CAMPING GEAR Recommendations

Ok, next debate, Steri Pens (UV) for water purification vs. chem vs. the various types of filter purification... Which do you recommend for long term, reliable, lightweight use?

[SvilleKid]

Originally Posted by Robulous78

Ok, next debate, Steri Pens (UV) for water purification vs. chem vs. the various types of filter purification... Which do you recommend for long term, reliable, lightweight use?

The filter Jeremy recommended earlier has been in use by him/us for almost 20 years That one and is actually branded "Pur", which was what they were before Pur started making home filters and changed the hiking filters to Katadyn name. I believe his was the "Hiker" model, and it is still sold as that model. You will note that the replacement filters are most of the cost of the unit ($70 for complete unit, $50 for replacement filters). The replacement filters are still the ones his old system uses. It is a very efficient system, and we have had ZERO issues with it over hundreds of uses from locally to the AT to the Boundary Waters. The tip about wrapping a coffee filter around the pick-up bob for muddy waters will greatly extend the filter life. About the shortest life we experienced on this filter was due to a five day canoe trip on the Black Water River in Florida, where sand ended up clogging every filter the scouts had, except Jeremy's. However, Jeremy's didn't last a full trip after that (but a replacement filter was on-hand). Katadyn offers a wide variety of filters and options, have been around for a long time and know what they are doing. And they are not that expensive, plus the replacement filters are generally available at most outdoor stores. We made a habit of having heavy duty ziplock bags (marked with sharpies) for the pick-up line and a separate bag for the outflow line, simply to assure ourselves that there wasn't any cross-contamination from the end that went in the water, and the end that goes in your water bottle (or pot or camelback).

On the Boundary Waters canoe trip, we also carried Iodine tablets, but found that a lot of pills were required to treat the amounts of water used. I consider them a "must have" as a back-up, since the little bottle takes up very little room. There are also pills that are said to neutralize the iodine taste, but these only preformed marginally, IMO.