Product Description

The best water system for base camps, family and group camping. Perfect when large volumes of water are needed.

Product Details

• Size: One Size
• Color: Black
• Brand: Katadyn
• Model: 8010655
• Dimensions: .0" h x .0" w x .0" l, 2.00 pounds

Features

• The convenient (and lazy) way for safe potable drinking water - just fill and hang
• No pumping required - ideal for camping, backpacking, canoeing, paddling, etc.
• Produces up to 2.5 gallons of treated water in just 15 minutes
• Uses field cleanable Hiker PRO cartridge
• Filters 200+ gallons of water (more when using Filter Protector)

Product Review
From Backpackgeartest.org
The Katadyn Base Camp filter is a gravity feed filter system that utilizes a bag that is filled with unfiltered water, hung, and allows gravity to feed the water through the filter media into a water container. It is one of Katadyn's Backcountry Series of filters.

Initial Impressions
The Katadyn Base Camp filter arrived at my home packaged in an attractive display box. The box contained the filter bag, filter cartridge, lock ring for filter cartridge, hose, hose valve, and a small plastic bag containing the instruction book, a small tube of silicone lubricant, and a sponge.

My initial impression of the product, based solely on its appearance and packaging, was that it seemed to be an attractive and well-designed unit. The bag is similar in construction to a dry bag (a nylon material coated on the inside, with a top that rolls down and buckles to close). The bag has a plastic insert at the bottom to accept the filter. I find the bright blue color to be attractive, and feel it strikes a good balance between being unobtrusive during an outdoor experience, yet still bright enough that I'm unlikely to lose it by not noticing I left it in camp. A close examination of the bag revealed what appears to me to be soundly welded seams in the bag, good stitching where the straps and buckles are located, and a well-constructed unit.

The filter itself is a pleated material (much like an air filter in a car) mounted in an otherwise plastic cylinder. The manufacturer's website describes this filter material as a glass fiber. Over the pleated surface was wrapped what the manufacturer refers to as a filter protector (a very fine mesh screen) that is held on by a cylinder of plastic mesh. The filter and filter protector seem to be constructed in keeping with the simple design of the unit as a whole.

The shutoff valve is a simple plastic clip that slides over the discharge hose, and can be pinched to stop the flow, or released to allow filtration.

Reading the Instructions
The instruction manual was very straightforward, with good line drawings and text explanations. There are two omissions I noticed. First was the lack of an explanation surrounding the installation and operation of the hose valve, though I found this to be self-explanatory. The second omission was any explanation of the purpose of the sponge provided, though I have been told it is for cleaning the filter protector. Instructions were included in English and French, and covered product set-up, normal operation, field performance tips, long-term storage, cartridge capacity, replacement cartridge installation, product registration, and warranty information (along with basic information on water filtration).

In the field performance tips section the manual describes how to temporarily clean the filter cartridge in the field should it become clogged, a process I hope to try out while testing this product.

In addition to the manual, there is a label titled "Important Field Tips" sewn to the top of the bag that provides 6 line drawings that explain how to assemble and use the filter.

At the manufacturer's website additional information is found in the Frequently Asked Questions section. In this section I found several helpful tips, including allowing sediment to settle out of water in another container prior to filtering it, and wrapping a bandana or similar item around the filter cartridge to extend its life when filtering very dirty water.

Trying it out
I found assembly of the filter to be fairly straightforward. While at first I didn't think I would need to use the silicone lubricant to insert the cartridge into the plastic insert in the bag, I quickly realized I would need to. After lubricating the o-ring, the cartridge slid in with moderate effort. Insertion of the hose onto the filter barb took a couple of tries, as the filter barb is recessed into the base of the filter between four flanges, and I have big fingers. I found the silicone lubricant to be helpful here as well. Once these tasks were completed, I simply threaded the plastic lock ring (that prevents the filter from simply falling out) onto the flange and slipped on the hose valve and the filter was ready for use.

