A while back, we talked about the excellent light-weight, compact Frontier Pro water filter that attaches directly to bottles and hydration tubes. It’s perfect for the solo hiker or backpacker, but continuing along a theme we’ve been spending some time considering gear that serves a couple or small family that’s out in the backcountry, and for many couples or small groups, other alternative water filter and purification methods may be more appropriate. We’ve recently added the Katadyn Hiker Pro pump filter, the Katadyn Pocket Microfilter, the SteriPEN Adventurer, and the FirstNeed XL water purifier to our store to provide a spectrum of options to suit your particular needs.
The Katadyn Hiker Pro is a venerable solution, a simple and effective pump filter that is fairly lightweight and attaches easily to most hydration packs and 1/4” diameter drinking water bottles.
The Katadyn Pocket Microfilter is definitely the Cadillac option among waterfilters, being of rugged construction and with a silver-impregnated ceramic filter element that lasts up 13,000 gallons and a lifetime warranty, will likely be the only water filter you ever have to buy.
The SteriPEN Adventurer is a novel UV water purification device that destroys bacteria and viruses with UV light rather than filtering them out. With this incredibly light weight system (under 4oz), you draw mostly clear water into your cup or bottle (use a prefilter or strain through a bandana, submerge the activated SteriPEN, and the device will make safe for drinking 16 ounces of water in just 48 seconds. The Steripen Adventurer Solar adds rechargeable batteries and a solar charger.
The First Need XL is the only filter to have a .1 micron filter medium, making it small enough to filter out the relatively rare smaller viruses that most .2 micron filters can let through, so if you are very paranoid about your drinking water, the First Need XL will be your best friend in the backcountry.
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