PUR Scout Review

"My Scout bit the dust yesterday. Don't take this as a con. It has served me faithfully for the past 14 years on uncountable backpacking and hiking trips. I have pumped hundreds of gallons of water with this filter and even after reading reviews for the top of the line rigs, I will stay faithful to Pur. The throughput is high, and I've never had an issue with it in the field until yesterday. As all good Eagle Scouts should, I was prepared with a bottle of iodine tablets as a backup, so the trip was still a success. My only con is my consideration of whether to throw away the old one, or bury it with a memorial."

"I used my Scout a bit when I first got it and was quite pleased with it. I then put it away for eleven years and only just now brought it back out. I am not sure I trust the cartridge after so long but found, when I went to buy a new one, that Pur no longer is shipping Scouts. I lucked out though at REI when I went to get a compatible filter cartridge from a different Pur model and found the Hiker on sale for only $7 more than the replacement cartridge.

I guess now that if Pur starts to ship Scout cartridges again I will have two purifiers."

"The guys at PUR generally have made some pretty good purifiers,
such as the Hiker, but I must give two thumbs down for the Scout
purifier. Most people (not all) who seriously use this purifier have
big problems with the filter clogging and thereby not pumping any
H2O. It does not clean itself in the field. Finally PUR has
acknowledged this fact and made a new Scout that is
self-cleaning. Unfortunately, many stores still have the old one in
stock, so watch out! I think that the new one has a black and gray
casing."

"I believe the PUR Scout is the ultimate hiking water filter. On the last hike I was on, others used brand X and got sick, I used the PUR Scout and stayed quite well."

"I read the two reviiews of the Pur Scout currently available. I would have to agree with the favorable reviiew. My first filter was a MSR miniworks, and working side by side to a buddies scout, it stunk. I returned the MSr and bought the Scout. I love it. I did get the new one with the black & grey cartridge. I used this fileter in Minnesota water filled with silt without a problem, I used it in Wyoming mounttain waters without a problem It was used for a total of 15 days for 15 boyscouts and never failed or plugged. The spare filter that I purchased has yet to be opened. I would reccomend this filter to anybody considering one. One drawback that Pur rectified for me was I didn't like the bottle stopper method of filling. I called and them and they sent me free of charge a new hose with the loop on it for hanging on a bottle. This was a personal prefference as with boyscouts, they all had different types of water bottles with different size tops. With the carbon canister, t was well worth the 90 bucks."

"After returning a MSR Minniwork to purchae a Socut, I would reccomend the scout to anyone. Easy pump, no problems clogging unlike the MSR. I use this last summer in Silty Minnestota waters ad Wyoming mountain streems for a totlal of 18 days for 15 boyscouts without a problem at all. Definately a must have."

"I recently want and got a PUR Scout and I have been very happy. The only thing I didn't like was the carbon filter in on the end of the output hose and was getting on my nerves. But, this problem was easy to fix. I got a carbon filter that would attach to the bottom on the filter and have loved it ever since. I would get the Scout over the Explorer anyday."

"I see both positive and negative reviews for the Scout (and other Pur filters) and I wonder if its due to an inconsictency in their filter production?? I owned a Scout for over a year, and used it exclusively in clear Sierra streams. Its been a NIGHTMARE of clogging hassles. 3 gallons into their "100 gallon capacity" filter it became more and more difficult to pump, obviously clogging, and then the entire end blew off! I cleaned the filter at home, re-lubed, etc, all acording to their instructions. I got another gallon out of the filter (filtering tap water!) and it clogged solid again. So I bought a new filter cartridge. In less than 5 gallons it clogged solid and the end blew off again.

My instictive response is "this is a piece of S%$#" but then I see others that swear by Pur. I took mine back to REI, told them it was useless for what it was intended to do, and (after a manager intervened) they gave me store credit.

The question now is what filter do I buy??"

