User Review: Katadyn Guide

Katadyn Guide
Above: The current Guide, which may differ slightly from the version reviewed.

Reviewed October 30, 2007 by Dusty Boots

Rating:
Price Paid: $79.99

Although a little heavier than other filtering units, this is the best one I've come across, that also has a reasonable price tag! When I bought this unit in 2004, this was the fastest and required the least effort to produce a litre of water.

I had a chance to directly compare 12 filters and this one came out at the head of the pack. The only downside is that the elements are fairly expensive and do require replacing after its useful life has been exhausted.

On the upside, these filter elements last a long time. I have three years on my current element and it's performance has not deteriorated noticeably. I've used it everywhere from turbid desert creeks, heavily laden with red sand,(SE Utah) to silt laden glaciated streams in BC and it still produces 1 Litre of water in 34 effortless strokes. Filtered water literally gushes forth.

No awkward levers to wrestle with. The pump arrangement is IMHO ergonomically easier to use. I bought the optional attachment that allows you to directly attach the filter to a Nalgene or MSR Dromedary. I believe they (attachment) are included in the Kat Guide Pro unit package.

I would not hesitate to buy this filter unit again as it's 'a keeper'!