HydroBlu Versa Flow filter... anyone have any experience?

[ArisaemaDracontium]

I'm looking to upgrade from my 20+ year-old Pur Hiker filter. I was leaning towards the Saywer Squeeze since it looks like it can filter water quickly and easily. But, then I started reading about the HydroBlu Versa Flow, which is said to be smaller, lighter and less expensive than the Squeeze but much better water flow than the Saywer Mini.

Does anyone have any experience with the HydroBlu, or enough experience with the Sawyer to say weather or not the HydroBlu looks like a good idea or not?

[Lentamentalisk]

I have the sawyer mini, which looks to be pretty similar in size and function. It worked great for the first few liters, but then really slowed down, requiring me to sit on my filter bag to get any water out at all. These things need very frequent back flushing to keep clean. When I got home (fortunately this was just an overnight) I backflushed the filter and it is up and running again.

I expect the HydroBlu will be similar, but I have no direct experience.

[SlimJim]

I have used a hydro blue  filter for a couple years in a gravity setup.  It comes with a bit of hose and a fitting so you can attach it to a reservoir or dry bag or something.  You are right, the flow is good, its very lightweight and works great. For $20 you can't go wrong.

[vermont]

Can that filter screw onto Platy bags directly?

[ArisaemaDracontium]

So, got my HydroBlu, and it seems pretty slick. I bought the full "package" with some bags and hoses and such. While its slick how those bags screw into the filter, I really don't see how you would fill them up in the field... other than from a spigot, which obviously isn't useful.



So here is what I set-up:



I got an old, grungy, 100oz hydration bladder (Deuter) and connected that as my dirty water bag, and a bit of hose to a quick-coupler that I've had sitting around that allows me to filter water directly into my hydration pack hose.

No doubt, this will need some refinement, but it seems like a good starting point. The whole set-up weighs 1/4lbs less than my old Pur hiker, packs a lot easier, will be faster, and less effort to filter, and if necessary gives me another 100oz of (dirty) water when its going to be a while between water sources.