MSR Aquatabs Water Purification Tablets

Whether you’re into ultra-light backpacking or just don’t feel like investing in an expensive water purification pumping system, water-purifying tabs are a great alternative purchase.

Historically, though, these tabs have been iodine based, so they came with a nasty aftertaste. Even once manufacturers moved away from iodine, the tabs took hours to be effective, so you’d have to think far ahead — often to the detriment of your hydration.

MSR’s Aquatabs are the best on the market, representing several generations of improvements to water-purifying technology. The tabs are cheap, lightweight, small and fast-acting — they need only 30 minutes to be effective. They also have no aftertaste and don’t harm the bottle the treated water resides in.

One of the only downsides is tabs don’t filter debris out of water, so if you’re drinking from small streams with lots of leaves and dirt, you may be better off carrying or rigging some sort of filter. And the tabs aren’t effective against Cryptosporidium, the most common water-borne illness. This is an unfortunate aspect, though the parasite likely won’t cause anything worse than a mild case of diarrhea in non-immuno-compromised travelers.

The tabs are effective against just about everything else you’ll be concerned with: third-world viruses, bacteria and Giardia cysts.