OKO Water Bottles - Trusted?

[WolfCBP]

Has anyone used one of these for their hiking? They claim the filter blocks a lot of things. Just curious on opinions. It seems like a decent "all in one" option if the claims are real.

http://www.okoh2o.com/

[The Old Boot]

The level 2 filter is shown as '2 micron' which IIRC is double the micron size available in Sawyer filters. I hunted but couldn't find longevity claims for the level 2 filters, maybe someone else can find that.

The 650 ml and 1 L sizes in the level 2 products were priced comparably with the Sawyer filter set ups.

Level 3 products which are the good ones aren't available at the retail level.

You'd have to carry dirty water on most hikes to keep refilling the bottles from because 1 l isn't going to get you very far.

Ummm, I think I'll stick to my Sawyer, TYVM.

[WolfCBP]

The level 2 filter is shown as '2 micron' which IIRC is double the micron size available in Sawyer filters. I hunted but couldn't find longevity claims for the level 2 filters, maybe someone else can find that.

The 650 ml and 1 L sizes in the level 2 products were priced comparably with the Sawyer filter set ups.

Level 3 products which are the good ones aren't available at the retail level.

You'd have to carry dirty water on most hikes to keep refilling the bottles from because 1 l isn't going to get you very far.

Ummm, I think I'll stick to my Sawyer, TYVM.

I too have a Sawyer, I am just considering it as opposed to Nalgene in case anything happened to my Sawyer. (Freeze etc.)

[Tuckahoe]

If I were considering a backup to Sawyer, I think I would look into a chemical option. It seems that carrying backup filters to a filter is counterproductive.

[Offshore]

The level 2 filter is shown as '2 micron' which IIRC is double the micron size available in Sawyer filters.

The Sawyer Mini is rated at 0.1 micron absolute so the OKO Level 1 is 10X the Sawyer and the OKO Level 2 is 20X, so I'll stick with my Sawyer mini.

The other red light on the OKO site is that, with the exception of a couple of paragraphs on filter pore size, there is no meaningful discussion of removal efficiency, types of contaminants treated, etc. Its much more marketing than any useful technical information that could be used to evaluate the filters. I especially liked the chart of the recommended OKO filter (described solely as L1 and L2 - whatever that really means) and extremely broad classifications of the world's water sources using what they deem as reliable resources but giving no clue as to the evaluation criteria and methodology.

OKO strikes me a more of a PUR or Brita type of filter, not something I'd use in the backcountry.

[WolfCBP]

That settles it then......Sticking with my Sawyer. Thanks folks!