The HydroBlu Versa Flow Light-Weight Water Filter review was conducted over a four-day three-night backpacking trip in the Cascade mountains of Washington. The Versa Flow Light-Weight Filter was the only filter used for the entire four days.
The Versa Flow Light-Weight Water Filter comes packaged with two 64oz collapsible canteens. The “inline” filter, a rubber tube, tube clamp, and bucket adaptor. What is a bucket adaptor you ask? More on that later.
Please notice I had the foresight to mark the canteen’s with “clean” and “Dirty” before I left on the trip. When I opened the package I had a small concern that with a little wear and tear on the canteens they might develop a hole. I was intentionally rough with them when not in use. Squeezing them with excessive pressure forcing an excessive water flow and I can attest to them not failing during my outing.
Using the supplied carabiners attached through metal grommets on the bottom of each canteen I hung the filter system with the full 64 ounces of water every night. I do not note any damage or changes in the system from being weighted down for the extended amount of time
Filling the collapsible canteen was very difficult in still pools or lakes and ponds. Good flow over a rock or small waterfall is needed to get the canteen to fill fully. Of course, you could always use a different more ridged sided receptacle.
I think we need to just assume the specs on this filter are accurate. You can find them at the bottom of this page.
For the amount time that I had the filter out in the backcountry, it worked like a champ. Whether it was being used as gravity flow or forcing water through it. The Versa Flow Light-Weight Water Filter filters water much faster than any of the ceramic pump filters I typically use. I did not have an opportunity to use this specifically as an in-line filter on a bladder but it appears it would produce potable water as fast as you could suck it through.
The verdict is this system really does work well. Don’t expect to be spoon feed instructions on all of the different ways you can use this setup. If you’re a little creative it looks like you can make it work in just about any configuration. It makes water way faster than a single person can use and it’s at most a third or maybe a quarter the weight of the standard backcountry pump filters.
How about that bucket adaptor? Check out this guy’s Versa Flow Light-Weight Water Filter System video ReviewVersa Flow Light-Weight Water Filter System video Review. I found the video particularly interesting because I use an Alexapure at home and this would be an interesting alternative for a fraction of the cost.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
- Filter Material: Hollow Fiber
- Removes: Bacteria, Protozoan cysts, Giardia, Cryptosporidium, E. Coli, Salmonella and more
- Filter Life: up to 100,000 gallons
Versa Flow Light-Weight Water Filter
Pros
- Excellent cost to value
- Multiple Configurations
- Very light weight
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