I think I have just about everything I need in my BOB. Sort of...

I don't have a water filter. I always figured I would just boil my water. And I still do intend to boil my water, whenever possible. But I was thinking about some situations in which I might not be able to wait for water to boil, and then wait for it to cool down. So I decided I'm going to get a water filter, just in case.

Katadyn Pocket Microfilter = $200
Katadyn Hiker Microfilter = $60

Is the extra $140 necessary?

If your looking for a water filter, the Katadyn Pocket Microfilter is a very good filter with a .2 micron rating which will filter out 1 micron more bugs out of the water than the hiker, but I would get a filter that also has a carbon filter as well like the Katadyn Combi. The carbon helps take out chemicals that are in today's waters like pesticides, petroleum products etc.. The Katadyn Combi gives you the the capability of the Pocket but with carbon granules for chemicals and pesticides and it's cheaper. You will still need to boil the water for virus bellow the .2 micron level or use a steripen, miox or other types of purifiers. There are purifier filters out there but I think the Katadyn filters will last longer in the field. If you just want something for short camping trips then the water bottle purifiers would work and you wouldn't have to boil the water but they have a very short filter life. I have a Katadyn Combi and a steripen and the combo works great for what I do--> Chemicals and viruses.


Katadyn Pocket Microfilter = $200
.2 micron filter 13000 gallons used by swiss army and built solid and highly recommended between the two

Katadyn Hiker Microfilter = $60
.3 micron filter 200 gallons
Reviews for the Hiker (complaints about handles and pumps breaking in the field
http://www.trailspace.com/gear/katadyn/hiker/

Katadyn Combi =$139.95
.2 micron filter 13000 gallons plus replaceable carbon granules for pesticides,chemicals, etc..

I have a Katadyn Hiker and am very happy with it. I think the Pocket filter is ceramic. The advantages of ceramic is it’s good for something like 13,000 gal of water, the hiker is good for only a few hundred. The ceramic can be cleaned, the Hikers filter has to be thrown away and a new filter element cost $30.00 to $40.00. But a ceramic filter will not tolerate freezing temperatures, it will crack.

Another reason to filter water is to make it taste better, you can kill organisms by boiling, but it does nothing for the taste.

That's a critical piece of information. I don't get to choose what time of year disaster strikes. If I have to bug out in winter and my water filter cracks, it's a worthless piece of junk.

I have an old Pur (pre-Katadyn) Hiker that I like just fine, but before it I used a First Need purifier. It was a little hard to pump, but not all that bad, cost less than most other filters, and it PURIRIES. They can be had in lots of places for under $70 or so...

I use the Katydyn Combi and a SteriPen, with a bandana prefilter if the water is full of debris. So far, so good.

One of the concerns I always have is keeping the raw water part of the system, which is contact with what may be problem water, away from the clean water part of the system. If the raw water has giardia or whatever, then I do not want to have it come in contact with the rest of the filter setup.

So far I am relying on a separate freezer bag storage for the intake / raw water side, and then I immediately clean my hands with waterless sanitizer. I also use the sanitizer after attaching the intake / raw water intake tube to the rest of the system and before pumping. I do not touch the intake tube once it is attached until I am ready to remove it from the pump / filter.

Is this good enough? Are there some other best practices?

Thanks.

I just used to use a ziploc bag and a rubber band, never had a problem, so you should be in pretty good shape...

Fiberglass filters will also crack when the filter is still wet in freezing temperatures. Fiberglass will stand up better to temperature changes. I prefer the cleanability of ceramic over the fiberglass resistance to temperature. Ceramic filters has proven to be reliable enough for me.

Personally i think you can't really compair the hiker with the pocket. The pocket is a big chunck of allunium and heavy duty parts. It looks and feels heavy duty, which also means the filter is self is heavy. The hiker is much more plastic-ish and it just hasn't the quality feel of the hiker. Thats why the pocket is marketed to people on long expeditions and rescue workers. The hiker is more of a filter for hikers and such, thats why it isn;t as heavy duty.

Somebody already mentioned the katadyn combi, which is also a good heavy duty filter, with alluminium (or was it steel?) lining inside the pump. The carbon capability is a plus, but you can also upgrade a pocket with a carbon after filter (uses the same granulates as the combi).

if you are preparing for a short emergency, than the hiker is fine. Although there are plenty of other brands and models. If you plan on long emergency's for the combi or pocket for a portable filter.

So basically what you're saying is, in winter, all water filters are useless?

Nope, just don't let them freeze. Let it snuggle in with you under your jacket. Pull the hoses off, blow them out, stow them in your pack- they'll be fine. But if the residual water in the filter itself turns into ice, it will block the flow, and you'll need to thaw it out. The fiberglass filters are nicer in that regard, for the cracking issue already mentioned. I put mine in a zip lock, roll it up, stick it in my jacket pocket- I know people who go to the trouble of pulling the filter out and putting just that in their pocket, but it is an annoyance I don't want fiddle about with and I'm just not sure how reliable they are if they get bent about.

Right now, I'm using a Hiker when I have all my gear, but I'm looking to upgrade to the Combi because it has the charcoal layer. My other filter, the one that lives in the bag that I WILL have with me when stuff hits the fan is a McNett Frontier, I'll probably switch up to the Frontier Pro before too long. 2, not 0.2, micron filter, but that will catch most of what iodine or chlorine might not. *shrugs* If I had room in my MAV for the Hiker or Combi, I'd run with better, but my Katydin is at my folks in storage.