Anyone use one? All the reviews I see say they are great and are a real time/sanity saver.

Gravity Filters Thread

GREAT NAME!

Welcome to the boards :)

Welcome Aboard ManVsBWCA

I have a Katadyn Base Camp. It make life a lot easier.

I don't want to beat a dead horse, but if you are thinking about buying a gravity filter, be sure to read the thread Boji mentioned up above.

Some work and some don't. And some you just can't be sure of.

If you use a gravity filter that can't be backflushed (such as the Basecamp), be sure to take an alternative treatment system.

Pete

Try a sawyer one litre filter bottle set-up (WM around $35). Buy any bag similar to a solar shower or a 5 gallon collapsible. Get a couple small hose clamps and put the sawyer in-line filter on it. Simplicity and value for me.

I have used the Katadyn Base Camp on a couple of trips. It is lightweight, and filters water fairly fast. Like they say in the infomercial, "Set it and forget it". I filled it up 2x and let it filter into a 2.5 gal. jug. Last time I used it for 7 days w/o any clogging. I rarely thought about filtering for the entire trip.

I use the BaseCamp filter on most base camp/group trips. Wrapping a large coffee filter around the element is essential in "black water" lakes or it will clog pretty quickly. I always have a pump filter along as well, I would never bring only a gravity filter.