PUR Hiker Filter---thoughts??

“That siltstopper looks pretty dang cool.

It would have saved me a lot of cash from my trips to Ocala.”

“After losing a $50 Pur cartridge because of sucking up too much silt from a spring, I gave it a try. The old Pur Explorer has different size inlet and outlet hoses, so I had to get creative with a plastic step-down connector to get the siltstopper in-line. No problem with the new Hiker, just one snip and put the siltstopper in-line. I decided to keep the siltstopper closer to the inlet acorn, then up closer to the filter body, but it probably doesn't really matter where you attach it. I wonder why Katadyn never came up with the siltstopper idea, because the acorn is really a lousy prefilter (except for big stuff like leaves).”

“I have used the PUR hiker for over a yr with no problems. The only place I had a problem was in Florida. I even put 2 coffee filters over the end and that water still clogged up the filter.”

“Yeah, that's the same thing (and place) that happened to us. Maybe it wasn't something we did wrong after all. It was a brand new element, though and I'm bitter about that. I'm still glad we got a First Need. Now if it happens again, we have options.”

“The nex "acorn" is better than the old one. My old one broke and the company replaced it with a new one for free.”

“I dig my Hiker and have never had any problems with it.

I suggest twist-tieing a coffee filter around the acorn intake, as it will make your inner filter last much longer.”

“Nope, not your fault at all. Filter elements only last me a year here.

Ocala is rough on filters because of all the sand and organic matter in the water.

I thought I warned everyone but I guess not.

Sorry about that.”

“Yeah, you warned us. Yeah, we took precautions. Who knew it would kill a brand new filter cartridge on it's first use? Live and learn...”

“First time out? Yikes! You couldn't have pumped more than twice, right?

Now that has never happened to me before.”

“Yeah, that's about right. Before February it had never happened to us before either, lol.”

“I have the same problem out here in the desert with sand suspended in the rivers. For desert travel I use MSR, for everything else I use PUR.”

“The trick is to let the water settle out as much as possible. Use a tent bag or large pot or just a plastic sheet in a hole let the water sit for an hour or so and this will let most of the heavier particles settle out. And yes I know this is only practical in camp or a very long break. Always take water from a still source when possible because running water is full of sediment. But then you can always boil it.”

“leave home without it again...I went out on an excursion with someone else's Sweetwater and it failed...and we were lucky we didn't die from what we had to drink.

Look for the trip report from DEATH valley in a day or 2. Full details will be disclosed.

PS...if anyone wants a sweetwater...its in a slot canyon in Death Valley somewhere between Cottonwood and Marble Canyons, go get it!!!”

“Stikmon is a litterbug. ;)”

“Don't carry iodine as a backup, stikmon?”

“Skullcap What is First Need?

twofootdrive- On the Ocala trip we let the water sit ALL NIGHT and still had trouble in the A.M. How's that for thick water!?”

“yes, we had iodine and chlorine. thank god”

“I just bought a First Need purifier for my travels in South America. It was on sale at REI for $60. Hope it works! I like that you can totally field service it, backwash it, and set up a gravity filtering process for it.”

“That's a great price, I paid $87. Just bought my replacement cartridge, but won't need if for awhile. Used in on our Thunder River trip, worked great, but the water is clear down there, and you don't need to filter at Thunder River, its 200 feet out of 2000 feet of sandstone.”

“Just ordered a Hiker filter from Binks. Hope he mails it before the IRS goons take him away.

Ewker was nice enough to let me use his Hiker on the Gizzard trip and I really liked it.

I have a First Need filter but don't use it because it's to heavy, slow, and hard to pump.”

“After the performance of my Safewater Anywhere filter at Fiery Gizzard, I'm going back to my Pur Hiker. It may be heavier, but it's faster.”

“I haven't followed this thread, so don't know if this has already been mentioned, but watch out for filtering glacial water as well - there is a lot of sill suspended in the water and it will kill a filter quickly. On our CDT hike we went through six filters in six months. Filtering the cow ponds in the Great Basin we clogged a new filter in 3 days, but that was really nasty water. One thing that always bothered me with the Hiker - when we filtered green water, the water coming out was still green. Same with brown water and yellow water. With the First Need filter, which I used to use green water in would be clear in the outtake. In fact, that was a way we would test the filter, using blue food coloring. If it came out blue, then the filter was broken. Trouble with the first need is it clogs even faster than a Pur Hiker, and at its best is slower and harder to pump than the Hiker.”

“My pur hiker has worked great so far! I haven't used it but 4 times so I know that's not a lot. Yes, ginny,first time I used it, I didn't know that the brown water from the lake would stay brown! Although all the sand and other stuff was out of it.

Bitpusher, I never thought to carry the idodine for back up. Great idea and I'll start doing that for sure.
Thanks!”

“Yah, it's not a lot of weight, I just carry a bottle of the iodine tabs, and another bottle of tabs to cut down on the taste. I think you have to rotate them though, because the iodine tabs aren't good forever. I should check mine, they're a couple of years old at least.”

