Katadyn Guide Water Filter
We think the Katadyn Guide water filter is the best deal for the money right now.
We own two Katadyn filters and one MSR filter. While the MSR filter is a high-quality item, the downside to their side pump design is the necessary pumping speed, plus the ceramic filter clogs more easily on the fine silt we encounter frequently in streams in the Southwest. The long pump-action of the Katdyn design keeps you from feeling like a spastic jackrabbit and the non-ceramic filter material has a large enough surface area that it’s much less likely to clog than smooth-faced MSR ceramic filter. The one downside of a Katadyn versus an MSR filter is the leverage that the MSR handle gives you. In a really muddy stream both filters will jam up enough to require some extra muscle. In case like this, where both filters get clogged quickly, the long handle lever-action on the MSR filters never seems to require as much effort as the Katadyn pump-action does.
Putting aside our preferences and the type of water we hike near - the biggest advantage the Katadyn filters have over MSR filters is the buy-in price. Unless you are a professional group-guide, or taking a 4-month trek the Katadyn Guide has the best balance of weight, size, and speed to keep you from getting frustrated and not filtering your water.
Here are the best deals we could round up on the Katadyn Guide Filter (regularly $79.95):
$62.99, at Amazon.com $59.50, at Sierra Trading Post, limited quantities $39.95 (search for “Katadyn Backcountry”), at BassPro.com . The ‘Katadyn Guide’ and the ‘Backcountry Guide’ are the exact same fitler, but the “Backcountry” model is $40 less than the Guide is at BassPro.com
Guide Replacement filter cartridge $22.40, at Sierra Trading Post, limited quantities
Our favorite accessory for the Katadyn Guide is the Bottle Adapter. It screws onto the bottom of the filter and replaces the hose that pushes out clean water. The base of this adapter is sized so a wide-mouth Naglene bottle (or a Platypus or Naglene bladder) can be screwed onto the filter unit. It’s easy to overlook the convenience of attaching the water bottle to the filter, but we forgot this on a trip last year and while trying to pump water from an unstable stream-shore. While trying to keep my own balance I realized that either growing a third hand or attaching the bottle to the filter would have saved me from spilling and starting over several times. The second bonus point for the water bottle adapter is that by removing the clean water hose it’s easier to keep the dirty water hose away from the parts of the filter that touch clean water - that’s right, smaller odds of contaminating the clean water side with the very stuff you’re trying to remove.