"We bought our Scout in 1994 and it worked great until last fall when we finally decided to replace the cartridge. The new cartridge turned tap water yellow with iodine, even after we pumped 3 gallons through it. This is WITH a carbon filter that is sold separately and which we purchased at the same time. Since replacing the filter element and buying a second new carbon filter, we have used it on 3 day hikes in the Green Mountains and Adirondacks, have pumped a total of 7 gallons of water through it (including the initial 3 gallons of tap water I mentioned), and now the filter element is clogged. I should also mention that the last bit of water we pumped still had a very unpleasant iodine flavor. We want the old filter cartridge back!!! (BTW, the old one was good for 200 gallons, versus the new one's 100 gallons...)"

"I've had this model filter for over five years and have gone through alot of filter replacements and have seen the changes that have been made. I'm pleased with the functionality but disappointed in the output capacity drop from 200 galls. to 100 galls. for the present filter replacement. Also think the bottle adapter is invaluable to winter camping operation, but recommend attaching "gripper decals" to the body...otherwise its the best."

"i've used my scout on several trips, and it has served me well. i must admit that i've only filtered clear stream/river water. my model is several years old, and doesn't have an attached carbon filter. the water does taste a bit of iodine, but i've been pleased enough not to buy the carbon filter attachment. the handling of the filter while pumping proves a bit problematic, but that may be solved with the nalgene bottle adapter. i'm frightened from reading some reviews, but i've been thusfar pleased."

"Although I have read some bad reviews for this purifier, its seems to me that alot of the problems with clogging and blow-offs can be remedied quite simply by placing a coffee filter on the acorn filter. I have had my scout for 3 yrs and have never gotten sick nor had severe clogging."

"There's a number of things that I love about the PUR Scout:
It pumps a lot of water relatively quickly. The outflow "head" fits snugly in the top of my Nalgene water bottles. It filters all five types of organisms: virus, giardia, etc. And it's weight is reasonable.

For several trips, it worked fine. Then one day in Isle of Royale, it simply stopped pumping any water whatsoever. I tried to fix it many different ways. Then, a kindly Park Ranger took a look it. She told me that she had seen five Scounts FAIL during the last several weeks. Worst of all, she was unable to fix mine.

Eastern Mountain Sports gave me a new Scout, which works fine, but I haven't used it very much. Frankly, I'm concerned that it will fail during an extended backpacking trip. I'll keep my fingers crossed as well as take some iodine tablets and extra fuel to boil water--just in case.

This isn't supposed to be. When you pay a lot of money for supposedly top-notch gear, you're supposed to get it."

"I have used a PUR Scout for over 10 years now and have finally switched. While I do agree with many fo the positives of PUR filters (i.e. fast pumping, low pump force, etc etc) I would say that I do not trust it in the field any more. I have had clogging problems on the past 4 trips I have used it on. It seems like the filters now clog extremely fast. The new filter matrix is cleanable via a screen around the matrix but cleaning it only does so much. I have taken this filter on 6 night trips thru Banff and Glacier NP along with Isle Royale quite a fex times and my disappointment has grown.

My last trip to the Winds I used a MSR miniworks and love this filter!! Yes, it pumps a bit slower but is much more field maintainable and is more cost effective.

Note: One area I do not hear many people talking about is the kind of water that is filtered. We can not expect fitlers to turn mud into bottled water; they have there limits. I always try and pull my water ahead of time and let it sit atleast 10 minutes if not overnight to filter the cleaniest water possibly. I also have resorted to not filtering cooking water since boiling is the safest means anyways. Happy trails!"

"I have used my Scout for over 6 years and really liked it. I carried a tooth brush with me to clean the filter in the field and always filtered water that had set awhile in a pot so plugging was not a big problem. I went to get a new filter and found out it was unavailable and that PUR sold it's outdoor products to katydyne(?) and they were in the process of reintroducing the filter back on the market."

"pur (now owned by katadyn)says that the guide filter works on the scout. still, you have to wonder why a filter rated at 100 gallons costs $40.00 - if i had it to do over i would have bought a katadyn combifilter rated at 13,000 gallons between replacements! although it weighs in at somewhat less than 2 pounds, it pays for itself in 300 gallons of use and i have heard nothing but praise for it (combifilter currently on sale at eastern mountain sports for $109)."

