I actually liked the Pur Pioneer better, it was lighter, more compact and used disposable filter discs. OK, there are places where water quality is a serious issue and you might want a filter (IMO, it's not the Sierra Nevada mountains). Remeber those days? Wander up to a pristine mountain stream, dip your cup in and drink. Otherwise I'm going back to the good old dip and drink system. I'll carry iodine for when I absolutely can't find a decent water supply. I've been converted.the water filter is staying at home. This winter I read this article about Giardia posted on the Yosemite Association web site. I've been carrying a filter since the Park and Forest Services started the giardia scare tactics back in the early 1980's. I also worry about he quality of the water when I open the filter up and find fuzzy green stuff growing (happens if it sits for more than a week without being stored completely dry). However, it's heavy at nearly a pound when dry and it's a hassle connectiing the hoses, pumping water then draining the filter and stowing it.
My Pur hiker has never failed and provides clear odor free good tasting water. You can treat something like 1000 gallons of water with one bottle. After you've treated about 2 gallons of water, refill the bottle with water and wait a little while to treat more water. Voila, drop it into your untreated water and wait 20 minutes. You fill the bottle with water and the solution becomes saturated with iodine. Rather than irritating tablets, polar-pur is simply a bottle filled with iodine crystals. Unfortunately this is not sold on the web. We have a FANTASTIC iodine treatment called Polar-Pur. I'll never forget being eaten alive by mosquitoes in Canada as I patiently pumped water. Lots of effort, lots of time, and lots of fiddling with the device. I found operation of this (or nearly any) backcountry pump very finicky. Most locations had a mere 0-2 giardia spores per *50 gallon* sample. Secor, in his Popular High Sierra guidebook, notes a forest service study where backcountry water was sampled at a variety of locations. Giardia risk is overstated, particularly at high altitudes and/or where no livestock travels.
That purpose is: in situations where treatment is needed and the only water source is full of undesirable sediments. In my opinion, filters have their purpose. Otherwise I'd be really pissed that it is so bulky, heavy (1 lb), and fragile (ours broke on perhaps the third backcountry trip, after a fairly benign drop). I have(had) a Pur Guide, which is similar to this one, but more expensive.