I purchased the MSR because I wanted a cleanable filter and, being a kayaker, was not concerned with weight. The filter screws onto my MSR, Reliance and Nalgene bottles which is a great help as I do not need to worry about my clean hose getting dirty.
As a fanatic regarding pre-filtering, I have never had any problems and suspect that complaints about clogging are the result of the buyer trying to filter mud. So long as you use the thing properly and prefilter, the Miniworks will last forev...er.
I bought one for a friend whose dog chewed the handle off but a piece of PVC was added and the filter continued to work well.
Re the comment about lack of customer service... I lost the duckbill valve after one trip and a casual request to MSR asking if they knew where I could buy a replacement as their website does not mnention them netted an immeiatereply asking for a mailing addressand afewdays later I got a replacement valve for free.
The Miniworks is a good filter and I generally keep it in my dryhatch for all trips.
Over 22 years and still going strong! It's not the most compact filter, and not the lightest, but it is particularly easy to maintain. Fantastic filter that tends to have very little go wrong, as long as the water is not too murky. I recommend that you let silty or muddy water settle out before pumping. Otherwise, you'll be cleaning the filter every litre. I love the ceramic filter that lasts and lasts--thousands and thousands of litres, year after year. The only time I have ever had a proble...m with the filter was when dropped it on a rock and cracked it while cleaning it. Pop in a new filter and good to go for more thousands of litres.
MSR MiniWorks EX Ceramic Water Filter The MSR MiniWorks EX Ceramic Water Filter is the complete filter for all your hydration necessities, when out on the road. This product's ceramic element provides a great degree of durability and ensures that you get safe and pure water, even with heavy usage. It is easy to keep up, as it can completely disassembled without the use of any tools, so you can clean it thoroughly. The AirSpring accumulator provides for immediate use, as it pumps nearly .264 gallons per minute, meaning that you've always got fresh water, even when time is at a premium. Since this product is compact, you can tuck it away with rest of your camping gear and carry it wherever you go. Thanks to the MSR MiniWorks EX Ceramic Water Filter, you've always got a supply of fresh drinking water no matter where you are.
This product can only be shipped to U.S. addresses.
The MiniWorks EX is the best-selling filter on the market, delivering long-lasting, fully field-maintainable water filtration
Its durable ceramic element ensures protection, pumps water for years, and can be cleaned repeatedly for full recovery, with no tools required for complete disassembly
The MiniWorks is also lightweight and compact
Its innovative AirSpring Accumulatorb makes it capable of pumping one liter of water per minute
KINO Y
Any large mouth Nalgene type bottle is compatible to screw onto the filter. There is also a nipple at the bottom so you can attach a tube going into a water bladder if you have one. I use the Camelbak Hydrolink filter adapter along with the hydrolink conversion kit to fill my hydration packs.
GREGG G
There are lots of bottles out there now, but I can safely say it works with a Nalgene standard 32 oz big mouth bottle. I have a clones made by Columbia and the filter does not screw on to the mouth very well. It was not cool to find that out in the the backcountry.
JOSEPH B
The pump is only compatible with MSR bottles and bladders. I have had this pump for 4 years, and it work ok at best it just takes a long time to filter. A gravity filter on the other hand, I found is quite useful you can pour water in walk-away to set up camp or whatever.
GREGORY P
Camelback
BENJAMIN B
It fits with a normal large screw lid Nalgene bottle. There is also adapters to smaller bottles you can purchase. I think it fits other brands as well, but I have only used the Nalgene bottle.
SCOTT M
What type of contaminants will it filter?
GREGG G
This will filter out your bacteria, protozoa, and cysts, but will not be able to filter the miniscule viruses. Those sterilizers like the STeripen will kill all of the above. If you need to purify your water, if it somewhat clean to begin with, you can probably get away with the steripen, but if you need to filter out some of the particulates from turbid water, a filter might be better for you.
SCOTT M
Thanks for the heads up Gregg.
BENJAMIN N
It will filter just about anything and everything, but it will do it very slowly. Katadyn works much better.
EDWARD W
Haven't had a problem with anything in the southeast of USA: backcountry of ga,nc,tn
Msr would have specs... so far I love this thing, when it starts to slow down filter rate, just clean up the element with the included brush..i trust it
SCOTT M
Thanks for the heads up. I'm on the great lakes and was concerned about crypto speridum {sp}
Dan J
how often do i need to replace the filter?
Mike W
I have a good friend with this filter. We have been on multiple trips together. All totaled this filter has been used for over 25 nights away supplying all the drinking water for up to six men for most of that time. Some of the water which has been filtered has been quite silty and at times we have had to clean the filter for every two liters pumped. And, the filter is still good, i.e. the red "C" gauge does not yet fit around the filter. In my opinion, the value of this filter far exceeds any product with a replaceable filter.
JAMES Z
I am sorry that i can't answer your question to the degree that you would wish. I haven't used this filter much. I purchased it because my friend has the same filter that he uses extensively on many remote trips. He washes the filter as directed but I don't believe he has replaced it.
MICHAEL S
you only need to replace the filter when the filter measuring guage which is the red "c" shaped object in the photo here and stores in the bottom fitting, slides over the filter with excessive slack. Until the, the filter can be cleansed between uses by poiling in tap water.
