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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 24 found the following review helpful:
 Lotsa water! Aug 03, 2006
By hillconqueror
"hillconqueror"
This was perfect for our 4 day 8 person hike. No pumping required, just someplace to hang it. (We took turns holding it up in some cases). The filter lasts for a long time, the water tasted great, it was light, and compact. I love this product.
23 of 23 found the following review helpful:
4 day adirondack trip Jun 27, 2007
By Rick
9 of us went into the Back country of western Adirondack Park. I had High hopes of the camp filter not bringing the usual back up hand pump, just iodine tablets. We filled it the first time at 1 pm Thursday and it ran flawlessly for three days basically non stop till Saturday late afternoon when the drip started to slow to a slow fizzle. We figured we made between 150 to 175 gallons of water that was used to cook and drink. Would have liked to hav just brought a back-up filter. The extra insurance would have been well worth the $. Excellent product.
24 of 26 found the following review helpful:
 Good solution for large groups Jul 12, 2008
By L. OKEEFE
Katadyn's Base Camp water filter filled a need for us. We normally hike and camp as a family and our group size numbers between 7 and 10. In years past we have carried at least two water purifiers. One an MSR and the other a Pur Hiker. In order to produce enough water for our needs we would pump long and often. This product fit our needs well. The filtration is accomplished by gravity flow. The clean water released to a large storage container for storage...(additional purchase needed here, ours was a 2.5 gal collapsible). My only complaint is a minor one. It took much longer to filter than advertised. If our group needed immediate access to fresh water we needed to use our personal water filters. We found ourselves planning ahead to take care of our water needs. We would "harvest" the available water before bedtime to ensure our needs the next morning. By planning ahead we managed a consistent supply. We will supplement this product with at least one handheld purifier for immediate fresh water needs.
41 of 51 found the following review helpful:
Don't Know What It Does/Doesn't Filter... Apr 04, 2010
By SweetSoulX
I'm glad so many people are so pleased with their purchases, but as a biotech student in progress I naturally have been looking for the specs on this thing to see what it can or cannot filter out to no avail. Kadayn's website provides no detailed information about the filter; what types of pathogens it may be permeable to, what compounds can slip through the membrane. Heck! Is it even membrane technology or is it just as good as a few coffee filters stacked one on top of another?
What about ions? Arsenic is present in much of Arizona's water simply due to mineral erosion. And while I believe a little arsenic isn't going to kill you (it is in a lot of things and I'm by no means a hypochondriac/health nut), a greater amount find in, say, areas below where mining has been done (where arsenic was once used to break down raw materials and leave the metals behind) the water will definitely contain a higher amount that could make a nice expedition into a sour one.
And in some areas there was uranium and radon mining. You usually HAVE to get specifics about those and they can be in any water source within a mountainous area geologically. I don't know and have had no luck finding any of this information out..
Then there was someone who mentioned that scrubbing his filter caused lose pieces of fiberglass to stick out. What IS it made of? Does the process of filtering water only cause the filter itself to release more unnatural contaminants?
A warning to all outdoor enthusiasts; Do not buy a product without requiring the company you intend to purchase from for the basic facts. You deserve it. You are a customer and they should be looking out for your needs and acting competitively to do so. The fact that Kadayn has not posted the specs for this model on their own website (they don't even SELL it; they have a link saying "Buy from your favorite online retailer") waves a red flag.
I am currently in the process of emailing them to see if they have anything to offer in regards to technical specifics. I will post and report what they have told me on here and will follow up with lab analysis. If it passes the test, I'm buying a few for family and friends.
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
Compact, lightweight, a marvel of good, simple design May 29, 2011
By Bryan Bean
In order to appreciate this filter, you need to understand how it works. The best way to sum it up is "slowly but surely." You should not think of this as a water dispenser, even though it does dispense water. You may notice that the bag and tube resemble an IV drip bag. That is a fair analogy. When the tube is unstopped, water flows faster than a drip, but a good deal slower than your Gott 5-gallon cooler. I would estimate that filling an 8-ounce cup takes about 20 seconds. The stream that the tube produces when the bag is full is steady but weak. To put this device to best use, unstop it and let it flow into a water bottle or other holding container from which you can dispense at a more desirable speed. Now that you know what to expect, you will appreciate the device for what it is.
I love the simplicity of the design. There are no "moving" parts, aside from the piece that screws on and off to replace the filter, and the plastic stopper at the end of the tube. When empty, this unit is very compact. And perhaps the best part of the design in terms of water filtration, which is sort of the whole point of this soon-to-be piece of your backpacking kit, is that the water goes directly from the filter to your cup. There is no opportunity for contamination in-between (provided you dispense directly, follow the directions, etc).
The potential weakness of this filter is that, if the bag is breached, it's a good deal less effective. I suppose that if the bag was punctured high up, it would still work ok, but if it got punctured down lower, I don't know if you could easily patch it. The bag is quite sturdy, a heavy synthetic canvas-type material with an inner coating or membrane, so I'm not too worried about that. Carrying one of these along with a pump and collapsible water bag would make for good redundancy in the water department. Recommended cleanup is to run a few cups of watered-down bleach before putting back in storage. In conclusion and in summary: This is a good, lightweight personal filter.
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