Questions about the 42mm Hydrapak filter and Flex 1L bottle

In the past I used a different filter and bottle. I typically needed to backflush in the field and didn’t have bleach. I used a double concentration of aquamira. It didn’t leaving a taste. I backflushed when I noticed the filter slowing down or after using a particularly nasty water source.

Recently got a hydrapak 28mm filter to replace my 6y old Geigerrig  inline filter whose filtering speed is down to a trickle.

OMG… I guess I haven’t been tracking how much easier / faster the modern filters are.  I can easily drink with a platypus –> hydrapak filter –> drinking tube when the platypus is in my pack!! Years ago I tried to do this and couldn’t create enough suction without getting out of breath. For the last 12 years I have been using a Geigerrig bladder that has an air bladder I could inflate to produce enough pressure to force water through older generation filters.  It’s no longer needed which means my water system dropped from 12oz to 6oz.

The Hydrapak filter flows faster and easier than my platypus filter.  The platypus has single ingress and egress point.  The Hydrapak filter is encased by a plastic grid.  It is totally open to the water.  This makes it require far less pressure to pass water through.  I kept my Nalgene bottle in an insulated sleeve.  This freed up a pack pocket but kept water cool in the summer (a fabulous luxury) and prevented it from freezing in the winter (a necessity).  To my delight, the Flex 1L fits into the sleeve, even though it is taller than a Nalgene.  The Flex 1 bottle fills far more easily in shallow water than the Platypus “dirty” bag.  Of course, the time wasted transferring water from the Platypus bag to the Nalgene is eliminated.  In my trip up Longs Peak yesterday, filling up was such a non-event, I drank more water than usual, always a good practice. So far, this system is a big improvement over the Platypus/Nalgene combination.  Now, if only someone would incorporate an ice dispenser…

I am still using a BeFree but maybe I will up it to the Hydrapak cap for the extra 20g.

I am using an old Hydrapak 2L Seeker 60g and a 700ml Smartwater Bottle 28g.  The 2L Seeker is collapsible and very flexible with a few attachment points so I can put it anywhere.  The Smartwater bottle is more rigid so it is great to put in side pockets and small enough to ride on a front strap without getting in the way.  The 2L seeker cap is only 12g so not as much of a cut for that but if you cut both the weight of both storage systems would be about the same.

I just fill the Seeker and then squeeze it into the Smartwater Bottle.  But then I can have the 2L full also if I need to.  I understand that you a different style of bottle but just wanted to give you an extra option.

Thanks.

The cap snapped off my 42mm Hydrapak filter on the second use. Benign conditions, no hard usage. Cheap plastic is cheap plastic. I returned it and bought a BeFree, my second one the first lasting a few seasons at least. (Which is also plastic and can break of course.)

I need a new filter; my old BeFree just couldn’t filter more than drops any more, even after multiple cleanings/flushings. So… I thought about getting the Hydrapak, but according to REI you can’t easily use the Hydrapak 1 liter and filter to put water in another container. I use a Smartwater exclusively to drink from (as well as a 20 ounce bottle for electrolytes). Here was their answer to the question: “Yes, you could fill another bladder via this filtration bottle; it would be cumbersome and time consuming and the larger the bladder the longer it would take you to fill it up.”

So that gives me pause. It’s super easy to fill the Smartwater using the BeFree system. Why is Hydrapak so much more difficult? Also, thinking this weighs quite a bit more than the BeFree.