Thursday, February 10, 2011

Filtering Water on a Thru Hike

I have met many hikers who do not choose to filter water on their thru hikes.  For me, I don't want to take the chance of some intestinal bacteria that will send my hike to a screeching halt.  On both the PCT and the CDT there were long stretches where we filtered from cattle troughs and seeps, not to mention the streams that had a lot of cattle contamination...yum!

There are many options for filters that are compact and lightweight.  My choice on both the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail was the Katadyn Hiker Pro.  It weighs 11 ounces and you will get about 200 gallons of water (depending on the quality of the water you filter).  It has quick release valves which are pretty handy and the output is about 1 liter per minute.

There are many options out there.  Would love to hear some input.

2 comments:

  1. This is something that I have been researching before I purchase my first water purifier. I am looking at the MSR MiniWorks EX Water Filter and now looking at this one as well. I had seen it before and read review on both. They both seem great but there is always that one review that makes you wonde hhaha. I always go with the better reviews than the bad.

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  2. I've heard great things about MSR too. Oh yes, sifting through the reviews!

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