Sawyer water filter - What's the catch?

[Tom]

Ok, I was looking through the REI catalog, and saw the listing for the Sawyer water filter.

Here's the line:
http://www.rei.com/product/778046
http://www.rei.com/product/778045
http://www.rei.com/product/778044
http://www.rei.com/product/778043

Anybody use or try one of these? Other than possibly weight, doesn't it seem too good to be true?
Fill a large bladder, hang it in a tree, and enjoy minutes later. That would certainly change the 'make camp' routine..

Thoughts?

[Don_P]

I wonder about clogging... and that's a bit pricey. That said, I've never used one...

[fonixmunkee]

I don't know anything about Sawyer...as a matter of fact, I've never even heard of them. It's kind of an expensive investment to buy one and test it, only to find out it's not any good, but hey, at least you'd be a pioneer with it here on the forums

[rxgac]

i think they make several products, mostly insect repellants. we used a "wash in" permithrin last year. seemed to work pretty well, but not sure if it was that or just not as many bugs. can't find it this year, but they do have a spray. isn't the hollow fiber basically the same technology as the MSR Hyperflow, which if i'm not mistaken can be set up as a gravity filter.

[Keweenaw]

Same technology as the Hyperflow, which we returned after we read the owner's manual, which stated that the hollow tube filtration elements could break if you dropped it from a few feet in height and you wouldn't necessarily know that they broke, so you would be drinking unfiltered water from the filter.

Hopefully this model is more break-resistant.

Bob

[Tom]

if you dropped it from a few feet in height and you wouldn't necessarily know that they broke

Hmmm. Good to note. Perhaps an option for more casual camping, but I'd hate to destroy my filter just because I sat my pack down a little on the rough side...
I think I'll let someone ELSE try this filter out and report back. (After the giardia subsides.)

[rxgac]

freezing also apparently breaks the tubes. i looked at the MSR and thought about using it as a gravity, but wanted the charcoal to improve taste. going to stick with my miniworks for now.