“I plan on only hiking in the US”

Well that about sums up my water experience. I do go into places with pesticide runoff. Most of the lakes I run into at low altitude are brown/green/murky. I’ve tried several filters and only my First Need has turned the water pure clear. Most filters just let the brown color pass through and psychologically it’s hard for me to drink (even though nasties are filtered out).

I also like how the First Need has NO parts to assemble while backpacking except attaching your bottle. I’ve never had a filter clog. I don’t even bring a spare cartridge on my trips. However, if I’m gone for 2 weeks, I’ll start with a fresh cartridge to be safe. First Need has a smaller lighter version but it looks slower and that will hurt because we usually use 1 filter for 2-6 people.

-Barry