One note on assembly is that there is a warning in the instructions not to grasp the cartridge around the pleated surface or it could become damaged. This warning made me wonder how much caution will be required in my pack, as the filter cartridge is essentially unprotected from crushing. This is something I will monitor during field testing. Once the filter was assembled, I decided to try it out in my kitchen. The first thing I realized was that filling the bag isn't as easy as I thought it would be with one person. Even at my sink, trying to hold the bag with one hand and fill with the other was a challenge. The bag flipped closed at one point, causing the water to flow down the front of my pants. Once I figured out how to hold it to prevent that from happening, I realized the bag gets pretty heavy as it fills. I plan to try filling the filter on the ground during field testing to see if that is easier. I also wonder how realistic it will be to fill the bag directly from, for example, a lake while keeping the discharge hose out of the unfiltered water, at least by myself.

The next challenge became finding a place to hang the filter, for which I chose the back of a chair. Due to the bag being barely above the outlet end of the hose the flow was very slow, but it did confirm the operation of the filter and confirmed there were no leaks. The flow valve was easy to close and seemed to lock very securely. The valve released okay, but my big fingers made releasing a little more difficult.

I followed the instructions to filter 2 L (2.1 qt) of water to flush the filter of carbon. While the instructions noted that this water might be discolored, I wasn't expecting the first flow to be black. The carbon quickly cleared, however.

The water filtered after this initial flush was clear. I conducted a side-by-side taste test between my unfiltered tap water and the filtered tap water. There was a slight, but detectable, improvement in the filtered water's taste, which I suspect was the result of the carbon in the filter absorbing residual chlorine from my tap water.

Testing Strategy
I plan to test the filter by using it to filter all my water for the trips I take during the test period, save what I carry in at the trailhead. I am a heavy consumer of water while backpacking. Since I will be providing water for up to four people on many of my trips, this filter will see a great deal of use during the test period, likely filtering in excess of 50 gallons (189 L) of water from a broad variety of sources.

Throughout the testing I will work to evaluate the following areas:

• Ease of use - Is the filter easy to operate? Is maintenance easy to perform? Is it easy to fill the bag? Are closures easy to operate? Is it convenient to use? What kind of flow rate can I expect under varying real-world conditions? Does the output speed decline as the filters begin to clog? Is it easy to hang?
• Design - Does the filter work well with my usual combination of hydration bladder and bottles? Does it fit well in my pack? Are the hoses long enough to use easily where I'm able to find a place to hang it? Does it seal in the water being filtered well, or does it leak? Does the buckle and top closure seem secure? Does the hose valve work well? Does the material seem to hold up well, or does it fade or become brittle with use? Does the color of the bag tend to absorb solar heat, making the water too warm for drinking? Does the filter clog when used with nasty-looking water? Does sediment or slime from the water build up in the bag, and if so, how easy is it to clean?
• Quality of Filtration - Do I notice any off tastes in the water? Is the water at all cloudy? Can it make tannin filled water (which is bitter-tasting from all the vegetable matter steeped in it) along the Washington coast palatable?
• Component Quality and Reliability - Can the filter stand up to my typical use? Are there any areas prone to wear or failure? Does it reliably provide me with safe drinking water, or is it prone to failure, leaving me to resort to a chemical treatment backup? If I encounter freezing temperatures do basic precautions such as draining the filter prevent damage?

Summary
Overall the Katadyn Base Camp filter appears to be a well-constructed, well-designed filter. I look forward to evaluating its performance under real-world conditions.

Customer Reviews

Lotsa water!
This was perfect for our 4 day 8 person hike. No pumping required, just someplace to hang it. (We took turns holding it up in some cases). The filter lasts for a long time, the water tasted great, it was light, and compact. I love this product.

