I’m considering getting myself one of these for my thruhike. Does anybody own one or have an opinion on getting one? I have a PUR filter (now Katadyn Hiker I think) which pumps fast but is heavier, bulkier and filters 0.03 microns as oppose to 0.02 by the smaller, lighter mini ceramic. What’s the flow rate like on the ceramics and are they worth that little extra money?
Cheers
Ross
Ross
I once watch a fellow hiker spend an hour, in 15* weather with a 20knot wind blowing, trying to pump two quarts of water with his Mini. With my trusty Hiker, kept in my coat so it wouldn’t freeze, I finished off three qts in four minutes and ran to the tent.
Bushwhack
I doubt that the PUR or Now Marketed as the Katahdin actually pump a liter a min. However, on my flight back from Pittsburg, i read Backpacker mag, and they tested many pumps as well as chems and AT water amongst other locations in America. I doubt you’ll notice the extra oz for quick water, but the SOBO’s i met were all using chems. Funny thing is, they wait 15 mins to drink, and it takes up to 4 hrs for some of those creatures in our water to die from chems. I’ll keep my PUR. drop weight on needless things like yer inflatable HOV doll.
i would also get the backpacker mag for dec 03…interesting article on water purity.
burn
burn
Many thru-hikers start with filters… most finish with chemicals. The only filter I know of that can make it the entire length of the AT is the PUR/Kataydin Hiker. It has a one year no clog gurantee, not to say it wont slow down… but it will work better than any other Ive heard of. Most filters slow/clog before you get outta Maine/Georgia. Aqua Mira is a pretty standard way of life on the AT.
guru
Supplementing Guru’s post,
The filter of choice among thru-hikers is the Pur/Kataydin Hiker because if pumps faster than others.
Their filter cartridges last about 2 months before the growth builds up inside them. So, a thru-hiker just brings the filter into a local outfitter along the way, and they will usually exchange cartridges no questions asked.
Having said that, most thru-hikers do use chemicals such as Aqua Mira. Clorox bleach is not a reliable purification method.
Read the Dec 03 issue of Backpacker magazine
Peaks
15 min with Aqua Mira is plenty of time to kill everything except Crypto (4 hours)in clean running water. If you read the Backpacker mag. article, you would see that even the most contaminated site they tested from didn’t have enough Crypto to cause infection in normally healthy adults. You have a higher chance of catching Crypto from swimming in a friends swimming pool than drinking unfiltered water on the trail. There’s always a chance you could get water from a stream where an animal infected with Crypto had just taken a dump in, but the chances are still low enough that I’m willing to take the chance and save the weight of a filter. Apparently you’re not, which is perfectly ok. Everyone has to decide for themselves how big of a chance they are willing to take, but I think the water purification industry and others have blown the severity way out of proportion.
Nooga
Actually that was a qt in 50 seconds…with a new filter of course…and a certain motion operating the filter that resembles another certain motion. Two people also helps but its still a hell of a lot faster than an MSR. Don’t like phloaties in my morning tea either, aye Ross?.
BW
I have a Katadyn Mini - and disliked it so much I just bought a PUR Hikier. Katadyn Mini is cute but slow and seems to take a lot more force AND more pumps to get your water. I’d go with the PUR, but if you want the Mini, I’ll give you a good deal on a used one!
MN girl
looking on the net,
msr miniworks ex, 1ltr per minute, 0.2micron ceramic, 80strokes
katadyn mini, .5ltr per minute, 0.2micron ceramic, 40 strokes
katadyn hiker, 1ltr per minute, 0.3micron glass, 48strokes.
doubling the time on the mini, its 2minutes per litre for 80 strokes.
maybe the hiker pumps water quicker as its filter has larger holes to push it through faster…
Bloody Cactus
I used the MSR miniworks on the Cumbria Way (well, my own version of the Cumbria way) this year and was tempted to set fire to it and dance round it chanting various obsenities. If the Katadyn Mini is anything like that, I think I’ll either keep hold of my PUR or go with the Aqua mira. I also heard that Aqua mira used with the Safewater bottle is good (weighs 8 oz in total). Anyone tried that?
Methods i’ve tried so far:
Iodene and neutralising tabs - The thought of using those things for any length of time put me right off them. Only used them for about 8 days.
