Whats a good water filter for a BOB?

ivan51

ivan51

Joined
Dec 9, 2003
Messages
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i want to add a good filter to the bob and was thinking of getting a Katadyn Vario. these any good?
 
I don't intend to be harvesting a ton of water and your BOB should have enough water in it to being with to get you by for a while.

That said, I keep an Aqua Mira filter and an empty platypus bag in my kit. The filter screws right on to the bag and I can drink right from it. Empty, they take up very little space and weigh next to nothing.
 
i have the vario and love it - little big for backpacking but would be perfect for a BOB. Many people complain it leaks but as long as you dont pump as fast as possible it wont. A steady flow is all you need, you're not trying to hose a garden. I find it is very comfortable to use and easy to clean. It can also adapt to many types of hydration equipment - bladders, nalgene (msr dromedary) and platypus's all work.

But it all depends on where you are using it - if you are near civilisation you should also look into virus purification. MSR miox or steripen.
 
I have a MSR miniworks, not sure about the size difference, but it does what I want and it is field maintainable. been good to me so far
 
gadgetgeek said:
I have a MSR miniworks, not sure about the size difference, but it does what I want and it is field maintainable. been good to me so far
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between the Vario and miniworks which is better? or are they about the same?
 
The MSR has a ceramic filter, which is easier to clean, and I think more reliable and simpler, but it is more fragile than the fiber filter in the vario, and a bit slower according to the info on the websites. other than that, they both have a charcoal element, prefilter. basically the miniworks is designed to last a very long time in the field. if you don't mind the hollow fiber filers, look into the MSR hyperflow, faster, and lighter than either, just no charcoal. If I was buying again, I might go for the hyperflow as it fits better with what I use it for, but for survival/BOB I use micro pur tabs, and my next filter will be a hang bag type. I aslo like that I can visually verify if the filter element has good integrity, I'm not sure if the fiber ones are the same way.
 
The vario has both a ceramic and fiber filter - you can choose long life mode which uses both ceramic and fiber filter with the charcoal, or fast flow which uses just the fiber filter and charcoal.
 
the vario has a ceramic pre-filter, slightly diffrent than the MSR ceramic main filter, but I see what you mean. also the charcoal on the minworks is designed to last the life of the cartrige where the vario has a separate charcoal element that must be replaced more often. of course this all depends on water quality and the such like
 
I would suggest a nalgene bottle and steripen pre-filter for sediment and katadyn tablets. lighter ,cheaper and fool proof...and the tablets kill most of the critters/germs in the water unlike most water pumps
 
gadgetgeek said:
I have a MSR miniworks, not sure about the size difference, but it does what I want and it is field maintainable. been good to me so far
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+1 on the MSR miniworks - it's virtually bombproof and field-maintainable with no tools. I've had one failure in the many years of use - camping in sand dunes, the sand grains managed to compromise the seals. took it completely apart in a few minutes, rinsed with water, and back in business in no time. of course i was much more careful about getting sand into the filter after that.

i like the ceramic filter - yes, if you take the filter out and drop it on a rock, it may break. but reasonable care must be taken with any piece of equipment.

be sure to dry the filter out after use if you intend to store it for an extended period. i forgot to once and mold grew on it. not a big deal - just cleaned it off and boiled it to sterilize and i was back in business.

when scrubbing the filter to get a new surface (and get your flowrate back up) go very lightly. not very much of the filter needs to be removed - and the less you remove, the longer your filter will last.

it's not the fastest filter in the world - but sitting by a stream, lake or pond and spending the time to filter a few liters of water is real nice and peaceful.

i have to admit it's one of my most treasured pieces of gear - being able to make copious amounts of drinking water out in the field without having to boil water or use chemicals is something i really appreciate. it always goes into the middle of my pack - not that it needs the extra protection, but that's how highly i value it.
 
texastonydobbs said:
I would suggest a nalgene bottle and steripen pre-filter for sediment and katadyn tablets. lighter ,cheaper and fool proof...and the tablets kill most of the critters/germs in the water unlike most water pumps
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By "Katadyn tablets" do you mean Micropur?
 
