After depleting my water this weekend during my first overnight hike I decided to rethink my hydration kit.
I am used to having a 2L camelbak bladder, purification drops, and a 1L wide mouth bottle for scooping water mixing the drops with water and transferring to my camelbak. But removing the bladder to fill it and reinserting it into my pack (osprey Atmos) requires unpacking a lot of gear. I currently have no particle filtration other than a bandanna. And I want to add a lightweight filter so I can gravity feed right into the camelbak.
I really like the ideas for building cheap and light kits found here. But I am having trouble picking a filter.
Attachment 16654Photo by Chris Chastain
The above photo looks ideal but he used a Frontier Pro™ Portable Water Filter System, the 50 gallon rating is too low for the price, and the porous plastic filtration does nothing for viruses.
So I looked at the Aquaguard Micro 3 in 1 plus. It seems like a better in-line filter but I can't find it for sale in the U.S.
I know its popular to use the katadyn cartridge but I prefer the inline filter for a number of reasons such as takes less water to start filtering, and can be used as a straw in a survival situation.
Can anyone recommend a good filter for this project that you would trust out in the woods?