Posts Tagged Katadyn Hiker
Survivalist Water Filter Options
Why should Survivalist worry about water filters? Because when the city water supply stops, the water in the local lakes and streams may not be safe to drink. Most survivalist have stockpiled water, and that is fine – there is nothing wrong with stockpiling water. But you need some kind of solution for after your stockpiles of water run out. A lot of people might say “I’ll just dig a well if I need water” – ok, lets get back to reality. Most of people are not going to dig a well overnight.
Here is short list of waterborne diseases and parasites:
Cryptosporidium
Cholera
E. Coli
Dysentery
Salmonellosis
Polio
Legionnaires’ disease
The first filter for us to look at is the Royal Berkey. The Royal Berkey water filter is made out of 304 stainless steel, has a capacity of approximately 3.25 Gallons, and has 2 filters (with each filter being able to filter an estimated 3,000 gallons of water).
Assembly of the Royal Berkey is pretty easy, and only takes about 10 – 15 minutes. The thing with stainless steel, you can leave it stored at a retreat for years, and not worry about mice or rats chewing holes through it. One of the problems with storing items at a retreat is rats and mice will chew into it. I have no idea how much food has been ruined at the camp because of rodents.
The next filter to take a look at is the Berkey Light water filter. Instead of being made out of stainless like the Royal Berkey, this one is made out of plastic, Plastic has its advantages, such as being light and easy to transport.
One disadvantage to plastic, rodents can chew holes through it. So if you have a problem with rodents at the retreat, then you might want to go with stainless.
Water Filter for a Bug Out Bag
There is an interesting thread over on the forum asking about a water filter for a bug out bag.
Some of the suggestions include:
Katadyn Hiker (and Hiker Pro)
Sawyer filters and purifiers
MSR Miniworks
Sawyer Inline Water Filter
Katadyn Hiker Water Filter
The Katadyn hiker water filter is a low cost option in the water filter market. Its available through most large sporting goods outlet stores, such as Gander Mountain and available through several internet store. Even though the Katadyn hiker water filter is a low cost option, there is nothing “cheap” about this product. It appears to be made out of quality material, is durable and is an overall well made water filter.
The first time this Katadyn filter was used, my son, my nephew and I were on a 6 – 8 mile hiking trip through the piney woods of East Texas. The trip started off a on the deer lease we belong to. From there, my nephew, my son and I hiked between a couple of the rolling hills, across 2 creek bottoms and stopped for our first rest break on an old logging road. This was when Korey (my son) realized he had lost his water bottle. Luckily for the three of us there was a deer stand near by where we found a discarded plastic water bottle.
An hour later the three of us arrived at a creek where I had planned on refilling the water bottles. One thing I did not know, the lack of recent rain fall had made the creek almost dry up.
The filter became clogged because the prefilter was removed, plan and simple. If we would have simply dug a hole in the sand, or dug out the creek a little bit and left the prefilter in place – everything would have been fine.
If you own a Katadyn hiker water filter, or plan on buying one, let this be a lesson. Do not remove the prefilter from the intake hose, because you run the risk of clogging the filter up. Its better to take a few minutes and find a deeper hole to put the intake hose in, or dig out a spot.
One of the highlights of the trip was when the two cousins found a trap spider. We had finished filling up our water bottles and the boys started looking around the creek.
After we got back from the hiking trip (Saturday evening), an email was sent to Katadyn tech support. A prompt reply was received Monday. The person who replied to the email was very helpful and described a possible solution. After following the instructions in the email, the water filter started working again.
Overall, the Katadyn Hiker is one of the better options in the low end water filter market. Even though this filter is not expensive (as compared to other filters) it is not cheaply made.