Has anyone used the MSR Trailshot filter yet? I've got one ("Oooohhh, shiny....") and have used it once, on a day hike. The jury is still out; I need more experience before I form an opinion.

It's fairly light: 5 ounces; that's 2 whole ounces heavier than a Sawyer, but you don't need a "dirty water" container to make it work, so the weight difference is truly negligible.

It's a neat concept: dip the intake hose into the water, and squeeze a bulb to fill it with water then force it through the filter and out the spout. The hose will fill the bulb most of the way, but for maximum flow rate, you can use a trick: remove the hose, dip the intake nipple into the water and squeeze once to completely fill the bulb, reattach the hose, then squeeze as normal.

The flow rate is a bit slow, I think (compared to a gravity filter), but it's a simple thing to use. One hand is all that's needed to operate the filter, leaving the other free to hold the water container. (It could be better if the container could attach to the outlet, but then you might need the second hand to stabilize the unit, so possibly no net gain.)

It's good enough that I want to try it some more. Thought I'd see if anyone else had any input yet.