Browns The Filter Bag - Milbank Bag Water Filtration Camping

We took this down to our local river within hours of it arriving. This was after priming it as per the instructions on the back of the label attached. Same quality of the one’s issued when in the military, same fabric weave etc.. Should last a lifetime.See pics. Filtered 2 litres of Scottish river water in around 20 minutes. When we got home I TDS tested the water filtered by the bag and it had a reading of 82 which was phenomenal. I then continued the filtration process at home using my Zero Water filters. I then got a reading of 000 and we drank it. Tasted beautiful and clear and fresh. Could have put it through the Big Berkey too if I wanted to filter a larger amount.Life saving, great for if the water goes off or for hiking, bushcraft and general preparedness. Worth every penny and so easy. Came well packed and arrived quickly. Highly Recommended xx

I used the original Millbank Bag when i was in the army in the 90's. It's one of those low-tech devices that just works! This version is just as chunky and robust as the original (albeit in a different colour, the originals were a kind of duck-egg blue or turquoise colour).I have used one of these to test it in the field, and it does what it's meant to do... filter out all the suspended solids. It does that just fine. It DOESN'T sterilise the water, but it's not supposed to. You need to add a sterilising tab to the water afterwards to make the water safe to drink. It does however clarify the water very well, which is what it's supposed to do.Good piece of kit for anyone who needs to drink from ponds, streams, rivers and lakes.

A solidly made, hard-wearing filter bag that does exactly what it's supposed to do. But it's expensive compared to other similar bags on the market.

Use of this bag is an essential preliminary step before using your main filtration device (i.e. sawyer / katadyn/ MSR etc) as it will slow down the blockage of the filters and reduce time spent cleaning them."Season" the bag by soaking and squeezing / twisting a few times before drying properly, folding and storing in a medium resealable food bag ready for use. Also, the flow may indeed be slow but be patient.This bag is superior quality to my old MoD green version, and I detected a slight difference in the weave; although it does say it has copied the original specification.

Great piece of kit to have in your bag when exploring off the beaten track

Must have bit of kit. It runs slowly but does the job very well. The water will still come through stained but as long as it's boiled it will be safe to drink. I have used the mod milbank bags and I have to say that this is the same if not better than those. Cannot rate them enough. Nice job guys.

Millbank bags may at first appear to be low tech or old fashioned but actually they are just as relevant today, with all the expensive high tech nano filters on offer! If you pre-filter your water with a Millbank bag it will hugely prolong the life of your main filter, and allow it to work far more efficiently. I cannot agree with those reviewers who state this bag wont allow water through. It simply does work, and it works well. A gentle continuous trickle is what to expect. Yes, you need to be patient for it to do it's job, but a full bag hung up will empty in a few minutes and give you all the drinking water you need for a day.Perhaps the problem they are having is treating it incorrectly whilst conditioning it prior to first use. As stated in the instructions you need to soak the bag in cold water then fold and twist the material quite robustly in order to ease the fibres. Some have suggested a spin in the washing machine, but don't whatever you do stick it in hot wash or use fabric conditioner, or you'll ruin the bag.When using the bag make sure you dip it in water and squeeze it a few times to fully moisten the fabric prior to the actual filtering. This speeds the process. After use, clean out the sediment, re-rinse and leave it to dry. A tip is to filter as much water as possible in one go then allow the bag to dry out fully in between uses. Try to avoid repeatedly filtering small quantities of water as the bag will never be able to dry out this way, and may go mouldy!These bags are, unlike the many inferior Chinese made imports now appearing, made of very good quality materials. The thick and heavy grade canvas is made by the same people who supplied the MOD for the rare and sought after originals. The eyelet is solid brass so will never rust.The only reason I've dropped a couple of stars from my rating is the fact that two of the internal seams are left raw! The fabric quickly began fraying even whilst I was first conditioning the bag prior to it's first real use. Luckily a nice friend of mine is a milliner, so she applied a very neat tape cover and over-stitching to prevent further damage. Browns really do need to address this flaw for future batches. Double folding and stitching all the seams during manufacture would be the way to go. Raw cotton fabric seams always lead to the fabric falling apart over time. Once this flaw is addressed I'll be delighted to modify my rating to a full five stars.

Wetted with cold water and ruffed up for 5 mins to wear it in. Water filtered nice and fast.Happy with filter bag.