Broke my katadyn hiker pro. Looking for suggestions on new filter.

[Steeliedrew]

I called Katadyn yesterday and they are sending me a new plunger free of charge. Great customer service! I don't think it will arrive before I leave for this week's hunt though so I may pick up a gravity set up or an MSR sweet water. That way I'll have a spare once I get the hiker pro repaired and can choose which filter I want depending on the trip. I'll pick up a Sawyer mini to throw in the pack too. Anybody like the MSR sweeteater?

 

[Flatbow]

after using a pump filter for years I switched this year to a Sawyer gravity feed. granted, most of my sheep/caribou hunts are of a base camp style but the ease of hanging a bag of water in a tree is so much nicer than kneeling at a creek and pumping. the biggest plus is that the filter, dirty water bag and 2 clean water bags weigh less than my pump filter!

 

[SHTF]

I called Katadyn yesterday and they are sending me a new plunger free of charge. Great customer service! I don't think it will arrive before I leave for this week's hunt though so I may pick up a gravity set up or an MSR sweet water. That way I'll have a spare once I get the hiker pro repaired and can choose which filter I want depending on the trip. I'll pick up a Sawyer mini to throw in the pack too. Anybody like the MSR sweeteater?

I have the MSR also. Im not a big fan of it by any means. it works but the Hiker pro wins hands down in the pump catagory for me. I had some pretty sucky performance out of my MSR. I did some prefiltering also with it. seemed the MSR just didnt have the same output that the Hiker pro did. For a backup you could also go with a Steripen adventurer for a backup. Thats what I chose and even though you can only do a liter at a time its much easier then fiddling with my MSR.
Just my 2cents but others may have had better results.

 

[Chem-E]

I used to use a Katadyn Hiker. But I switched to the Sawyer filter and I am very happy. I bring a small Ti cup though to fill up the squeeze bags when the water source is thin, such as the one you described. It seems like a hassle, but a little 8 oz cup weighs nothing and makes it possible to dip water out of the smallest source. If you really wanted to go light you could just take a plastic disposable water bottle and cut the bottom off to use as a dipper. Either way, I think the Sawyer is a great filter and it is very affordable.

 

[Steeliedrew]

I picked up an MSR miniworks ex to try on this week's trip and am bringing a bunch of coffee filters to use as a prefilter. I'm also taking along a Sawyer mini for backup.

 

[tttoadman]

Weird that I stumbled on this. I blew the filter out on my Hiker Pro last week. We had nothing but pond water. I hiked 4 miles out. Bought a sawyer squeeze system, and headed back in. I can tell you that I am not really impressed with the system as is. There is no real way to draw water into a collapsible bag in stagnant water. I decided that cutting the bottom off of the 16oz bag and using it as a scoop to fill the 1L bag was a simple solution. What I don't like about the system is that it takes the water off of the top instead of drawing water from below the surface film. I feel the squeeze system is needlessly filtering crap that we avoid when dropping the pickup tube below the surface. Hard to argue with the small size and weight. I think I will take the sawyer when I have moving water. I may consider taking the Hiker Pro when I know it is pond water.

rant over.

 

[jmez]

I just put a Sawyer mini inline in my drinking tube and use it that way. No gravity no pumping. If your water source "pees" out you can just fill a camelback or other bladder and go. Really like this system since switching to it. You do need a water source that you can dunk the bladder or one running out like you describe for this to work.

 

[Cantharellus]

I know most of the areas I frequent in Colorado have small running water sources or clean lakes so I run a sawyer squeeze or more recently and if I'm traveling with a party or camping away from water, I use a Platy Gravityworks 4L system. Weighs less than the pump filters and gives me the capacity to haul 8L of water if I need to. Filters really fast and it's easy to use.

 

[Chem-E]

Weird that I stumbled on this. I blew the filter out on my Hiker Pro last week. We had nothing but pond water. I hiked 4 miles out. Bought a sawyer squeeze system, and headed back in. I can tell you that I am not really impressed with the system as is. There is no real way to draw water into a collapsible bag in stagnant water. I decided that cutting the bottom off of the 16oz bag and using it as a scoop to fill the 1L bag was a simple solution. What I don't like about the system is that it takes the water off of the top instead of drawing water from below the surface film. I feel the squeeze system is needlessly filtering crap that we avoid when dropping the pickup tube below the surface. Hard to argue with the small size and weight. I think I will take the sawyer when I have moving water. I may consider taking the Hiker Pro when I know it is pond water.

rant over.

I have been frustrated with this before as well. Now I bring along the syringe that is used for back-flushing and about a 12" piece of water bladder hose. I can draw water and fill a squeeze bag from the smallest of water sources. It really doesn't take that long to get a couple of liters.

 

[rodney482]

Might be a great thing to have an extra handle with ya

I called Katadyn yesterday and they are sending me a new plunger free of charge. Great customer service! I don't think it will arrive before I leave for this week's hunt though so I may pick up a gravity set up or an MSR sweet water. That way I'll have a spare once I get the hiker pro repaired and can choose which filter I want depending on the trip. I'll pick up a Sawyer mini to throw in the pack too. Anybody like the MSR sweeteater?

 

[dangerousD]

I just put a Sawyer mini inline in my drinking tube and use it that way. No gravity no pumping. If your water source "pees" out you can just fill a camelback or other bladder and go. Really like this system since switching to it. You do need a water source that you can dunk the bladder or one running out like you describe for this to work.

I tried doing that last year but I hated how hard it was to suck water through the filter every time I'd take a drink. Otherwise it's a nice setup.

 

[jmez]

I don't notice much difference in flow rate with mine.

 

[Felix40]

I just got back from a trip using the sawyer for all my water. One guy in the group also had a pump filter break on him. It got really hard to pump and then broke something inside. On my next trip I will do two things differently. 1. Add a quick connect to my backflushing syringe so that I can flush the filter more efficiently. It blows my mind that they don't come with some kind of connector for that. I was using fairly clean water and I had to backflush every 2-3 liters. 2. Use a cheesecloth to filter bugs out of all my cooking water and then just treat it with tablets. I only drank 3 liters a day but was having to filter at least 4. I don't like the taste and grit you get with just tablets but if its just for cooking I don't notice it. That extra liter of cooking water takes at least 8 minutes to filter through a sawyer. JMO

 

[Becca]

One trick for the Sawyer in-line filters is to purge air out of the line so the filter doesn't fill up with air. Then hold the filter upright as you raise the bag when you start gravity filtration to be sure all the air is out of the filter. We have had flow rate slow way down when air gets into the filter and creates a sort of vapor lock. You can also use your mouth to suck water right out of the clean end of the filter to get the water moving Initially.

We have used the in line filters pretty much exclusively for the last 4 years, and i am generally fine with the flow rates we get...a week to 10 days or more in mostly clear water and they still flow ok. I backflush the snot out of them with hot water between trips. We never could get good flow rates with the mini filter however.