Gear

Yes, but your arm may fall off in the process.

Katadyn Products has produced a pocket manual desalinator, which according to the company is the smallest unit of its kind in the world.

I found this product one day while researching desalinators for a customer at Adventure Guide, a Canoeroots ProShop Specialty Retailer in Waterloo, ON. The customer was preparing for an extended ocean canoeing adventure and his main concern was accessibility to good drinking water. If I were him, I would have been more concerned about ocean storms, but that’s just me.

So after a little research, I came up with the Katadyn Survivor 06, which is entirely hand-operated. It works by using a membrane that stops salt molecules from passing though it, while the seawater is pressurized.

One slight problem though—it produces 0.89 liters per hour which is a lot of pumping for very little water. At full capacity, it produces 21 liters per day and is strictly for survival purposes. Overall, it's a really innovative piece of equipment that makes my Katadyn Vario water filter look like child’s play.