Water filters

for those filtering water out on the colorado plateau.

silt kills the filter. i toasted a brand new filter coupla years back pumping trachyte creek chocolate water.

so to avoid tossing another $50 bill onto the fire, i now wrap the intake bulb on my old school PUR hiker pro with a bandana, securing it with some cord. negligible difference in ease of pumping. clean water. no issues. drape the dew-rag on your head when finished and carry on.
 
moose droppings said:
for those filtering water out on the colorado plateau.

silt kills the filter. i toasted a brand new filter coupla years back pumping trachyte creek chocolate water.

so to avoid tossing another $50 bill onto the fire, i now wrap the intake bulb on my old school PUR hiker pro with a bandana, securing it with some cord. negligible difference in ease of pumping. clean water. no issues. drape the dew-rag on your head when finished and carry on.
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I got some coffee filters for silty places. I have yet to need to use them...
 
Deadeye008 said:
You can just buy the filter from Sawyer and make your own gravity setup which makes it cheaper than buying their gravity system.

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Click to expand...
I have a Platypus system and I love it!!! I did have to backflush quite a bit because of the silty water from recent rain in Salt Creek, but it was worth it!!!
 
I just got the sawyer system. I had used the MSR MiniWorks in the past but found it slow and tedious especially when filtering larger volumes. I've used the sawyer with my sink but will be taking it out this weekend on a short backpacking trip and will report back my experience.
 
Just got back from my trip and have all my gear cleaned and put away. Had a great time, backpacked approximately 12 miles. Took my sawyer filter and it was a modest success. The Sawyer system was amazingly fast. I was able to fill 3 32oz bottles in the time it took another person in my group to fill 1 20oz water bottle with an MSR MiniWorks. The only drawback I found was with slow moving water. We were in an area where we had access to shallow, slow moving creeks. I had to walk aways down the bank and reach down while filling the bag with a scooping motion. The MSR was easier to gather water in this situation because the intake line can be dropped farther out where the creek was a little deeper and you can stand while pumping. In a situation where the water is moving quicker the Sawyer is perfect. I think I will fix this issue by bringing an extra wide mouth nalgene that can be easily filled and pour it into the pouch. I'm also thinking about adding a funnel with a screen (like one found in a kitchen faucet) as a pre-filter. The wide mouth bottle would also serve as a storage container for the funnel, filter and pouch. If anyone has any tips on using the Sawyer I'd appreciate it
 
Question for those of you who use gravity filters or other filters that use Hollow Fiber filtration: how do they do with filtering out nasty tastes? I'm heading on a trip this weekend that may require drinking less than ideal pothole water and I'm debating between taking my First Needs that I know is phenomenal at filtering out gross tastes vs. taking my new MSR gravity filter. I know I'll have to keep the gravity filter sort of warm to keep it from freezing if I take it, but I'd really like to try it. But if it's anything like a normal ceramic filter on taste filtering, maybe not. Thoughts?
 
Take them both and compare. After using the gravity filter, you'll never want to go back. We filtered directly out of the Escalante for a week with great results. It's the only filter I bring these days, with the exception of winter trips.
 
Would you take it with a forecast like this considering a freeze can render it permanently ineffective? I was thinking I could just sleep with the actual filter piece.

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Wow, wish it was that warm up here. I usually bring it with that sort of forecast. I have a very light ulta-sil dry bag I usually put it in and then keep it at the foot of the sleeping bag.
 
You are a tough dude for this trip. I haven't mustered up the cajones to get backpacking in winter yet.

I'd take the gravity filter, but you know how much I love them. Filter while you still have daylight, and throw it in the inside of your coat. It will be fine.
 
Yeah really. Although I'm still going to call it that since I decided to do it long before the forecast looked that good! :) Stoked to use my new gravity filter! Thanks for getting me hooked, @slc_dan.
 
So last monday I broke the handle off of the piston on my Hiker Pro while pumping water. I contacted Katadyn and they're sending me a new one for $8 shipped. The funny thing is that they didn't even ask which model pump I had when I told them I broke the piston. I doubled checked that it was for the Hiker Pro... Makes me think this is fairly common on this pump.

filter.jpg
 
I started out with gravity filtration using the Katadyn Base Camp, it was a sweet setup minus one flaw. The filters only last 30-50 gallons then slows to a trickle and you have to buy a new one. Not an issue as im sure it will work ok on my Katadyn pump filter if I ever need it. Problem with gravity filters is that they dont create much pressure vs a pump so the lifespan of the filter isnt great.

So, I went with the Sawyer system. Over all the filter itself works very well but the bags have issues. Mainly, the dirty water bag is only 4 litters and a pain to fill up more than two thirds of the way, and if you have more than 2 people its a chore. I resolved that issue by using the Katadyn Base Camp Dirty water Bag which is faster and holds much more water instead. You can either modify a wide mouth nalgene bottle cap or order a http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AZVMS8G/?tag=backcountrypo-20 and use that. Mine leaks a little but this time I added plummers teflon tape last night and it should fix the slight leak issue. I have yet to field test it but it works fine in my backyard,

The other issue I have with the clean water bag is I really dont like the nozzle of the sawyer bag. It leaks and kinda sucks to use. Plummers tape fixed the leak but im looking for something I can use with one hand. Over all though I really like the Sawyer Filter but next time I would just do a DIY system. Deadeye thanks for your post BTW as it helped me to work my system out.

However, I think when the weather gets below freezing I will just use a pump instead and not worry about the DIY caps having issues. But for summer its my go to system. = )
 
I use the sawyer squeeze and have aqua mira as a back-up. Furthermore, if I'm BPing where water is plentiful I use only aqua mira. No funky aftertaste. Both are really light weight.
 
Used a Hiker Pro I got at the OR show in the Winds.....worked great and fast. Didn't break the handle off..... ease up on the muscles.. lol
 
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