4 day adirondack trip
9 of us went into the Back country of western Adirondack Park. I had High hopes of the camp filter not bringing the usual back up hand pump, just iodine tablets. We filled it the first time at 1 pm Thursday and it ran flawlessly for three days basically non stop till Saturday late afternoon when the drip started to slow to a slow fizzle. We figured we made between 150 to 175 gallons of water that was used to cook and drink. Would have liked to hav just brought a back-up filter. The extra insurance would have been well worth the $. Excellent product.

Moderate results and a bit of confusion...
I bought the Katadyn Base Camp after doing what I thought was quite a bit of research. Previously, I had used an MSR pump with reasonable results. My camping is done in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area of Minnesota. In previous years, I had found that I had to clean the ceramic filter of the MSR every 2-3 liters to get adequate flow rate, especially in the summer when there were more "swimmers". It took a good bit of effort (and a tired arm) to filter the 6-8 liters of water that a group of 4 would go through in a 24 hour period.

So I found the Katadyn Base Camp. Read up on the reviews both here at Amazon and on MULTIPLE other web sites. Bought it here and was promptly delivered (good job Amazon!). Just got back from the BWCA (mid-May 2008, 1 week after ice going off the lakes--i.e. pretty darn clean water). At first I was very impressed. Filtering from the Base Camp hung from a tree branch with hose completely extended, filtering into collapsable 96oz (3L) Nalgene bags. One 3L bag in about 7 minutes. Wow! The second 3L bag slightly slower but perhaps because the filter within the bag wasnot completely covered now that 3 liters was gone from the hanging bag.

The second day out, the first 3L bag was again good, but by the second bag quite a bit slower. So I cleaned the fine mesh sheet that covers the microfiber glass pleated filter. That seemed to help a little, but still didn't get back to the original 7 minute mark. Suffice it to say that by the third and fourth days (at 6L per day), flow rate was at a SLOW trickle even with repeated attempts at cleaning. Don't get me wrong, it still worked. I could hang the filter, set a collection bag underneath and go about other camp duties, or even fish for a bit and come back 1-2 HOURS later to find an almost full 3L bag of filtered water.

According to the Katadyn web site the Hiker Pro filter should not need cleaning. "Just swish around in clean water" and, of course, sponge off the pre-filter mesh screen. Once home, I find no good way to clean the pleated filter without considerable work. Even tried a toothbrush, but that makes for lots of loose glass fibers...will likely throw this first filter out. Luckily I bought a replacement.

Now, and this is where my confusion comes in, Katadyn makes a Siphon filter that is ceramic (suposedly good for 20,000L) and can be cleaned just like my old MSR filter and is listed as a "replacement filter for the Katadyn Camp" NOTE THIS IS NOT THE BASE CAMP. The Katadyn Camp is a similar product not sold in the USA (through Katadyn at least, though available from some outdoor retailers) that uses the ceramic filter. It has a different base that screws on to the bottom of the bag. All of the pictures of the Katadyn Camp show a black cap on the bottom that looks like a pull top water bottle. In fact the Katadyn BASE Camp picture on the Amazon site (as well as most other US online retailers) is not the BASE Camp model but is a picture of the similar and yet fundamentally different filtered CAMP model. The Base Camp does not have a black cap. It instead has a blue ring that clamps the Hiker Pro filter in place. To add to the confusion, if you check out the Katadyn website only the Camp model is listed with ceramic filter (unfortunately this was part of my original research and thus I was mislead by my own lack of attention to detail). The USA katadyn website ([...]) does only listes the Base Camp model with the hiker pro filter. Why the difference, I know not.

I am still waiting for a reply from Katadyn to see whether the Siphon filter works with the Base Camp, and what, if any, additional adapter is needed. If anyone knows, please post a response. To me it makes much more sense to use a much longer lasting, and truly cleanable filter.

So, my bottom line is that it is disappointing that the Hiker Pro filter flow rate drops precipitously after only a couple of days of use in what I think was pretty darn clean water (supposed to be good for up to 250 gal.). On the other hand, even with the poor flow rate there was NO PUMPING (yeah!), and I had adequate amounts of filtered water with very little effort. Take it for what you will.