[pct-l] Bleach treatment links / Hiker Pro water filter

[William Canavan]

Cam,
IMHO you should lose the Hiker Pro water filter.  I carried one on the AT
in 2010 and I discovered it was too heavy AND too expensive.  Any turbidity
in the water clogs the filter up in a hurry and it isn't field serviceable,
when it gets clogged you have to replace the filter element.  I used up
three filter elements even being careful and at about $35 per element it
was expensive.  I now use a Sawyer gravity filter that weighs in at 4oz,
and can be backwashed with a syringe.  Bleach and Aquamira are even lighter
but I'm sticking with a filter because I live in a rural area and have a
well with wonderful tasting water and I don't like the taste of the
chemicals.
Enjoy your hike!
Little Brown


Message: 17
Date: Sun, 04 Mar 2012 00:12:09 -0800
From: Cameron A Hirtle <hirtle at uoregon.edu>
Subject: [pct-l] Bleach treatment links?
To: <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Message-ID: <3f960fe0c35f474eed8a30204e6f019e at uoregon.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed

 Hey all, hope you're as pumped as I am to start this hike shortly! So
 being my first thru hike, I am trying to keep my base pack weight at a
 minimum. Right about now, I weigh in at almost exactly 15 pounds with
 trekking poles in hand and not on the pack. When I got off of working my
 first contract back in September before I hiked the Rogue River in
 Southern Oregon, I bought a Katadyn hiker pro, one because my first
 water filter was ANCIENT and two I figured I would like it for short
 trips and for my thru hike this summer. Now that I am trying to shave a
 couple pounds, I am considering aquamira or bleach as an alternative.
 The good thing about my sleeping system is I can add or subtract in warm
 weather because I am carrying a lightweight bivi and Gossamer gear
 SpinnShelter, so if weather gets nice I could consider dumping the bivi
 or shelter and keep one. But 14 oz of water filter, as convenient as I
 think they are, is a bit heavy, even leaving my video camera at home
 which I reluctantly forced myself to do. Any opinions? I know that along
 the way I will dump stuff and maybe pick up new gear along the way, but
 I was looking for some good links or even just knowledge on how to
 select bleach with the correct mixture to a liter of water (seems to be
 much cheaper than Aquamira, which you constantly replace)? Much
 appreciated, I will continue to shave those ounces away.... -Cam