4 Days & 36 Miles on the Trail with the BeFree Filter

Three of us recently returned from a 4 day trip in the Emigrant Wilderness in California, which is just North of Yosemite….all of us carrying brand new BeFree Filters.

https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/16654/

This is a link from a trip that I took to Emigrant Wilderness in 2008….this was a return to Frazier Lakes.

Anyway, wanted to report back on my experience using the BeFree Filter.

I used my BeFree Filter as both a water storage bottle and filter, which was stored on the side pocket of my MLD Exodus with Suspension Upgrade.

I pulled out the water bottle as needed to drink on the go, filtering the dirty water held in the 1 Liter bottle that came with the filter.

Quick Highlights:

1. The plastic cap snapped off the filter on the 2nd date of the trip
2. The broken cap could be snapped back on but was not secure enough and I worried that it would eventually be lost on the trail, so I removed it
3. Without the cap water would leak from the output portion of the filter, rendering the filter and bottle useless as water bottle for use on the go
4. This forced me to filter water at water sources into the Platypus water bottle that I bought for use with my Sawyer mini as a back up in case the BeFree failed
5. After 4 days of use pushing at least 8 Liters a day through my BeFree filter, the flow was really good, slightly slower than when new, but so much better than my old Sawyer mini. No one in my group had an noticeable decreases in performance with their BeFree filter.
6. One of the BeFree 1 L bottles was leaking a little bit after 3 days of use, but not sure if it is the wield between the wide mouth top and soft material of the water bottle or the BeFree not able to screw on tightly to create a water proof seal.  Note: one of our bottles started to have an orange discoloration in the plastic bottle material…the “hard” wide mouth top seemed fine.
7. I brought the Hydrapak Seeker 2L and 3L water bottles for in camp water storage/use. Great bags, wide mouth opening fit the BeFree perfectly. Strong bottles that don’t weight much….no worries about damaging or puncturing the Seeker bottles, if handled with reasonable care.
8. Seeker bottles being larger were a more convenient to use to maintain the BeFree Filter by vigorously shaking the filter while attached to a partially filled Seeker bottle. Much easier than using the 1 Liter bottle included with the BeFree, but I did not have a problem using the 1 Liter bottle on the trail to shake the filter to maintain it and, hopefully, to keep the flow rate going fast.

Recommendations for improvement:

• Replace the snap top cap with a sport top cap
• Make the soft bottle material slightly thicker/more durable, like the Seeker bottle, but not as heavy duty like the Seeker bottle, so as to save weight

My opinion & recommendations:

1. The BeFree water filter/bottle is a game changer that should make Sawyer take note and work on version 3.0 of the Sawyer to improve their rate of flow/filtering. (Note: I have been using the Sawyer filter since 2008 in the original “black” inline filter and the mini more recently)
2. The ease of use and fast filter speed of the BeFree cannot be understated. The wide mouth bottle eliminates the need to carry a scoop with a platypus paired with a Sawyer. The wide mouth is faster to fill the bottle than using a Smart Water bottle. The speed of of filtering is so fast with the BeFree that I have stopped using a hydration tube connected to the Sawyer mini, which was connected to a dirty water bottle to filter on demand. I used this system because squeezing water through the Sawyer was time consuming/slow. I can now quickly and easily filter clean water into a Platypus. For me, hydration system not needed….saves me weight.
3. The inability to back flush the BeFree like the Sawyer filter creates a little concern for me for use on long trips/thru hikes. Will it be a question of “when” the BeFree clogs up and fails or a matter of “if”??? One can argue that the low weight of the replacement filter means you could easily carry a 2nd one as a back up, but should you have to resort to that if the BeFree was better designed to allow for proper back flushing?
4. The flip top/cap of the BeFree needs to be replaced with a sport top pull cap. The current flip cap is completely unacceptable and the fact that mine broke on the 2nd day of use is unforgivable. When the cap is broken off, it renders the bottle useless as a means of storing water and drinking on the go. This, in turn, forces you to take along another water bottle to store clean water for drinking on the go. In my case, I was glad that I brought my 1 Liter Platypus with me. Yes, I could have used my 2 Liter or 3 Liter Seeker bottle on the side of my pack, but that would be bulky and frankly, the wrong size bottle for the side pocket of my MLD pack.
5. Make the soft water bottle material of the included 1 Liter bottle a little more thicker/stronger. Though I did not have any problems with puncturing the water bottle, it does seem a bit thin and I worry about long term durability with repeated use. Again, somewhere in between the thickness of the Seeker water bottle from Hydrapak and the BeFree’s included water bottle.
6. I love this filter! It solves the major complaints that I had for years with the Sawyer filters. This WILL be my go to filter from now on, despite its short comings. My hope is that Version 1.5 or 2.0 will address my concerns/complaints. Other than being able to back flush the BeFree, I think that it would not be difficult to address the issue of the flip top cap breaking off by simply replacing it with a sport bottle pull top. This is my major suggestion for improvement. Changing the water bottle material to be stronger/thicker is more than a want than absolute need like the sport top is.

Anyway, hope this helps….would be interested in getting other users feed back and experiences listed here.

Tony