Registered: 02/05/03
Posts: 3293
Loc: Portland, OR
I visited the ULA website yesterday and did not see the Amigo Pro gravity water filter listed among their products anywhere. It would appear that the new owner has discontinued it. It may be because it was so cheap that ULA didn't make much profit on it.
Now I am especially glad I bought one last August!
Registered: 02/03/06
Posts: 6800
Loc: Gateway to Columbia Gorge
The deal with the ULA Amigo Pro is that the person who designed it had a "handshake" agreement with Brian to make it. The designer did not want to continue the agreement with the new owners of ULA. This per an email I received from Casey of ULA in November.
I hope that means that the designer will start making these filters on his own, but I'm not holding my breath.
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May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view--E. Abbey
The thread evolved into a complete made over for the ULA H2O Amigo Water Filter.
I didn't like the filter that came with it and changed it to a much lightened Katadyn Hiker-Pro filter.
At the same time I moved the filter from hanging under the water bag to inside the water bag.
I then made a new water bag out of Cuben Fiber and the total weight was now under 2 ounces.
Jerry Goller from Backpacking Gear Test.com read about what I was doing and sent me an email saying he wanted to show my version to Brian.
I never really knew that Brian brought out a new filter that he now called the ULA Amigo Pro till much later. I never received any notice from Brian about his use of my ideas for his new water filter. Take a look at my filter and then look at the Amigo Pro.
When I read about the new owners and this story about where the idea came from I sent them an email with about the same message you are reading here and the link to my filter. Check the dates. I don't know who the mystery person is, but I still have all the emails between me and Jerry Goller.
I told them to put it back into production that after all it was just a water filter, a bag, some fittings and a piece of hose. The ULA Amigo Pro is a "clone / copy" of my water filter, not some mystery persons.
Registered: 02/03/06
Posts: 6800
Loc: Gateway to Columbia Gorge
I bought my Amigo Pro filter in 2007. While Brian Frankle switched to the Katadyn Hiker Pro filter that year, he kept the silnylon water bag with the configuration he'd had the year before (2006) (which did have the water filter inside the bag). IMHO, the one weakness was that it's extremely difficult to hold the water bag open while dipping water into it from shallow places where you can't dip the bag. I'd rather have a tailored water bag that could be held open under those circumstances.
My Amigo Pro water bag started leaking severely last summer. I haven't been able to find a hole, but it loses its contents in about an hour and it is difficult to keep the drips from contaminating the output. I was going to get a new one, but the ULA new management stopped carrying it. I'm therefore going to make my own bucket and use the existing Amigo Pro hardware (with a new Hiker Pro filter). I hadn't thought of cuben, but it sounds like a much better idea than silnylon!
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May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view--E. Abbey
Hi Mouse this isn't a reply directed at you just a reply in general. I got rid of my gravity filter in - oh 1988 I think, because it was too slow. If I need water I don't have time to wait on a system that cannot be pressurized. To me the hanging filter concept is more for around a cabin. I have no idea how the new ones work, but since you only get 1/2 PSI per foot of water, you'd need a filter element about 20 feet below the reservoir to filter efficiently enough to make up for clogging by particulate matter and back flushing would be hard. Ceramic filters can break if they freeze, like being left out over night in the Sierras to give you morning water. I really prefer a pump type and I like my PUR hiker, as I can get a quart of water in a minute and continue hiking. Jim YMMV
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These are my own opinions based on wisdom earned through many wrong decisions. Your mileage may vary.
Registered: 02/03/06
Posts: 6800
Loc: Gateway to Columbia Gorge
The ULA Amigo Pro filters about 1 liter per minute, which is pretty fast. Before I got it, I kept putting my lower back out bending over the water source using a pump filter. Very painful! Pump filters are also several ounces heavier. The back problems were why I switched. It's really nice to be able to do something else (putting up the tent or admiring the scenery or even taking a cat nap) while your water filters!
I tried the Aquamira Frontier Pro (why are they all called "Pro"?) as a gravity filter last summer. This was per the video from Jason Klass, which recommends using Aquamira or Katadyn tablets to kill "the little stuff" (bacteria and viruses) and using the filter to get "the big stuff," by which I assume he means protozoa. The filter itself takes about 12-15 minutes to filter a liter. Add 15-20 minutes for the tablets to work in addition to 15 minutes for a liter of water--that was far to long to wait for a decent drink! The Aquamira website cagily doesn't mention the size of the filter, but another source gives it as 3.0 microns. Per the CDC, a 1.0 micron filter is needed for giardia and crypto cysts, so it's questionable that the Aquamira Frontier Pro will even filter out those.
Edited by OregonMouse (01/06/1012:47 AM)
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May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view--E. Abbey
Hi everybody i purchased an aquagard in line filter last year and am very plaesed with it.It filters out allbacteria,viruses, protozoa and retro fits to any bladder based system.Also comes with a tap adaptor to use if your not sure of a countrys' water purity or just want to get rid of the taste of chlorineit only weighs 100 grammes plus alittle more for the attachments.It filters 1600 litres and has an automatic cut off when this is reached.I got mine from backpacking light.co.uk I used mine in puddles in india and got clear tasty water.
Registered: 07/17/08
Posts: 11
Loc: Kittanning, Pa
I like my Hiker Pro since I can get to water in small streams etc It would be more difficult or time consuming to have to dip a small container to fill the gravity fed container. I am going lightweight not ultra or minimalist so a few ounces for convenience is no problem for me.
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