MSR Guardian – Self Cleaning Water Filter

Probably would never need it myself. Might be novel to drink straight from the Potomac, but I'm not sure why I'd want to. :)

Wonder how much it weighs. Obviously won't be very light, but I'm curious.

I'm a bit sceptical of the marketing hype.

"Will NOT be damaged by freezing"

Yeah, obviously that's because "hollow fibers are not damaged by low temps" (from their website). Unfortunately once said hollow fibers become waterlogged, they ARE going to be damaged – by low temps in conjunction with water.

MSR are not the first to use hollow fibre technology. As an example Lifesaver clearly state that unopened, the filter membranes can be stored in temps upto -10C. Once filled with water however the lowest storage/operation temperature rises to 0C – hence their warning that opened/in use filters must not be allowed to freeze.

Readily available on the market for around $100. 14 oz.

"Readily available on the market for around $100. 14 oz."

I don't think it's the same one. The Sweetwater Guardian is an older, different filter. All stories I've seen so far say the MSRP is $349 and it won't be available until Jan. 2016.

"Readily available on the market for around $100. 14 oz."

Are you referring to this one, or another filter? The article says this one will be available January 2016…

http://gearjunkie.com/msr-guardian-water-purifier-review $349 MSRP 17 oz

If you were a bacteria, a virus by comparison would be a mouse. No way will that filter viruses. All purifiers use other means to treat them. I suppose they are using "filter" as a generic term for "remove" but that isn't the way it works.

“No way will that filter viruses.” Imagine how upset the military is going to be when they learn this isn’t true.

Yeah, there's a lot of water filters designed for third world use that filter out viruses. They are all fairly expensive, as is this one, but it's not really uncommon. I cannot recall the name of them at the moment. I tried googling, and failed. Boo.

The Firstneed always claimed to filter viruses. Not sure how they exactly eliminated them, but the claim was basically filtration (no chemicals).

http://www.buylifestraw.com/en/products/lifestraw-mission Lifestraw claims to remove 99.999% of all viruses that can contaminate water.

I've had the First Need XL filter for 5 years now. I usually just use it on family trips when the kids are along. It has similar specs to the new MSR filter, and it's also classified as a purifier (removes viruses per independent lab testing). It's 17 oz and around $100. If it weren't for the weight, I'd use it more, as it's very convenient. The new XLE cartridges make cleaning easier, but I haven't had the need for a new cartridge yet.

Lori, Why do you keep trying to pass off this misinformation? Viruses can certainly be filtered using modern technology, especially nanoporous polymer membranes.

^ That's because he cannot stomach the difference between 0.2 and 0.02 microns. Let alone 0.015 microns – its probably beyond his understanding lol ;)

My concern would be the claim of 'self-cleaning'. Apparently it diverts about 10% of the flow to cleaning. However, I would bet there are conditions where it would require more than 10% of the flow to clean the filter. So my question for them would be… how do you clean the filter if the 10% is not enough? Does it have a cleanable ceramic prefilter like the Katadyn Vario? If not, I might think sticking with the cleanable prefilter would be better in really dirty water…. like the canyons of Utah. billy

I asked MSR to confirm freezing a Gaurdian is not a problem – To: Consumer Services Subject: Guardian Water Filter Please confirm that a Guardian water filter, after use and "pumped dry" will not be damaged by freezing. A simple Yes or No would be sufficient. Thanks. Hello Greg, The Guardian filter will not be harmed if you freeze the unit. I hope this helps, Andrew McColm | CASCADE DESIGNS | 4225 2nd Ave S. Seattle, WA 98134 | 800-531-9531

^ This is actually a perfect example where I think myself lucky in finding "a simple Yes or No" utterly insufficient.

I was able to look at the instructions online, and I believe it can be froze based on the warning messages in the instructions.  Has any body got one?

“IN FREEZING TEMPERATURES
DO NOT pump the Purifier if its Filter Cartridge is frozen.
The cartridge MUST be fully thawed before pumping.”

“WARNING – DO NOT pump water over 160°F (71°C). DO NOT pump
if purifier is frozen. These actions could damage the purifier”

OUT CALLLING………

Has ANYONE from BPL purchased, used OR backpacked for a period of time using one of these “17 oz critters” and CAN enlighten us all from your use?

FROM CURIOUS old timer……..

Ken,

I purchased one of these behemoths a little over a month ago.  Found a reseller with a 15% off coupon and no tax/free shipping so it was slightly more palatable.

I’ve only used it in the field twice, so I’ve hardly put it through its paces.  However, it is definitely easy to use: just drop the hose into a water source (river, stream, puddle..gutter, etc), attach your wide mouth bottle or bag, and start pumping.  Pumping force is what I’d call ‘mild’ and if you pump quickly it’ll definitely hit the 2.5L/min claimed rate.

It seems to be very well designed and constructed, what with the drop ‘proof’ and freeze resistant specs.  Also to note: it’s designed for use with wide mouth bottles or bags that screw on to the bottom, but the clean water outlet also will accept a standard camelbak or platypus hose, the same size that you’d use with a sawyer filter.

I switched to this from a 2x sawyer mini setup (for my wife and I) after spending what seemed like every resting moment during BP trips squeezing water into containers and backflusing at least once a day.  It’s probably the biggest philosophy change you can make when it comes to water treatment… from 2 x ~2oz filters to a huge 17oz purifier, but I love the idea of being able to easily stop and get each of us a liter of water in about a minute, drink, and keep moving.  This is in contrast to stopping for at least 5 minutes and slowly filtering with the sawyer minis or carrying the dirty water to drink out of an inline setup.  Each system has it’s merits, but I had had it with the squeeze type filters after my last 3-day loop.

Also, Lori P’s statement in this thread is completely false.  She made that statement without doing any research, unfortunately.

MSR Guardian retails at about $350. Three hundred and fifty dollars.
PHEW!
It also weighs a ton.

Some of the hype which MSR and various vendors of the filter are spouting reminds me of the hype over the pressure-regulator stoves, and before that the first Jetboil stove (boil time about 2 min). And so on.

I wonder whether the level of hype is proportional to the retail price and the expected profit margin? Surely not?

Also, please note that there are MANY alternatives to this Hummer, mostly lighter and cheaper. (And just as fully effective against visuses of course.)

Cheers

Yeah Roger, well, I blame YOU for not telling me about those Rapid Pure filters when I originally made this thread.

Seriously, until you mentioned them in another thread recently, I had no idea they existed and despite their drawbacks, are pretty appealing.  But now I’ve invested a lot of money and ounces into this…….

50% serious :)

Can you freeze the Rapid Pure filters?