New Water Treatment Stuff

[naturejunkie]

I was checking out the new Backpacker Gear Guide and was curious whether anyone here had tried out some of the new fangled water treatment devices, like the dirty/clean hanging bag or the filter that fits on the top of your bottle were you drink directly from, etc? If so, what do ya think? Thanks.

[rafe]

I have a little experience with a Katadyn Micro -- the small version of the ExStream. These are squeeze bottles with a filter element inside. I don't it for distance hiking, because of the weight.

One of the problems with Aqua Mira (and other chemical treatments) is time. That is, they take time to do their stuff. So when you arrive at a water source, you can't "camel up." My bright idea was to use Aqua Mira for most of my water, and the Micro bottle/filter for camel-up.

Trouble is, the Exstream and Micro are a kinda heavy for what they do. As filters, they're very slow. The dry weights quoted in the specs are misleading. The filter element itself captures a good deal of water and that water is dead weight.

[88BlueGT]

MSR is comming out with a new filter system. FYI. I don't understand though where the pump handle is supposed to be on it?

[YeOldeBackpacker]

The one that Platypus has come out with is real easy to use. just fill the one bag hang it up. and gravity does the rest. it works along the same principle of the Katadyn Base Camp just a little faster