Would you trust this filter?

[Travis Leanna]

I just got a filter in the mail today that I purchased online. The company is very well respected by myself and many, many of you. I've contacted them and am waiting for a reply, but I'd like your opinion on the matter.

The filter came in a tyvek mailer, and looked like this. The label on the filter itself is actually ripped a bit. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but looking at the box, it made me question the integrity of the filter element. What do you think? Would you trust it?

[Stephen M]

Travis,

There is a good chance the filter could have a hairline crack, I would ask for your money back mate.

[Roleigh Martin]

Sawyer is the manufacturer. Did you buy from them or a reseller/retailer? I'd ask for a replacement to play it safe. Sawyer I believe stands behind their products but I bet they'd ask you to contact the seller first.

[Travis Leanna]

I think I posted this and got a reply from the seller at the exact same time. He said the filaments are not glass and would likely be ok, but in true form from this company, offered to replace it for me. I'd still like to know what you think.

I also know that the filter wasn't packaged like this. What I mean, is that I'm pretty sure the box looked brand new when mailed, and the USPS beat the hell out of it.

[Tad Englund]

If it was at the REI garage sale for $10 I'd buy it and use it (if I didn't see/find any cracks). The filter system is a fiber tube thingie and even though the PO abused the heck out of it, it should still work fine.

But you paid for a new, nice looking filter and you should be the one to put the first marks in it.
The PO and the store should have to both share in the cost of it because it wasn't packaged correctly and then banged around. Both of which are not your problem.

Talk them into letting you keep it instead of shipping it back (cheaper for them) and then donate it to your local favorite youth group who backpack.

[Nick Gatel]

I hate it when my AquaMira or MicroPur tablets get crushed by USPS, UPS, or FexEx. But they still work. :)

Anyway… take the company up on the offer. You would have to watch ape handlers load trucks to truly appreciate how they mishandle goods. That filter could have been thrown 30 feet into a bin or other storage transport container doohickey. And it could have been shipped that way from the vendor.

[Daniel Fish]

…

[Cayenne Redmonk]

I think it's fine.

[Roger Caffin]

Probably.

Cheers

[Travis Leanna]

Roger, for all of the times you have a definitive, authoritative, scientifically based answer, you come up here with a resounding…."probably."

:)

I know, no way to tell for sure.

[Ian]

If it was me, I'd always worry that it wasn't filtering properly. I'd return it.

[Pete Staehling]

Unless there is more damage than shown in the pictures, I would trust it.

That said, you paid for a new one in pristine condition so if exchanging it for a new one isn't too much hassle I would do so. If bought from some one that would allow returning it locally I'd take it back; if I had to pay shipping to return it I probably wouldn't.

[Anonymous]

"You would have to watch ape handlers load trucks to truly appreciate how they mishandle goods"

Unfortunately the above tends to be true (at least in my past experience). Some of my first jobs for a couple of years were loading trucks and sorting, and i worked for both UPS and Fed Ex at some point. A lot of my co-workers seemed to have little to no respect or consideration at all, and delighted in often abusing packages and fairly consistently so (though to be fair, at UPS they worked us much harder and supervised more closely and so there was less time for such shenanigans).

Tossing or throwing packages to speed things up (usually when there were chute jams, etc), was often even tolerated by the supervisors, but that wasn't the half of it. Deliberately kicking a package like a football, punching, etc. were common place. Needless to say, when shipping a fragile package now, i wrap it very well.

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