Easy-to-use hands-free filter!

By Red Baron Ranked #132 - Water Filters August 19, 2010

I had a Sweetwater Microfilter for backpacking for years and then needed to buy a camp-size filter for our summer camps and found this one. It's GREAT! I've had it for more than 2 years and no problems. The crazy thing is, that it's only about 1 oz. more than my backpacking filter, but requires no effort, is a lot faster, and can filter 4 liters of water in no time flat (and no standing over a small stream sweating and pumping!).

I like Jeff's suggestion below to remove the clean water bag entirely and to shorten the output tube - it saves weight and works well. Unlike my Sweetwater, this baby hasn't ever clogged and my favorite part is that it's totally hands-free - no pumping ever! I really like the valve system which you can close/open with a thumb to turn off/on the water flow on the clean side. I always hang the "dirty" bag on a tree (like in Jeff's pictures) and then just use the valve to control the water flow.

Originally, I was concerned about the plastic holding up, but after 2 years of heavy use in varied environments, I find that it's a lot tougher than it looks in the pictures. I've had no leaks, rips, or any problems despite some extreme conditions... I also like that the bags are clear, allowing you to see the water inside, rather than the opaque bag of the MSR Autoflow Gravity filter. I just prefer to see any potential problems rather than wonder why something is going wrong!

As for effectiveness, I do not live in the US or Western Europe and have never gotten sick from this filter. One of my friends from the UK actually asked if she could filter our in-country bottled spring water through it b/c the Platypus filtered water tasted so much better!

If you're looking for a light-weight, easy-to-use, effortless, long-lasting filter with a life-time warranty - this is a really sweet deal!

View Details: Platypus Cleanstream Gravity Filter System

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