Katadyn Purifier – How Much Effort to Suck?

Hi Ben,
I had one of those for a while and didn't like it. It weighed about 10 oz when empty, took considerable effort to suck (while simultaneously squeezing the bottle hard) and imparted a strong iodine taste to the water. I ultimately gave it away.

I have not used another squeeze filter to compare with it.

" and imparted a strong iodine taste to the water"

That would be a show stopper right there! Good to know, thanks, Ike.

My travel trips typically last two to three months. Bad taste aside, I am guessing the daily iodine exposure won't be good for me either.

I like my Steripen Adventurer. The problem I have with my current system is actually the hard plastic, wide-mouth Nalgene bottle! The first day or two (with daily washing with soap and water of course) — water will stay good for an entire day. After that, even with daily washing, bottle and water will smell and taste foul hours after UV treatment. In other words, I can wash the bottle thoroughly with soap and water in the morning, fill with tap water and treat — and water will be fine to drink only until about the afternoon — when it will start to stink. Sure, I can treat again and be confident that the baddies are all dead, but it's no fun drinking stale/foul water.

Interestingly, pouring boiling water into the Nalgene will stop the above — for a few days — before the problem resurface again. Luckily, some hotels provide in-room electric water kettles — but still an annoying problem.

Another thought…

Wonder why Katadyn didn't phase their filter in this order: prefilter –> iodine –> carbon –> filter?

The above sequence would remove the offensive taste and chemical side effects of iodine.