Got Water? You will with this pump! Remarkable value. Superb product!
Written: Sep 09 '02 (Updated May 13 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: A true standard for wilderness water filters and very affordable, too.
Cons: Doesn't kill viruses. Needs several scrubbings before becoming torrential.
The Bottom Line: Produce lots of clean water with aplomb. Carry much less fuel because you don't have to cook with contaminated water.
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| zlotmachinskyr's Full Review: MSR Mini Works Ceramic Water Filter |
I have tried many a micropore water filter and this is the best pump value I have found to date. Not only the best value but the best design ergonomically and easily cleanable and field repairable. My pump was slower at first use out of the box, but after about 4 throughal scrubbings it began to pump easily and copiously.
This is a rugged, compact and fairly light weight unit and as usual with MSR products, easily field maintainable. Buy a spare parts kit for fixes needed on the trail and you will be set. The carbon cored ceramic filter element is easy to scrub with supplied scrub pad and can be scrubbed with contaminated water. The filter core can even be boiled if need be and a measureing caliper is clipped onto the base cap for determining need for replacement.
The pump will thread directly onto a Nalgene wide mouth water bottle but that is not even the best part. The inlet hose is weighted and has a foam filter and above there is a foam float which just happens to cork a large 2.5 gallon water bag used for camp chores. This allows the pump person to sit down comfortably and pump large volumes of water directly from the camp water cow into their Nalgene brand bottles. So you can be away from the stream if you like and produce cyst and bacteria-free filtered water easily from the large resevoir bag that all properly equipped camps must have. It is notable that camp water supply bags utilize the same diameter rubber valve cap found on 2.5 gallon drinking water containers from the supermarket. So by design, I hope, the inlet line float also acts as an inlet line cork in conjunction with the camp water resevoir bag and it works very well indeed.
The pump handle is like that of a well waterpump and mechanically easier to use then a straight up and down bicycle pump style handle. One hand can almost pump this water filter if it is attached to a Nalgene wide mouth Lexan one-liter bottle.
A very rugged and nice design.
If you have trouble pumping at first then turn the pump upside down and pump to blow out or purge air in the line and / or pump mechanism.
This pumps works well at stream or lake side with it long weighted water inlet line and adjustable float. The water line is a long high grade long lasting silicone-rubber like material. All components of this water filter are very well made with fine fit and finish. One REI store I visited listed this unit as used by the U.S. Marine Corps, I do not know if it is official or standard issue but it should be.
It is easy to disassemble this pump and replace parts in the field.
Addendum: When finished pumping purge the residual water by pumping the handle and shake the water out of the inlet hose before you wrap it under the handle and around the tough plastic pump body and clip it to the hose clip on the end of the pump handle. Thread the end cap on and place the pump into a ziplock plastic bag or MSR stuff sack. Purging residual water from any pump is good practice as it may prevent damage from an icy temperature dip and reduces the opportunites for filtered organic material to "ferment" if you will.
Note: This pump is so good, I hope MSR makes it for a hundred years. An almost perfect product if that were possible. Wow this pump is good! If you depend on filtered water this pump will serve you well. It can serve as your workhorse filter for many many outings. The filtered water tastes great but high sierra water always does.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
zlotmachinskyr
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Location: California
Reviews written: 23
Trusted by: 5 members
About Me:
People deserve good stuff. Read me, avoid unnecessary buyers remorse. So listen up, OK?
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