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Re: [AT-L] [AT-L] Sweetwater Guardian vs. Pur Hiker
Just some thoughts on a water filter on a thru-hike:
Check to see how easy it is to service in the field. Does it seem
to have lots and lots of small parts that need to be cleaned fairly
often?
Do you have to replace some sort of cartridge fairly often? You'll
need to budget accordingly, and make sure you have access to the
cartridge(s) as you hike along.
What kind of warranty does the manufacturer offer? What do they say
about how quick they can get a part to you? Will they only ship by
UPS, or can they do US Postal Service Express mail?
If your filter totally goes out on you, what sort of backup filtering
will you be carrying with you? Iodine, boiling (will need more fuel),
etc?
It's useful to keep in mind that a filter needs to work reliably on
a daily basis for much longer than three or four weeks. And when
problems develop, you need to be able to service it fairly easily in
the field. My comment from past experience in '94: several folks I
hiked with used the Sweetwater, which was new at that time. The filter
was small and worked great----for the first week or so. Then, it began
to clog and a part would break off. They would then fall back to boiling
or iodine, which some used the remainder of their trip. Others decided
to wait until they got to a good outdoors store and bought another filter--
usually one made by Pur. Of course, this was two years ago now, and the
manufacturers of the Sweetwater have probably improved it's design.
Marshall
"Tarkus"