Similar to another reviewer, I had the Hiker fall apart on a trip. We were canoeing the Green River in Utah, which has notoriously silty water. We had been allowing the water to settle overnight the entire trip, so what we were filtering wasn't too murky. After 3 days, it became hard to pump. Tried cleaning out the filter, which didn't help too much. Anyway, long story short, the plastic valve on the out-going part of the filter broke, and we had to boil water for the rest of the trip. When I went to a local (independent) outdoor store to see about warranty coverage on it, he recommended I buy an MSR filter next time, as he has heard many complaints about the PUR filters. I have yet to call PUR about a replacement, but if I do need to buy a new one, I am going with another brand. We were not subjecting that filter to hard-core useage, and it should not have broke.

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none--first filter

filter performed flawlessly on a multi day backpack trip on the OHT in NW Arkansas. Used a coffee filter and rubber band on the prefilter to extend life of the filter. Rocked through a nalgene water bottle in twenty easy pumps. Screw the ceramic filters that crack when frozen. This boy will do ya proud.

Customer Service

Haven't had a reason to call them.

The Hiker has excellent throughput.. I can fill my 1L nalgenes in record time. It has enough capacity to easily filter water for a small group. No complaints.. best filter I''ve owned. Been using it for over a year now without problems. I had it freeze solid on a few cold mornings this spring, however a little warm water soaking fixed that. The rubber hoses stood up well to freezing solid... I highly recommend this filter.

Customer Service

PUR swapped me my old Pioneer filter for the Hiker when I couldn''t locate filter inserts in my area... you can''t beat that for customer service!

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PUR Pioneer

I agree with many other people have given reviews that this filter was overated. I had no problems with the filter clogging or not doing its job, but I grew tired of drinking iodine tasting water. I know that the iodine is necessary, but you can only take so much of it. The problems with customer service and the stop-top issues also unimpressed me. Overall I would say that if you own a Hiker then use it for shorter trips and if you don''t own one don''t buy one.

After several years of struggling with a Katadhyn Mini Filter, I purchased the Pur based on the advice of a salesman. I've been favoribly impressed so far. The flow rate is great and it is easy to use. Pumping water is no longer the chore it was in my camp. It's been on half a dozen trips so far and has yet to clog.

Customer Service

None

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Katadhyn Mini filter. Hard to pump, hard to use, flow rate stinks, but is built well. Solid, lightweight, but poorly designed. Want to buy one? I have one collecting dust.

It's lightweight and very easy to use. The downside is the frequency of filter replacement. On only my 3rd week long backpacking trip, pumping was very hard ... tried to clean it out, but the only solution was to replace the filter ... so I had almost a week of strenuous pumping.

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None

light weight and compact. Have used mine for two years without any problems, but I have only used it in clear water. My only complaint is its slow to filter any large quantity of water. But then again all filters are slow.

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None

Great filter, nice simple design with not too many moving parts that could break.

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Katadyn - not as easy to pump as the Hiker, plus alot more expensive!

I've only used this a few times, but it's always a pleasure when I do. It's so easy to connect to containers and simple to use, I have no complaints. If I had the money, I would have gone with the Voyager (smaller filtration), but I haven't been sick yet. It's all good!

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None

This filter is great - really fast, the water tastes great, and despite what a lot of others say about the hose being long, it has come in very handy in times where I've been on a rock well above the water level, or wanted the tube to go below a mucky surface. I've used it for over a year with no problems, except one when I easily repaired it in the field.

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None