressive.

On the larger Geopress you can see the non slip pads on the top of the bottle where you can rest your palms and push down with your body weight to make the purifying process so quick and effortless.

What do the Grayl Bottles Filter Out?

The filter will remove anything you can throw at it on trail to make water safe to drink. Obviously you’ll start with selecting the best possible water source to reduce the wear on the filter. Ideally you’ll look for clear water in a flowing stream or river in an area you know has no pollution warnings.

The replaceable cartridge is good for about 350 uses ( more than enough for a few years on trail for most peoples weekend adventures). It will remove particles in the water, as well as bacteria, algae and viruses and heavy

Replaceable Cartridges

All of the Grayl Bottle types have cartridges that are replaceable. They work for about 350 refills which for most of us would see us through quite a few seasons of outdoor use.

The Geopress comes with a fully removeable screw top so you can drink like you do from a cup, as well as a small screw cap for quick sips. The Ultralight comes with a stripped down screw cap only that’s the full width of the bottle to allow ease of drinking.

Sturdy and Rugged Design

I threw these bottles around a lot in testing, dropped them and bashed them around in my backpack without any issues. They are made from a strong food grade silicone that’s sturdy and doesn’t contain BPAs.

Grayl Ultralight

The Ultralight is designed with the trail hiker in mind by offering a much lighter ( at around 10oz) and much more compact version of the Geopress whilst still holding and purifying 16 oz of water. Other than that it has all the same features that the larger Geopress has.

Gripes

I don’t have a lot of criticisms for the design itself but its worth noting that in areas with very low water levels ( in the heat of summer with streams that are nearly dried up) you may have some trouble purifying water because it would be hard to scoop up enough water at a time.

Verdict

The Grayl Water Purifiers provide you with clean filtered water removing a wide range of bacteria, viruses and toxins. With a replaceable cartridge and ingenious way of ‘pushing’ the water through quickly by using your own body weight you get to chug clean water everywhere you go. They make a great choice for pure water whether on trail or travelling abroad on holiday with questionable water sources.

PURCHASE $69.95

Features

• Unrivaled ease, speed and versatility — simply Fill. Press. Drink™
• OnePress™ Global Protection empowers travelers, adventurers and survivalists to make the world’s sketchiest water sources safe
• Removes waterborne pathogens (viruses, bacteria, protozoan cysts), including Rotavirus, Hepatitis A, Norovirus, Giardiasis, Cryptosporidium, E. Coli, Cholera, Salmonella, Dysentery and more
• Filters: particulates (sediment, microplastics) and many chemicals, pesticides, and heavy metals 
• Improves taste, smell and clarity
• Virtually no setup time, and fastest performance: purifies and filters contaminated water in 8 seconds (5 liters per minute)
• SimpleVent™ Drink Cap performs three functions:
  • vents air while purifying
  • protects against cross contamination, grime, and dirt
  • allows one-handed hydration through fast-flow drink spout
• SoftPress™ ergonomic comfort pads for non-slip, anti-fatigued pressing
• TopoGrip™ non-slip TPE placed on all heavy use surfaces
• Saves money and waste; travel sustainably and never buy single-use bottled water again

Specs

• Capacity: 24 oz (710 ml)
• Weight: 15.9 oz (450 g)
• Height: 10.4″ (26.5 cm)
• Diameter (at base): 3.4″ (8.6 cm)
• Active Technology: ion exchange, ultra-powdered activated carbon
• Fast Flow Rate: 8 seconds per 24oz (5 liters/minute)
• Removes: waterborne pathogens (99.99% of viruses, 99.9999% of bacteria, 99.9% of protozoan cysts), including Rotavirus, Hepatitis A, Norovirus, Giardiasis, Cryptosporidium, E. Coli, Cholera, Salmonella, Dysentery and more
• Filters: particulates (i.e. silt, microplastics, etc.); activated carbon effectively adsorbs chemicals, pesticides, heavy metals, flavors, and odors
• Durability: built tough to perform in harsh conditions and withstand 10 ft drops (full of water) onto concrete
• Cartridge lifespan: rated for 350 cycles (65 gal. / 250L), as “press time” reaches ~25 seconds (or three years have elapsed since first use) it’s time to replace your purifier cartridge
• Cartridge shelf life: stored under proper conditions, an unused (and airtight) purifier cartridge has a shelf life of 10 years
• BPA-Free materials: made from polypropylene #5, food-grade silicone, TPE, ABS food-grade plastic
• Testing standards: independently tested by a certified laboratory to meet or exceed NSF protocol 42 and 53 for pathogen and chemical removal; meets the EPA Guide Standard and Protocol for testing microbiological water purifiers
• Origin: Designed in United States; Geopress made in China, purifier cartridge media made in United States

About Grayl

Wise adventurers aren’t reckless.

We’ve spent hundreds of nights in tents in the backcountry and thousands of days in the developing world. We’ve worked, played and lived in places where having access to safe, clean water is a necessity. Whether on the trail needing to drink from a dirty stream, filling up at a questionable hotel sink in Peru, or being prepared for an emergency.

We empower adventure.

Clean, safe water is a fundamental element of life and key ingredient of any adventure. GRAYL empowers travelers and adventurers with products that drive self-sufficiency and safe passage, wherever they go.

Bar napkin sketch to Kickstarter.

From a napkin sketch in a hometown Seattle bar to a growing obsession to make the perfect purifier. Our first Kickstarter raised over $250,000 from travelers and adventurers from all corners of the globe.