Just purchased one each for my wife and I. I was wondering if anyone yet has had any experience out in the field with these little guys. They seem to be pretty cool and the price is right. Any thoughts out there?

Edited by kennyhel77 on 12/15/2007 14:39:20 MST.

Warning: Absolutely no firsthand experience whatsoever.

To me, when water source is pristine, then a filter is unnecesary. On the other hand, if water source is suspect, then this particular filter may be giving a false sense of security! Most quality filters have a filter size of 0.2 to 0.3 microns. This one is 3.0 -- or TEN TO FIFTEEN TIMES as big! Bacteria size starts at 0.2 micron -- so with both their small size AND the pressure from your sucking -- I bet 10 or 15 of them linking arms across can still waltz right through!

IMO, when I feel the need for a filter, I'd bring a quality one -- rather than a toy "pretend" filter. My two cents.

Edited by ben2world on 12/15/2007 16:21:10 MST.

I bought one to try out. From the start I figured to use it in conjunction with Aqua Mira to "prefilter" murky or questionable water before adding the chemical treatment. The Frontier Pro would hopefully make the water more clear and remove any pollutants that might be in there, and the Aqua Mira would make sure that any cooties which may have slipped through would not live to celebrate their victory somewhere in my intestinal tract. Even as a two-stage system this would still be lighter than most other one-stage filters out there and a lot less bulky.

However, this is all theory as I have not yet had the chance to field-test it. I don't think it is quite fair to call the Frotier Pro a "toy" however.

Michael

I called it a "toy" because in my opinion, a filter is a tool to weed out baddies like bacteria and protozoa (cysts, crypto) -- and anything that can't do that reliably is not worthy of the name -- and thus, a toy. I may be overly harsh though...

But I agree that it can be used in conjunction with something else -- such as chemical treatments. In theory, one can first treat the water with chemicals like chlorine dioxide to kill viruses and bacteria (let chemicals do what they do best) -- then take care of the harder-to-kill stuff like protozoa (crypto) by filtering. However, the 3.0 micron size is still 50% BIGGER than the size of smaller protozoa -- which start at 2.0 micron! So again, is it still a false sense of security for the times when you truly need the filter?

The Seychelle in-line filter is just an ounce plus a few dollars more than the AQ Frontier Pro. I also don't see using this as a stand alone, but rather in conjunction with chemicals. Once the water is chemically treated against bacteria and viruses, the Seychelle's smaller pore size (2.0 micron) is sized appropriately to protect against protozoa.

Finally...

Warning: Self Promotion -

If anyone is interested in getting a Seychelle for cheap to try it out, please click here for a lightly used one as well as an extra brand new, still shrink-wrapped filter element.

Edited by ben2world on 12/15/2007 17:44:12 MST.

Great insight guys. I have actually thought about using it in conjunction with either Klearwater or Aqua Mira. I need to do some test here to see how much the choline taste is after using the filter. I just don't like that chlorine taste that is why I don't use chlorine dioxide for my only source of water purification