“The Sipsey River killed my Pur Hiker filter in January. I forgot to take a coffee filter and mine clogged the first day, my bosses clogged the second day and President of the division saw his bite the dust the third day.

I will never leave home without the coffee filters again.”

“Lots of silt in the Sipsey. Earlier on this thread somebody mentioned using another company's "silt stopper" with the Hiker, said it works great. I think I'm gonna try that.”

“Tango, that's the First Need Deluxe water purifier.”

“I liked my Hiker but it clogged RIGHT away! Went to get a new filter and they are no longer on the market, although I can get a Guide filter thereby rendering it a filter rather than a purifier.

I've since purchased a First Need and love it. Everything Ginny said but mine has never clogged. The Hiker is easier to pump but the water comes out discolored and the taste isn't very good. I'd much rather have a "little" more difficulty pumping for the clarity and flavor difference. And like I said, my First Need has never clogged.”

“This is the filter I've decided to get. REI has them for $49.99 after a $10 rebate. Shaweet!”

“i recieved mine a few weeks ago... haven't used it yet though.”

“I'm pretty happy with mine.”

“I've had one for a while now and i like it alot.

Of the pump filters it's one of the lightest and I like the plunger pump as opposed to the lever.

The replacement cartridges are only about 25 bucks.

I thought about going to chems or that new expensive thing, but I'm sticking with the Hiker for now.

You'll like it.”

“Gotta ask yourself... will the PUR Hiker stop campylobacter?”

“I had thought about getting the MSR because I've heard nothing but good things but the Hiker preforms better and is $25 cheaper and weighs less. Seems as though the filter market has shrunk sense last time I shopped for one. They've gotten more expencieve too. First Need has a basecamp system that runs $550. Sheeat!”

“The PUR hiker is a good filter. I haven't had any problems with mine in 3 yrs. I do need to get a new cartridge.”

“Pur disappointed me. One day they were purifiers and the other day there was a recall and now they're filters. As one who contracted hepatitis A twice in his life I'll only use what cleans everything poisonous out of water and that's the First Need.”

“I've been very happy with my PUR Hiker.”

“I have used one for several years. I haven't had any problems with it, however, if you don't use a coffee filter over the intake, I have found that you can clog up a filter in no time.”

“It wasn't the Hiker that was supposed to be a purifier. I forget the name, and the cartridges were interchangeable.”

“It was the Voyageur. It used a filter that was impregnated with iodine to "purify" the water, but testing discovered that the water wasn't in contact with the iodine long enough to do the trick, so PUR took them off the market.”

“I've never had a problem with my hiker, I've had it for several years, and just got a replacement filter the other day. Remember that they've been bought out so it's now the "Katahdyn" Hiker. Maybe they have the instant rebate b/c they still have some in the old "PUR" packaging, either way it's a good deal.”

“Have'nt used mine in awhile, but I like it alot, it is very easy to use.”

“I swear by my PUR Hiker. Pumps fast, and I've never gotten sick.”

“Just bought mine last week- the 2004 version... used it for the past 5 days in the smokies with no problems. It's fast, water tastes great, its my first experience with a filter and its nice not having to lug around 8 water bottles. Definitely a great buy - got mine for $40 on ebay.”

“I just posted on another thread about this filter. I had problems with my Pur mildewing after storage. I did not recieve any instructions or silicone with my Hiker (Pur) even tho I got it at Blue Ridge Mtn. Sports. I think someone had it out of the box and swipped my contents. I thought I could get by wihtout them as I downloaded instructions from the website. Well after my second filter got mildew I e-mailed the company and they sent me a new filter, silicone, and link to instructions. I used the bleach solution to soak and clean my filter and element and dried it thoroughly and stored them seperate. I think this will solve this problem. Overall I like this filter and would recommend it. I also use the coffee filters as a pre-filter over the acorn inlet screen filter. You will be surprised how much this will keep out and prolong your filter element.”

“If you use it in resinated water, alpine streams with a fair amount of sediment, it will clog and really quickly.

non-tanin loaded water or sediment-low water it is fine.

in the future, the only filter i will using will be a ceramic filter element that can be field cleaned.

oh yeah, rio rocks!”

“lol rosey...exactly how and do you have pics? lol...”

“A Hiker is the first filter I ever bought, and because I've never had any problems with it and still use it on every trip I'd be biased if I gave my opinion to ya Nigal, so I'm not going to say anything.”

“I have the pur. Used it twice, that's all. On a a trip I filtered the water, drank it and at home realized that the water was still a brownish color. I almost puked considering that I filtered in grayson highland... and not in a fenced in water source.

in damascus I asked the pur guy...and he told me that the filter would be working properly, and it's not a big deal if the water is brown. duhh!! that's a bunch of bull, at least that's what I think. brown water = dirt = bacteria of some sort.

anyway...I have the first need now and don't have to drink anymore brown water.”