Review: Pure Hydration – Aquapure Traveller

Whenever I am sent a product to trial and review I always do a little ‘digging’ into the background of the product and the company. What surprised me was two things – the first was that the company had been going since 2008, and the second was that I had actually used one their earlier incarnations in the late 90’s when I used one their original straw filters – the Survivor 1 as an RAF survival instructor.

The Aquapure Traveller (APT) is a very versatile water purification system which I will let Pure Hydration describe:

The aquapure traveller is a high performance personal water purification system (or IWP- Individual water purifier) that is designed for those who may find themselves in places where water quality is dubious or even dangerous. It has many uses- not only for drinking water but also for brushing your teeth and rinsing your toothbrush to washing fruit or vegetables, cooking or using the water to make hot drinks- unlike many similar products it is squeezable, which means a stream of water can exit from the pop top allowing 500ml of safe water to be dispensed in less than 30 seconds

and it…

eliminates >99.9999% bacteria, 99.999% viruses, >99.99% larger pathogens. >99.9% of many chemicals, heavy metals, dirt and odour.

Now these are bold statements to make! But they are backed up by independent and credible test results.

Chemical Test Report & Microbiological Test Report

Assessment

Now I am no Doctor, Bio-chemist or Micro-biologist so I am hardly in a position to discuss this product from a scientific stand-point. Fortunately the independent reports do that in a very adequate way. Suffice to say that when I drank dubious stream water from it I survived!

What I have done is compare it to one of the other ‘mainstream’ filter bottle brands and based my thoughts on this and the daily use I have given this product..

Thanks to an informative video provided on the APT website, the product is very simple to use and can be operational as soon as it is unpacked. Several points stood out for me on the design front.

Firstly the ‘push/pull’ mouth piece – this makes for effective one-handed operation. Simply place in mouth, pull and drink. The unique shape of the bottle makes for a very ergonomic and comfortable feel in the hand.

But more importantly, its biggest advantage over other equivalent bottles is the flexible plastic used in its construction. One major criticism of other products had been the inability to squeeze the water out for use in my Jetboil. The APT allows me to do just that, which means I can now purify and filter the water before adding to my boiler.

Another advantage of being able to squeeze that water out of the bottle is in first aid. As an eye wash, cut cleaner, the ability to be able to wash a wound without using contaminated water could save your life in more than one way.

I, like many adventurers, have or do spent a lot of time overseas. I have always been very careful to use bottled water rather than the local tap water (even in Europe). But, unfortunately, even bottled water may not have a reliable and clean source. The simple act of taking ice in my Gin & Tonic laid me up in hospital in Sri Lanka. The APT should be your ‘must-take’ on your next adventure as its use will remove all doubt about the quality of the water you are consuming.

In addition to the bottle, I also received the neoprene carry case which, in my opinion, is essential for keeping the bottle at hand at all times. The case comes with three means of attaching to yourself/rucksack, a carabiner, dog-clip and belt-loop.

The belt-loop is ingenious being made of ‘hook & eye’ tape it allows for attaching without having to undo the belt. There is however, one minor downside and that is that the carabiner to too ephemeral and broke on its first attempt to attach it to a belt loop.

Whilst on the surface the APT my seem to be more expensive than some of the other similar products. The longevity of its filter means that in the long run it works out similar or cheaper than its rivals.

Verdict

Having used other similar products, I can honestly say that Aquapure Traveller is a high quality and very efficient filter bottle. It provided good quality, safe drinking water with no after taste and ergonomically fits all of my requirements as a drinking bottle and water purifier/carrier.

Due to its manufacture from soft, flexible plastic, it is far more versatile than many of its rivals. Taking its use far beyond being purely a drinking bottle with a filter. Because of its versatility the APT is not just and adventure tool, it is everyday essential for anyone that travels abroad for work or leisure.

It will become my constant source of pure clean water no matter where my travels take me and will remain a regular part of my walking equipment.