Water filters

We always used the iodine tablets and then added a vitamin C tablet to the water, which neutralized the bad taste. My dad and uncle are both chemists and apparently there is some sort of chemical reaction between the iodine and vitamin c that helps get rid of the nasty flavor. I still like to use a water filter, but it did seem to get rid of the nasty iodine taste.
 
Nick said:
That's kind of interesting on that katadyn base camp. It looks like it's the exact same filter as the Hiker Pro which only moves 1 liter per minute when it's being pumped. No wonder it doesn't do so well in gravity mode.
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A friend has the base camp and it is SLOW. But I really like how it works. We would hang the bag so the tube was about 6 inches from touching the ground. Then we could place our water bottles there and start the water flowing. While that is going on I could go and get my stuff outta my pack and usually got done just as my water bottle was full. A few times I over flowed it and wasted some water...

I think it would work great with another water bag to filter into as you could have that going while setting up camp, etc.
 
Even though that video was about 4:45 too long, it had the info I needed, and now I can leave my syringe at home. Thanks!
 
Random bump! I bought a supposedly never used MSR Miniworks off of eBay and it doesn't work. Looks like it is missing the duck valve and the umbrella valve. Anyone have an extra they can sell me? The website has a $20 minimum order... :(
 
Gravity filters for me. I use a platy and have for four years or so exclusively.

When I find myself drawing out of nasty puddles, I use a bandanna to filer out the chunks when I fill the dirty bag.
I find I have replaced the filter about once a season so I just buy one each year. I LOVE not having to pump water.
 
Do the Sawyer Mini's work with really silty water? Just keep backflushing? (I didn't watch the vid yet).
 
DudefromOhio said:
Random bump! I bought a supposedly never used MSR Miniworks off of eBay and it doesn't work. Looks like it is missing the duck valve and the umbrella valve. Anyone have an extra they can sell me? The website has a $20 minimum order... :(
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I have a MSR miniworks and it works pretty mini. It will plug up in a couple days. Back flushing hard to do and does not always do the trick. Bring a Sawyer mini it works better. But if you want maybe I'll sell the hole pump plus new filter (never used). It has all the valves. for say $50. Hate to part with just the valve. I think they stopped making them because they suck! Let me check my gear when I get home later.

For the Sawyer bring a couple paper coffee filters to pre-filter the water. Takes a little bit long to filter water but it will save your filter from plugging up so much. And they weigh practically nothing. Back flushing the Sawyer mini only takes a minute to do.
 
Opi said:
I have a MSR miniworks and it works pretty mini. It will plug up in a couple days. Back flushing hard to do and does not always do the trick. Bring a Sawyer mini it works better. But if you want maybe I'll sell the hole pump plus new filter (never used). It has all the valves. for say $50. Hate to part with just the valve. I think they stopped making them because they suck! Let me check my gear when I get home later.

For the Sawyer bring a couple paper coffee filters to pre-filter the water. Takes a little bit long to filter water but it will save your filter from plugging up so much. And they weigh practically nothing. Back flushing the Sawyer mini only takes a minute to do.
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I appreciate the offer, but I've already got $50 invested in this one. If I can't get cheap parts I'll just send it back, and go buy a new one.

I'm surprised so many people dislike this filter. I had one in college and it was great, never had a single problem with it and had it for many years. Loaned it to a friend and never saw it again.
 
Miniworks was my first filter back in 2004-ish. It was a good filter once upon a time, but the filter market has moved light years since then. I wouldn't touch one with a ten foot pole at this point. I think I've already posted this video somewhere in this massive thread, but just in case.... yeah, that's a MiniWorks.

 
I guess I'll go back and reread this thread. I'm just not liking the the gravity idea, don't know why.
 
I was hesitant with the gravity filter as well. My brother bought one and during a trip with him I was sold. I do still have a couple of pump filters I used a while back and they work well.

For me, I like being able to go pull 6 liters of water at once the whole group uses it to cook, make coffee, and usually have more then enough to fill my Nalgene in the morning.
 
Yeah, gravity is the shiznackle for a group. It's been a while since I had to work for my water. The fragility of the glass fibers made me weary at first, but now I'm sold. I might leave it behind in favor of the steripen if I was solo though. And for times that I might count on drinking nasty tasting water, the First Needs XLE is unmatched at removing tastes and pumps faster than any non-glass fiber filters around (rare need though).
 
I reread the whole thread. Seems everyone that owns the Miniworks likes it... Except Nick.... And the guy in the video. Lol
 
DudefromOhio said:
I reread the whole thread. Seems everyone that owns the Miniworks likes it... Except Nick.... And the guy in the video. Lol
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Ha! What about that guy who just said the same thing like five posts up? And the 40 one and two star reviews on REI? ;) They had to pull in select reviews from Cascadedesigns.com to bump up the average. LOL.

http://www.rei.com/product/695265/msr-miniworks-ex-water-filter#tab-reviews

I could be wrong though and all the new innovations since it came out 15 or 20 years ago are just kinda pointless. I hear boiling works pretty good too. :confused: But seriously, it's a fine filter if you're into fixing stuff and getting lots of forearm exercise, there's just a lot of better options out there.
 
MSR is going to send to the parts I need free of charge! And they responded to my email the very next day. Now that's customer service!
 
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