Greetings folks,

It seems that every time I do a search for anything survival related on the internet I end up being directed to this site or a place called "survival topics". I figured since I end up here so much anyway I may as well try it out as a member and pose a few questions of my own. Besides, that other place didn't have the same vibe. People who post here appear to be a little more down to earth.

Here goes...

I normally use 2.5 percent iodine and/or good old fashioned boiling to make safe drinking water on the trail. I recently received a MSR mini-works water filter and a whole bunch of cartridges as a gift from a friend. While I hate to fix what isn't broken I really want to give this new filter a fair shake.

I normally don't like things that are complicated and which have a lot of moving parts, but it appears to be a solid bit of gear and appears to be highly rated.

Does any one have any good or bad experiences with this brand of water filter they could share ? Since it says it filters everything except viruses I am a little bit skeptical I suppose. I have caught a waterborne illness twice in my life to date (both times while overseas) and it is something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. I have a bit of distrust for mechanical filters as a result but I do admit the ones I used before were of much lesser quality that the MSR. I will be doing a solo trip soon and while waterborne viruses are not common in northern Canada I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask all the same. I am feeling the need to boil or treat the water after being filtered, which obviously defeats the whole purpose of having the filter along.

Thoughts or experiences?

Thanks in advance.

How will you be traveling? Unless you are backpacking, I wouldn't think twice - just bring it. I am a firm fan of boiling as a method of treatment; probably my second choice is filtering, but I have no experience with the model you have. I am less inclined to use iodine, but it has worked for me in the past.

I will be on foot. The filter is rather large but not unreasonably so. I don't consider myself an "ultralight" backpacker by any stretch but this does have considerable bulk. More designed for a basecamp perhaps. Still, It was a gift and I guess good or bad I will see how it performs. Besides, I hate having fancy stuff unused.

I only use iodine if I wants to spare stove fuel and lighting open fires is unwise or prohibited. Beside being a good backup water cleaner in liu of boiling it works wonders in its intended use for small cuts and scrapes.

I have used the MSR miniworks EX with no problems at all. It does have lots of moving parts, just keep the rubbers in good shape and it should work fine.

One thing to take care is, to keep the clean and dirty parts apart.

Isn't that the same filter used by the Marine Expeditionary Forces?

I have one of the older MSR Mini Waterworks filters and have had great service from it. The one problem with mine is that the filter was changed on the EX model and my filter cannot have the cartridges replaced since they are no longer produced.

My filter still works fine though and I just followed the directions and keep it cleaned after trips.

I too once got a waterborne infection and it was miserable, since then I have carried a filter. I prefer to boil the water and that is fine in camp. On the trail when I need to refill my water containers the filter is my first choice, quick and easy.
The filter I carry now is a Katadyn Hiker Pro and I have it setup so I can directly connect it to a Camelbak bladder by the drink tube or fill bottles without screwing them on. The main reason I changed to the Hiker Pro was availability of filter cartridges and ease of rigging it to work well with the Camelbak.
It is also a little lighter and smaller than the MSR.

I still boil water if there is a virus risk and when cooking in camp I boil water for tea without any filtering. Unless the water is cloudy, then I filter first.

I hope this helps. Have a good trip!

Thanks for the info widget, very helpful indeed.

I was actually playing around with it today (the water filter I mean) and I must admit it put out water fairly fast, at least from a clean water source anyway. I guess you can even thread it directly to the top of some containers which could be a plus in the right situation.

Have you had much problem with clogging? any requirement to wrap cloth around the little float thing or is it good as is ?

Where I am heading the water is mostly of the pond type. Very heavy in debris this time of year. I suppose I could do what I always do by scooping it into a container and letting it settle before taking the clear(ish) water from the top of the container but that takes a few hours sometimes.

Welcome Stephen!

I've had a lot of success by using a simple coffee filter and rubber band around the float inlet. It seems to cut down on the clean up of the cartridge.

I also use a Steripen after filtering the water to help kill any virus that may have slipped through. I don't know if it's overkill or not, but I haven't gotten sick from any of the suspect water that I've poured down my gullet.

If you haven't purchased one yet, you might want to purchase a maintenance kit for the Miniworks. It's pulled my bacon out of the fire more than once when an O-ring goes bad out on the hike.

Hope to see you on the trail.

Personally, even though the risk is admittedly low, I'm not comfortable with a water treatment solution that won't deal with viruses. My current choice is a pre-filter with a SteriPen (boiling & MP1 tablets are my back-ups).

Even if using a full blown filter, I'd feel safer with an added step that could neutralize any viruses that may be present.

That said, there certainly are lots of people that rely solely on a filter with seemingly good results; I could just be too cautious in my thinking on this.

Thanks boom,

I have been looking around for these repair kits as they do seem like a good investment. Hard to find little suckers though. Either sold out or the store wants an arm and a leg for them. I may solve the o-ring problem by hitting up the nearest Canadian tire and raiding the garden hose isle. See if any sizes match.

Awesome avatar pic BTW.