My buddy has broken his Hiker filter twice in the same place on two diff units. We won't have time for a gravity filter to work. Any suggestions? We'll be hiking in the Shawnee State Forest in Ohio, the southern part of the backpacking trail. Bad thing is we leave Saturday morning bright and early. Suggestions and thoughts are welcome.

John

Sawyer squeeze.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005EHPVQW/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1372895032&sr=8-1&pi=SL75

I'll second the Sawyer Squeeze - stop by the REI (I-71 south to Edwards Road exit) in Cincinnati on your way to Shawnee. Better yet, stop at Benchmark Outfitters, north of REI (I-71, Ronald Reagan Highway exit); they also carry it - then go about 3 stores down in the same strip mall to the educational supply store, and pick up a "Tornado Tube" (in the science section, usually) - screw it onto the outlet of the Squeeze, and you can screw the "clean" bottle onto it, for more convenience. Also make sure that you have something to dip water and pour it into the dirty bottle - you won't be able to fill the dirty bottle in the shallow creeks.

Gravity filters aren't that slow, FYI, as I've used them and finished before the dude with the MSR Sweetwater finished putting away all his fitments.

The Squeeze works, but you'll want to not torture it too hard, as the bags have a rep of leaking with little provocation.

If your buddy is breaking the Hiker, he needs to maybe change up a little how he's using it... None of the filters is going to be break-proof. All of the pumps are subject to shearing off the handle, cracking the quick connect ends, etc. I've had to help out folks with MSR, Katadyn, and other filters because something broke... Gravity filters will be the most resistant to breakage as there are no moving parts.

I've migrated to gravity filtering, but if that's out try UV. Just carry extra batteries and you're good to go.

Cheers,

Lori

You've said before, but which system are you using? I recall you liked Sawyer...

Reason I ask is that I'll probably be replacing the cartridge on my Hiker Pro before long, and that's as good of an excuse as any to switch systems, or at least to think really hard about it.

Sincerely

Steadman

Wanted to add editorially that in a pretty vast stretch of using the Hiker filter, going back to the PUR era with "T" handle, I've never had a failure of any kind. It has the highest flow rate of any pump filter I've ever used and is field-servicable. But I discovered that not having to pump at all is darn liberating.

Cheers,

My Katadyn Pocket is tough as nails so far, but it feels like it weighs about as much as a Subaru....

I have gone to a SteriPEN Adventurer Opti for most of my water needs.

Also, knowing how to build a filed expedient water filter saved my butt once.

Lori's right, as usual: gravity filters don't take that long. In fact, the Sawyer also works as a gravity filter, if you don't want to squeeze. Quite often, I'll squeeze to get the flow started, then just walk back toward my pack holding the top of the dirty bag; gravity keeps the flow going the whole way. Squeezing may improve the flow rate a small amount, but there's no need to squeeze the bejeesus out of it - your flow rate will ultimately be limited by the diameter of the outflow opening. (That's why squeezing too hard will burst the "dirty water" bag - too much backpressure.)

I've ordered some Evernew bottles, though I haven't had any problems (yet) with the "new" style Sawyer bottles. The Evernews have been highly recommended, so I thought I'd give them a try; I also like the fact that the top is tethered to the bottle. (Platypus bottles used to be compatible with the Squeeze, but they changed the bottle threads just enough this year that you don't get a good seal with the filter, and end up leaking dirty water, which runs down the filter into your clean bag. Don't ask how I know.)

I prefer the Sawyer to the Platypus Gravityworks only because of the pore size: .1 micron for Sawyer, .2 microns for Gravityworks. There is no recognizable difference in flow rate, and only an ounce or two in system weight. Convenience is pretty much a wash.

I just saw the Sawyer Squeeze at Walmart for $30.