This is a quality product. I have owned mine for over 5 years now and it has never given me any grief. I go backpacking at least 3-4 times a year for at least 3 days at a time. I usually pump water for 3-4 people. I have used it in very silty conditions [can't see to the bottom of a 1 foot deep stream]. No problems. The thing to remember is that there is hydrostatic pressure in the unit when you are pumping. Trying to over-force the thing may cause damage. Just like over-reving a car will cause damage. If people would use a little common sense it may surprise them how well their equipment will perform. Even when making sure not to over pump the unit, it can deliver a litre of water in under a minute. So when the filter gets a bit clogged from sediment, just pop the thing open, give a quick scrub with the brush provided, and you're good to go. Other models claim to be non-clogging [PUR], but WHEN it does clog, you have no options. I would rather have a unit that can easily take care of clogs than a unit that makes promises it can't deliver, and then breaks [PUR]. The Sweetwater is also lighter and more compact than the PUR. I think the Sweetwater is the best unit available; right now anyways.

Customer Service

Never needed

Similar Products Used:

PUR

I bought this unit about 8 years ago for a mountaineering trip. I used it once for a 3 day trip. My kids are finally old enough to go backpacking - so I hauled the unit out this summer and tested it at my kitchen sink. We embarked on a backpacking trip to Cape Scott on the Northern tip of Vancouver Island. About two hours in - I wanted to replenish water at a lake. Deployed the unit and with the first stroke, I heard a snap and no water emerged on the outlet side. After much cussing, I determined that the pump plunger rod separated from the lifter. It is either glued or mechanically joined. Breakage rendered the device useless. I had to resort to boiling water for 3 days. I view these devices as essential and they should either be failsafe or field maintainable. The Sweetwater is neither. Its cheap plastic construction does not inspire confidence. If your health is on the line, investigate alternatives that can be field maintained or that use more robust material. I won't be replacing the Sweetwater.

Similar Products Used:

Katadyn - The 6 year old version my brother owns is bombproof - well worth the extra money

This is a lightweight, inexpensive, very easy to pump filter. The water it delivers tastes very good, also. I have had no problems with this pump in the year I have had it. The pump requires a quick brushing after every use (which for me is about 8 liters, or roughly 2 gallons of water). This cleaning procedure is simple and takes less than one minute to perform. My only complaint about this filter is that it delivers water more slowly than I would like.

Customer Service

N/A

Similar Products Used:

Iodine tabs

Dont get this filter. After one trip it began to clog all the time, even after extensive cleaning at home. I went on a trip with my brother and we couldn't even get a litre of water at a time. It was terrible. We used iodine the whole trip. A friend of mine has a PUR Hiker. It is much nicer and very, very reliable. I bought the Sweetwater on the recommendation of a friend and am sorry I did. I got an Extreme Mackenzie as a gift. It is nothing special. See my review there.

Similar Products Used:

PUR Hiker, Extreme Mackenzie

Its worked fine for the most part. I have noticed that it clogs extremely fast and is a little difficult to pump. The siltstopper is nice and the weight and price are great too. I think that I should have looked around at the MSR and PUR filters before I bought this one though. They seem easier to pump and more reliable than the Sweetwater. If you buy it at a military base (like I did) it will be a olive drab color.

Customer Service

Havent used.

Similar Products Used:

Iodine tablets ---yuck! Boiling---pain in the butt, yuck!

I own a couple water filters, this one and the PUR hiker. I have started to carry the Sweetwater more often because of it's weight and packable size. I have been happy with both of these units, but the PUR is definatly more reliable if not easier to pump. Additionally, the prefilter of my Sweetwater has been dumped and replaced with a PUR prefilter, but I now use a Sweetwater 'Silt-Filter' with both my units.

Similar Products Used:

PUR Hiker

I have been on many backpacking trips through the mountains, through national forests, and canoe trips down murky rivers. The sweetwater filter did okay in clear waters, but was very poor otherwise. My first year of having it, I never had a trip where it didn''t break. It''s reliability was very poor!!

Customer Service

I sent many sweetwater guardians back to the manufacturers wanting a refund!! They always sent me another sweetwater guardian. I don''t want another sweetwater, I''m sticking with the MSR Miniworks!

Similar Products Used:

MSR miniworks Katadyn

I took this filter on a 5 month trip to Siberia and spent 3 months using iodine! The thing clogs all the time, and after about two months we happened to get hold of a clear water bottle and realised the "filtered" water was brown. I think if you want a decent expedition filter you have to fork out for something like a Katadyn.

Similar Products Used:

None

None

None

I have had this filter a couple of years and it has worked pretty well. Just got back from a 7 day trip, where the filter failed on the second day. I could not get water to flow through the filter it just continued to flow out the pressure relief portion of the pump. Cleaning the filter with the brush did not improve the situation. We used another persons aqua mira drops. I liked the sweetwater because it is light and when it worked it pumped water fast. Given the failure which I understand has happened before to other sweetwater filters I would not rely on this filter. I have a katadyn pocket filter which is much heavier but very reliable.

Customer Service

none

Similar Products Used:

pur, katadyn

i've used the guardian pretty extensively and i'm very impressed. the filter pumps much more efficently than the msr miniworks, and tastes much better than the pur voyager. there is no iodine taste (it's a filter not a purifier) and no carbon residue.

If you haven't used the guardian in a while I recommend pumping a liter and pouring it out, then pumping your drinking water. This takes an extra minute but give the filter a chance to work out the cobwebs.

One problem I found is that the water bottle adapter does not fit the new Nalgene small mouth Lexan bottles. I assume that Nalgene altered the shape of the lip, but Sweetwater needs to accomodate for that in future production. It's a big pain having to stick the tube directly into a small mouth bottle because it pops out very easily if you are trying to make sure that the tube does not get too far into the bottle.

the overflow valve is nice because if you pump it too quickly it will dispense a stream of water laterally, which is perfect for soaking anyone else who maybe be stuck on filter duty.

this is a top notch filter. if it came in a mesh sack and had a better adapter for small mouth nalgene bottles, it would be indispensible.

Customer Service

no problems yet

Similar Products Used:

msr miniworks filter
pur voyager
pur scout