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Water Filters - Portable Hand Pump
Having backpacked for most of my life I have owned several hand pump water filters. Hand pump filters are generally small enough to reasonably pack into the backcountry, and work by placing an intake hose into an untreated water source (creek, lake) and the output hose connected to your water container. The hand pumping action draws the water through the body of the pump and through the filter itself, producing safe drinking water.
In this thread I will describe the filters that I have owned, including their pro's and con's from my personal experiences.
1) Katadyn Hiker ---- Filter medium: Carbon ---- Cost: $65
This was the first backpacking filter that I ever purchased. I had used one before, but it belonged to a backpacking buddy and I have no idea what the brand or model was. What drew me to this Katadyn Hiker was the fact that it was compact and lightweight, and made by a reputable manufacturer. I used it in the backcountry of Northern Arizona in a running stream. The first water I made tasted incredibly good, and I was initially impressed. Very early in the trip the intake hose bumped against a moss covered rock, and a thick cloud of moss and gunk immediately filled the small calm pool I was filtering from. This gunk was immediately sucked into the filter, and the performance took a nose dive. Carbon filters are not designed to be field serviceable: once they're clogged, they're clogged. I spent the rest of my trip very laboriously forcing water through a nearly brand new and nearly useless filter. If you are positive that your water source is going to be fairly clean, this fillter produces great tasting water. I personally wouldnt buy this particular filter again.
Last edited by thermocouple; 02-29-2008 at 08:36 AM.
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