"Everything was fine with my scout until it stopped pumping water the second day of a week-long trip. Three of us depended on it and I've only used the filter on three prior weekend trips. Took me two years to find a replacement filter. Since my streams are clear of sediment, I think I'll just use tablets. Same iodine taste but a lot cheaper and easier."

"I've used my Pur Scout for the past 7 years...for trips lasting a single week, once a year. I've only had to replace the filter once, and the Scout has operated perfectly...much to the chagrin of my fellow canoeists...who had to suffer with their MSR filters...we go out in our canoes to fill our water jugs....and I finish filling mine well before any of them have even finished their first bottles. (I usually have to canoe over to them, pick up their empty bottles, and fill them up for them).
The filter has never failed, and although it is a bit bulky...it's well worth it!"

"WOW.after reading the reviews I had to make sure that I had the same scout water filter. Frankly, Im surprised. I bought my filter four years ago and hike all through the smokies pumping water like crazy in rain silted waters. Ive never had a problem with mine clogging. Its time to change filters we'll see what happens. As it goes right now I would recommend this filter to anyone"

"I have owned a scout for 5 years and have had to replace the filter. i and my BSA troop have used this pump on numerous trips and the boys always gravitate to my water filter for their water filtering instead of the other types and brands available. A small brush has been used regularly to clean the filter and I use petroleum jelly to lubricate the threads and seal the container. I only fault the pack in which it comes since it is not near as durable as it should be for a filter of this high of quality. I always carry a backup replacement Scout filter as well as a backup filter (a BSA scout is prepared) on trips that are over three days long. I have never expeienced a problem in 200 gallons and use by juveniles."

"I've had my scout for seven years and have never had a problem with it. usually pumping water for two people per trip,lost count of how many trips now but am still on the original filter and it gives a bit of iodine smell but little taste to the water. I prefer to have some smell and taste of iodine just to be sure its doing its job. I also carry iodine tabs just in case anything should go wrong. I usually have two of everything that is consider essential!always be prepared."

"I have had my filter for many years. I have had good luck with it. I had to install the carbon filter on it because I don't much care for the taste of iodine. I have had one problem with clogging. This was not long after I purchased it. I solved the problem by installing a first need prefilter I purchased from REI. When pumping starts to become difficult, I remove the prefilter and connect it to the output hose reversing the flow direction. I pump clean water thru the prefilter backflushing it. Reinstall the prefilter and you are back in business. This helps extend the life of the main filter. The prefilter is small and adds only ounces to your pack weight. Small price to pay. Beats being stuck with no filtered water. I have not found a replacement filter for my scout and that does worry me because it is about time to change it."

"I have owned the Scout for about 5 years but have only used it a couple times. I finally had a 8 day trip in the Amazon where the darn thing failed. I even had a new filter but it still wouldn't pump water. Yes, I ended up drinking dirty swamp water thanks to pur."

"After very little use and lots of storage I now have a filter that turns nice clean tap water into brown tained crap. Less than ideal!!. It might not be the filters fault as it may have been stored damp. I'm getting a replacment filter and am hoping it will be better.

If i had the money I would have bought a ceramic, If you can then do."

"I am a little puzzled by the people who have problems with the Scout. I have 3 of them that are used by a scout troop and have had no problems as long as they were properly used. Once a filter stoped pumping when slimy water was pumped through it. We had the others for backup and when we returned home and cleaned the filter (of all the grass) it worked fine. We've since replace the filters and everyone loves them. We have determined that the new scouts do need training each time to prevent messing up any of the several types of filters that we have available."

"I have had a PUR Scout for years and love it! I have used it in several third world countries and never had a problem. I have also used it extensively in the US for multi-day trips for four to six people and have never been let down. It is to my dismay that it is no longer being made. What are people doing as a replacement? The Katadyn Guide does not contain iodine and is not a purifier. Am I just going to have to buy a new purifier, or is there a place to get replacement filters?"