Gear Review: Katadyn Hiker
The gold standard in pump filters and, in various forms, my go to filter since I was 13, the couple Katadyn Hikers I have owned have served me well for the better part of a decade. Eight years ago I backpacked through the Grand Canyon and brought my "Pure Hiker" water filter with me. The hand filters made by Pure were later bought by Katadyn (Pure now makes household filters only) but at the time they must have either been new or just unknown because that hand pump filter caused a bit of a stir. What amazed all the other backpacking veterans was how quickly it worked, turning murky creek water into clean, "pure", safe drinking water at a rate of about 1 liter per minute.
One of my favorite features on the Hiker is it's simplicity and ease of use while on the trail. Some filters (i.e. gravity filters) work best in a camp setting once you have set up for the evening and have some time on your hands, while others, like the Sawyer Mini Squeeze, work fine for a single person or if you don't mind the slower filter speed (I'll write a full gear guide on water filters at some point) but my favorite is still my Katadyn pump filter. My hiker is very easy to deploy and clean up at stops, taking only a few seconds to attach the clean and dirty hoses, but unlike squeeze filters which have the same simplicity, I can filter water for 4 or 5 people in a 15 minutes tops. If you split pumping duties and the weight between a couple people the advantages of a squeeze filter dissipate very quickly for me.
As a backpacker, my gear is constantly shifting and it's certainly possible that at some point I'll retire my Katadyn for something newer and greater or at least a bit different, but for now I wouldn't hit the trail without it.
One of my favorite features on the Hiker is it's simplicity and ease of use while on the trail. Some filters (i.e. gravity filters) work best in a camp setting once you have set up for the evening and have some time on your hands, while others, like the Sawyer Mini Squeeze, work fine for a single person or if you don't mind the slower filter speed (I'll write a full gear guide on water filters at some point) but my favorite is still my Katadyn pump filter. My hiker is very easy to deploy and clean up at stops, taking only a few seconds to attach the clean and dirty hoses, but unlike squeeze filters which have the same simplicity, I can filter water for 4 or 5 people in a 15 minutes tops. If you split pumping duties and the weight between a couple people the advantages of a squeeze filter dissipate very quickly for me.
As a backpacker, my gear is constantly shifting and it's certainly possible that at some point I'll retire my Katadyn for something newer and greater or at least a bit different, but for now I wouldn't hit the trail without it.
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