Katadyn Hiker Review

"On this filters' first trip day 1 it clogged from the intake being bumped against some muck on a rock. OK, my fault I should have been more careful with the intake hose. But it was EXTREMELY difficult to pump water for the rest of the trip. It was great for the first few liters before it clogged, but the fact that it was not field servicable totally killed my experience with this filter. The only redeeming note here is that REI gave me a full refund, no questions asked. Picked up the MSR Miniworks instead."

"I bought one for my boyscout troop has worked well even in some nasty looking water puddles. easy to use even for my youungest scout (12). It's been a great product. Just to be safe I do care an extra filter cartridge"

"Excellent water filter. A recent trip to Massassauga Provincial Park (Canada) put it to good use. Small pack size, excellent value."

"on a camping trip to lake george in the adirondacks, the Katadyn Hiker proved invaluable. Its small and lightweight, and it allowed us to save tremendous space as we didnt have to pack any water. the water tasted great and none of us contracted any illness...and there were even beavers on one of the islands we stayed on, and they are notorious carriers of giardia. the pump itself was easy to use and didnt give us any problems. i couldnt be more pleased with the product."

"I've had mine for about a year and it has done really well.My scout leader has one to and he likes it also. I like how much water it produces.It is a good filter for the price . I would highly suggest it to anyone who does a lot of backpacking near water. If you don't want the filter to clog then tie a coffee filter around the pre-filter. And a little bit ago Katadyn made a covering for the main filter cartrige so it won't clog and you can clean it. Wait a little bit to buy a new filter so you don't end up with the old ones."

"I have had my Filter for about a year and it has been really great. My scout leader has one to and loves it. Katadyn just fixed the filter cartriges for the Hiker so now it has a covering over the cartrige so that it won't clog and you can clean it."

"This water filter worked so much better than the other filter we took on our trip that after the first day, we didn't even take the other filter out of the backpack. It worked great for 3 days as the only water filter for 4 men.

The throughput is excelent, and the compact design made taking it out and putting it away easy. I could see how the Non-field serviceable aspect may be a problem, but my group always has 2 water filters."

"Been using this filter for roughly the last 10+ years now. This is well before being taking over by the new company. In all these years I've NEVER even once had a problem in the feild. I'ved used it extensively througout the us as well as central america for four weeks(using chlorine as a backup for viruses) since viruses are in the the water sources in that country.
I tend to average around 300 gallons per filter, although for the most part I swap it out at 200 gallon mark(or 150 depending on the sources I've been using recently). There have only been a handful of times I've needed to feild strip it and clean it out(this is prior to the hiker "pro" modificationss). When pumping out of mud puddles, cracks in granite while climbing, and in sandstone it was necessary to clean it reguarly to maintain ease of pumping moreso then anything. Iwould simply take along a new SOFT bristle toothbrush that had been shortened to fit in the bag and lightly brush the outter filter elements then squish it around in clean water which helped more then anything. I also would frequently clean the prefilter acorn(metal mesh screen to renmove gunk) with a different brush kept in a seperate bag marked as such to not confuse them. The biggest help was as another poster stated,simply recutting a number of new coffee filters so they would easily wrap around the outside of the acorn held in place by a rubberband. This alone removed more debris then anything.
Again, as another unhappy users noted if you get mud or "gunk" into the hose that travels up into the filter housing, you NEED to remove it first otherwise it limits what can be done. Best bet is to carry a small syringe(clip the need point) and use it to high pressure squirt any debris from the intake(inside the bottom of the filter housing). It easily removes it in this case. Most of us carry one of these syringes in any case in our first aid kit or SHOULD be doing so anyway to irrigate deep wounds in order to remove debris from the wound and prevent infection. Overall i just purchased the hiker "pro" filter, not the filter housing since it is the same as the standard hiker. The only difference is the new mesh wrap that allows extra gunk and debris to be removed before the filter gets it. Nice addition but i have noticed the last two trips using this(when using the coffee filter trick as well) it means you need to pump slightly slower in order to maintain the same amount of suction. If you are pumping in a clear source, removing the coffee filter would remedy this small issue.
The BIGGEST and best thing you can do to make sure your filter lasts a very long time(as I'm still using the first hiker body(0obviously not filter cartridge) I ever purchased, is aftercare.
Aftercare should be done at the end of EVERY single use.
Make sure you first pump clear water that has had chlorine bleach added to it(I usually pump around 2 gallons).
Then disassemle the unit, using the same dilution mix previously used to disinefect the input hose and acorn(cleaning them as well) then set aaside to air dry. Then do the same with the output hose as well and set aside to dry(away from the imput hose). I then swish the filter element in the same clean solution and set aside to dry for a few hours doing the same with the body of the filter, taking the time to add a very small dolup of grease to the filter threads.
I also take the time to throw out all old ziplock bags and remark them fo the proper hoses so that there is no way to confuse them. rememeber, even ONE cyst from accidently brushing them against each other can make you very sick.
I then disenfect the cleaning supplies and then put everything away for the next trip. In all, the cleaning process takes me at most 10 minutes, then two hours to dry. It's well worth it in order to stay healthy on trips.
Too many times I've seen buddies who did not take the few minutes to clean the filter after a trip, and a week later at work they are more sick then they ever thought they could be.
I first purchased a "first need deluxe" back in 1998 as well and found that while it filter down to .10 micron, it's much heavier and clogs WAY to easily, even though it has the ability to pump more water per minute. In the end with all the filters I've tried, purchased(and taken back to rei with full refunds) the hiker or hiker pro is by far the easiest to use, cheapest to maintain, clogs the least of any I've used, and finally is the lighest to carry and easiest to setup/take down. Rarely does one have the need to use more then this filter when back[packing anywhere inside the USA borders(as there are no common viruses found in the us waterways, only when you leave the country do you NEED to take a purifier rather then a filter(way too many folks do not understand there is a big difference between the two).
Doc"

"The intake nipple broke off just due to a light pull from the intake hose. Another member of the group had the same happen to his unit the next day. There seems to be some sort of manufacturing defect here.

Happily, we could still pump by placing the base of the unit in the stream."

"I just used the Katadyn Hiker on a week long Wilderness excursion into the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming. I found the Hiker to be a very efficient and easy to use filter. It's lightweight and small size were very much appreciated! I would highly recommend this filter to anyone in the market."