BeFree Filter Update: Bad News, 3 Days on the Trail with 5 People

Has anyone cleaned and stored the filter per Katydyn’s recommendations?

And FWIW, as I told Tony at one of the GGGs, I had one of the BeFree filters that pretty much stopped working. I put it in some water and left it there for a week or so. Came back to nearly new. No bleach, just water. Put it back in the water and left it there for a number of weeks as I wasn’t using it. Worked fine when I tested it again.

No idea how long it would be okay to store in water. I think Ryan was doing some tests about this, but haven’t seen anything about results. Hopefully, if he did do such tests, he’ll share the results.

I think I stored mine according to the instructions. I swished it in tap water with a little bleach and then air dried it on the kitchen counter for several days (low humidity here in AZ) and then stored it in a drawer with some air flow.

Another data point…

I just pulled out my filter after it had been dry in my backpacking box since last August.
Based on this thread I expected I would need to soak it for a few days.
But it worked with great flow within minutes.

I have to say after about a year of use that this has been the best value product that I have owned for hiking/running/backpacking. I probably have 50 days in the field with it and it is flawless. I’ll be taking it to Wyoming in a few weeks as my primary treatment. Like others, it is a tiny bit slow until it is fully saturated, after that it’s flawless.

CLR?

All this trouble? Why not stick with the sawyer?

Also: After all these treatments with vinegar/clr etc. does it still filter out microbes as spec’ed? Doesn’t it harm the filter?

Why not stick with the sawyer?

Because the BeFree is faster and arguably more convenient to use than the Sawyer, at least for the duration of its real-world lifespan (about one hiking season depending on usage). The Sawyer has better longevity and field maintainability for a similar price. So it’s a matter of trade offs – some people will understandably prefer one filter over the other.

“Why not stick with the sawyer?”

Because it’s that much faster.

“Why not stick with the sawyer?”

Because it’s that much faster.

…until it isn’t. I don’t mean to be snarky, but like so many others, the BeFree starts out like a bandit, but if you ever filter taneum (brown/tea-stained leaf decay water) or any type of silt, the BeFree slows to a frustrating trickle and can’t be easily backflushed. I can backflush it with a Sawyer Syringe, but it’s not easy and only gives you some of your flow back. At that point I might as well be carrying the Sawyer Squeeze, as it’s a bit easier to fit into an inline or gravity system and it’s easier to backflush.

I hope everyone carries chlorine dioxide tablets or drops as a “final backup”.

Currently I do NOT carry a microbial filter, only a Steripen (W/ spare batteries) for my bike bottle that I use for electrolyte mix. For my hydration bladder I use Katadyn chlorine dioxide tablets when I fill it at night. By morning I’m sure I’ve got purified water. I do use #1 coffee filters in a small funnel for all my water to filter out bugs and small children.

I’ve relegated my microbial filters to car and kayak camping. Too heavy and too unreliable for backpacking.

Chiming in here to say I used one for four days in kluane. On the third day all the creeks where full of glacial silt. My steripen would have never worked. The befree filtered dark brown water fine, about 4 liters worth. Then it clogged bad. Some other hikers found a trickle of clear water and after about 6-8 “shakes” the tubes went from dark brown to a light grey and most of the flow was restored. Still way better than my Sawyer.

After the hike I swished and shaked even more and it looks even better.

I think I will pick up a hydrapak bladder as well but the mouth doesn’t look all that larger for collecting water. Do the hydrapak allow in water easily from shallow streams? The befree bottle is pretty decent at this but a bladder like a cnoc would be better I think.