Micropur

Here's a fair statement, consistent with the Army specification of a minimum of four hours treatment and more if the water is 10C or below:
The EPA (Enviromental Protective Agency) required Katadyn to submit to some very tough tests at University of Arizona Dept. of Microbiology before they would issue a registration number for Micropur in 2002. Every word on the package was negotiated with and eventually approved by the EPA. The news for those that don't like to wait 4 hours is: Micropur uses the most effective chemical registered by the EPA---Chlorine Dioxide at 4 PPM(parts per million) for killing all disease causing micro-organisms in water. In the EPA's cold dirty water test it took Micropur 4 hours to kill Cryptosporium Protozoa Cysts (eggs). Cryptosporidium causes a two week bout of diarhea and other ugly symptoms, and is just as common as Giardia in water worldwide. A 1992 CDC (Center for Disease Control) study found Cryptosporidium, or Giardia, or both, in 97% of the streams sampled in the U.S. If you are just worried about Protozoa and bacteria in your backcountry water: use any of the fine micro-filters from Katadyn or MSR to filter those out-----and have cold fresh, non-chemical water immediately. I use Micropur as a back-up in case I lose,break or clog my microfilter. However, in trips to Nepal & S. America my group first pumped the water through a Katadyn Microfilter to remove the hard to kill with chemicals Protozoa (and bacteria as well): then added a single tablet of Micropur to each Liter of Water. Virus that may cause incurable and deadly types of hepatitis are common in polluted water in those continents. Virus are much more susceptible to chemicals, and the EPA testing shows that even in cold dirty water all the virus are killed within 15 minutes: 1 tablet of Micropur per 1 Liter of water. If in doubt: microfilter first, then add Micropur: wait 15 minutes and drink clear, safe, good-tasting water.
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Here's the link to the mil spec. :
http://chppm-www.apgea.army.mil/WPD/WPDShare/142/AddInfo_KatadynMicroPurMP1.pdf
 
Good filters will take care of most of what you need to worry about in the US. I have a Sweet Water from before they were bought out by MSR, and it has been going strong for several years. The new version from MSR is just as good.

Chemicals alone will, of course, not take care of sediment, but also will not take care of harmful minerals that are a concern in areas near agricultural or manufacturing bases. Add Micropur or a Steripen to a microfilter and you can take care of basically everything that might be an issue. The Army test that has been quoted several times in this forum ranked the Sweet Water Purification system (filter + chlorine dioxide) to be the most effective treatment technique, IIRC.

The Hyperflow is nice, but it does not take care of chemicals or toxins due to its hollow tube design. Not a concern for most, but I like my water to be as clean and odor free as possible. :) That said, we have sold a bunch at work, and people seem to like them pretty well. They definitely are as small and light as you can get for a filter, and the amount of water they put out (3L/minute vs 1L for most other filters) is incredible.

Another interesting option is the MSR Miox. It is big in the military, and does something with salt and will kill the creepy crawlies, but will not do anything about chemicals or particulates since it does no filtering. Coupling this with a filter also wouldn't be a bad idea, or just taking it by itself if you are not concerned about the grit and grime.
 
I think that the Hyper flow would be the best at high mountain rivers that have minimal chemical contamination, but might be bacteraly questionable, or the glacial streams that also contain large amounts of very fine sediments that take forever to settle out. and one can also manufacture a field charcoal filter easily. for a BOB, perhaps Micropur and a filter cloth of some sort, if you are only going to need a small amount of water to get home... maybe a britta type filter for the chemicals? but then my get out of town plan involves packing my MSR, as I have more of a line of bearing than a destination, and will probably need to supply water for a few people.
 
Aqua Mira Frontier Filter. It's a straw w/ a built-in filter and is good for about 20 gal. Roughly $10.


PeACE
Dougo
 
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