The Stig
10-08-2011, 01:26 PM
I have two water filer products, the Hiker and the Vario, both from Katadyn.
The hiker is a straightforward filter with a plastic body, plastic handle/pump stem and weighing in at 11oz. It's a simple, basic unit. It promises one quart per minute pump speeds. It uses a pleated "paper" cartridge with activated charcoal to filter water.
To pump one pulls the handle out and then presses it back down ala a bicycle pump. Water is drawn in on the out-stroke and then expelled on the down.
While definitely not flimsy, the Hiker doesn't inspire confidence that it will resist breakage from sharp impacts or over-zealous pumping. I can see that pump stem snapping off if someone pumps aggressively.
Katadyn website pricing is $64.95
http://shop.katadyn.com/media/dimg/c064329fe19d62d7d29a0a96a925ffef.jpg?l=1
The Vario is the top of the back-country line of filters. Slightly heavier than the hiker at 15oz it offers double the filter speed at two quarts per minute. It also uses a pleated "paper" cartridge with activated charcoal to filter the water, but also has a ceramic pre-filter for particularly nasty water. The output is adjustable between "more water" and "more filter" so you can adjust given your water conditions which is a nice feature. While also a plastic unit the grade of materials is much higher. The body & handle appear to be a glass filled nylon while the hiker is a more rigid ABS type material.
To filter the water one moves the handle up and down ala an old fashion water pump. Because of the design water is expelled on both movements of the handle thus the faster pumping rate.
Katadyn website pricing is $89.95
http://shop.katadyn.com/media/dimg/6c40a7fb83e21afb94f975576aa8c061.jpg?l=1
While it will be no shock that the higher priced, better featured Vario will out perform the more basic Hiker unit, I wanted to do a series of tests both to compare the unit but also determine if the extra cost of the Vario translates into extra value.
The hiker is a straightforward filter with a plastic body, plastic handle/pump stem and weighing in at 11oz. It's a simple, basic unit. It promises one quart per minute pump speeds. It uses a pleated "paper" cartridge with activated charcoal to filter water.
To pump one pulls the handle out and then presses it back down ala a bicycle pump. Water is drawn in on the out-stroke and then expelled on the down.
While definitely not flimsy, the Hiker doesn't inspire confidence that it will resist breakage from sharp impacts or over-zealous pumping. I can see that pump stem snapping off if someone pumps aggressively.
Katadyn website pricing is $64.95
http://shop.katadyn.com/media/dimg/c064329fe19d62d7d29a0a96a925ffef.jpg?l=1
The Vario is the top of the back-country line of filters. Slightly heavier than the hiker at 15oz it offers double the filter speed at two quarts per minute. It also uses a pleated "paper" cartridge with activated charcoal to filter the water, but also has a ceramic pre-filter for particularly nasty water. The output is adjustable between "more water" and "more filter" so you can adjust given your water conditions which is a nice feature. While also a plastic unit the grade of materials is much higher. The body & handle appear to be a glass filled nylon while the hiker is a more rigid ABS type material.
To filter the water one moves the handle up and down ala an old fashion water pump. Because of the design water is expelled on both movements of the handle thus the faster pumping rate.
Katadyn website pricing is $89.95
http://shop.katadyn.com/media/dimg/6c40a7fb83e21afb94f975576aa8c061.jpg?l=1
While it will be no shock that the higher priced, better featured Vario will out perform the more basic Hiker unit, I wanted to do a series of tests both to compare the unit but also determine if the extra cost of the Vario translates into extra value.