Well the ebay transaction came off. Very decent private seller and I've now got a new "used once" MSR miniworks.
It's a well made piece of kit if not to the same spec as the classic, heavy Katadyn. Pretty much all plastic but the mouldings all look and feel robust. It weighs about 460grams packed and dry.
It's quite large, so this is for camping out not daywalks with a small pack. That's OK for me - I hope to take my kids camping out up around Scawfell next year so this is to get drinking water from the tarns up on the tops.
Good points:
- the handle is generously sized and it's fast enough and easy to pump
- it's very straightforward to stip down and clean - buying secondhand, that's the first thing I did. No tools needed at all. -
- I like the fact that the ceramic filter (a compact cylinder with plastic end caps) can be sterilised in a pan of boiling water if you've any concerns about bugs growing in it. Leave it in the airing cupboard for a couple of days and it dries out completely so it won't go mouldy between trips.
- it has an end cap to keep the outlet clean, and is made to screw onto nalgene bottles for easy filling.
- the activated charcoal inside the filter cleans up the taste - I can clearly taste the difference even to decent tapwater.
- the intake hose is a generous length and made of some type of silicon tubing for flexibility.
Snags
- there's one small valve that some buyer reports say could easily be lost if you need to clean it - true, but once you're aware of this I don't see a problem
- it's quite bulky so definately for bigger trips when you expect to use it, not just-in-case on a day hike
Overall, no nasty surprises (yet!) Cheers, Alick
PS - these seem to be regularly advertised on ebay (new, not used) at present. Priced well below UK shop prices even after shipping from the US.