MSR Mini works - You know how i feel about that thing.
PUR filter (Katadyn hiker) - Pumps fast, but like Bloody Cactus said, it pumps faster for a reason. I’m sure convenience out weighs the actual effectiveness (I got sick on the JMT).
I’ve read up on most of the filters and done my homework but am still a touch confused. I suppose it’s like Nooga says, am i willing to sacrifice peace of mind for those few extra ounces??
Ross
P.S Any more recomendations would be appreciated. Cheers
Ross
i’m taking my miniworks ex with me and aquamirra… if the EX turns out to be povo, its going into the hikerbox at the nearest hostel!! and i’ll bandana+aquamirra my tea.
have not had much trouble with the mini works (i filtered out of my sink! hahah… but then london water is white from hard limescale!!!)… worked ok. gave the arm a workout tho.
if you did the whole hike with it, youd atleast have 1 arm vaguely shwarzenegger-esque, and the other, floating on the breeze.
Bloody Cactus
I started off with one and switched to a First Need. Heavier, but it didn’t clog up as fast, easier to clean, pumped faster & carbon removes any bad taste. The Mini may -last- for 2000 gallons, but you will cleaning it after 2 gallons (which take a 2+ minutes per quart).
Personally, I’m sticking with a filter. My health is nothing to sacrifice for.
Whether you decide to filter or use chemicals, run your water initially through a coffee filter. Five filters weigh about .1 ounces, and will remove most crud & keep your filter going longer.
30-30
GAME 94
GAME 04
30-30
Almost forgot to mention the sure fire way of killing everything bad in water…boiling it. I’m surprised no ones mentioned that. I point out that i only use the filter for drinking water. For cooking i use my bandana to filter the crud then boil it up.
Why did’nt i mention that before???
Ross
…use a gravity-fed filter!!! Ray Jardine’s book talks about making your own, but to me, the directions are very unclear. Anyone have any suggestions?
Dawg
p.s.1 - I understand how to make the bag w/ handles, its the filter I’m not sure of - which to use (model) and how exactly it attaches to the water bag.
p.s.2 - Platypus used to make a gravity-fed filtration system but I can’t find it on their website…
Dawgtrekker
With all this filter talk… I do have a Katadyn Hiker filter new in box for sale. I got it for an upcoming trip but Im gonna stick with chemicals… if anyone wants it I’ll give it away for $40 including shipping. I can send some photographs as well.
guru
I made a post about gravity-fed filters earlier–if anyone can answer my questions, I would appreciate it!! Thanks!!
Dawgtrekker
Ross, I don’t know whether or not you heard about the AquaMira/Safewater bottle filter combination from the gear page on one of my journals here on TrailJournals, but that’s what I used on a 600-mile AT section hike last year and again thru-hiking the Tahoe Rim Trail this year.
I used the bottle filter for drinking water during the day, and Pristine or Aqua Mira drops for the 3+ quarts of water I would need for the evening and morning meals. The weight of the filter component of the bottle filter and the Aqua Mira bottles together was less than 8 ounces. I made it a point to get water as soon as I stopped for the night, and usually there was enough time between when I treated the water and started cooking dinner, so the waiting time required for the drops wasn’t a big problem.
I would try to keep the bottle filter more or less full during the day, and also carried a soda bottle which I filled with Accelerade energy drink before starting in the morning and drew down during the day. In addition to the Accelerade, my practice was to sip from the bottle filter when I was thirsty and at lunch, and, when I came to a stream or other water source, to drink myself full from the bottle filter and then refill the bottle. The bottle was quite easy to draw from as long as the pre-filter wasn’t clogged. Once it clogged, replacing it was critical.
I was well into my third set of Aqua Mira or Pristine drops (the two products are identical as far as I could tell) by the end of the AT trip, and that included about 50 days treating 3+ quarts of water each night. I had to replace the pre-filter for the bottle filter near the end of the AT trip, as it was pretty well clogged up.
Although this combination worked fine for me as a solo hiker, it would be cumbersome for more than one person, and I wouldn’t hesitate to go with a more substantial filter if I were hiking with another person, although I’d hate to give up the convenience of the bottle filter.
Snowbird