![]() ![]() Now in most cases this is unnecessary in the backcountry. Grayl filters out bacteria, and protazola which is where most other filters stop, but Grayl keeps going filtering out chemicals, heavy metals, improves taste and even filters out viruses, which is almost unheard of in a water filter. Well the main benefit to Grayl is the fact that it filters just about everything. Ok, so I know that was a lot of cons and it might have you wondering why would anyone buy this thing. Now to be fair other filters that can filter out all the things Grayl can will cost you quite a bit more so depending on how you look at it Grayl is expensive compared to most backpacking filters but cheap compared to filters that preform as well as Grayl. At almost $90 for the geopress and $70 for the ultralight version it’s not a cheap filter. Oh and a replacement cartridge will run you $30. Out of all the filters I’m familiar with Grayl had the shortest life span at 65 gallons before you have to change the filter cardige.Ĭompare that to the Katadyn hiker that will filter 200 gallons. The platypus QuickDraw that will do 1000 gallons, Or the Sawyer squeeze that claims you will ever have to replace it. And 65 gallons seems like a drop in the bucket. So if you are backpacking or even traveling relying on Grayl and it gets clogged there is no way to service it in the field. Which brings me to another con, if Grayl gets clogged there is no way to back flush the filter. ![]() Hopefully if you strained the water first maybe you could still get water, and I know a lot of filters will get clogged with heavily turbid water, All of my body weight on a cup of heavily turbid water You won’t be able to press it down at all. Grayl is a very powerful filter and I’ll talk more about that in a min, but this works for and against Grayl because if your water is too dirty with heavy particulates. So if it ever wears out (as gaskets tend to do) Grayl is probably worthless.Īnd last on this note, make sure you open Grayl before pressing to allow air to escape. Speaking of gaskets Grayl is completely dependent on its gasket which is not replaceable. So be careful not to spray yourself in the face. Something else I noticed is if Grayl gets misaligned while pressing it has a tendency to shoot water up past the gasket. Most times I had to use my body weight to assist me in filtering water, which is fine if you are filtering on the ground, but if you are using Grayl more as a traveling filter I think it might be a little awkward to put your bottle on the ground every time you need to filter. But In reality it takes quite a bit of force to press. Right off the bat from a weight and bulk aspect Grayl isn’t looking good. Now to be fair Grayl does make a smaller “ultralight” filter that still weighs almost 11oz which is still heavier than most backpacking water filters and can only filter 16oz at a time. But In the backcountry it’s just a nuisance. I’m sure this is helpful when you are setting Grayl down in a table or something where you don’t want it to slide away. Not only that but grayls limited capacity will require you to filter multiple times in order to get all the water you are likely going to need.Īnother thing I noticed is the rubber bottom on the bottle makes it very difficult to pull Grayl in and out of a backpack because the rubber clings to the nylon. Which means if you want to carry a typical days worth of water you are going to have to carry Grayl AND several other bottles to get a full days worth of water. But Grayls water capacity is limited to 21 oz. ![]() Which wouldn’t be a problem if Grayl could carry all the water I need for a trip. There are not many things in my gear loadout that are as bulky as Grayl. And this is from someone who prefers a heavier pump filter over light weight squeeze filters.īut probably even worse than the weight is the bulk. If it’s not the heaviest water filter on the market it’s got to be close. By itself without any water in it Grayl weighs blank which is really heavy. Weight and bulkĪnd with that in mind the first and biggest con on my list is how heavy and bulky Grayl is. Since this is a backpacking Blog for I’m going to be looking at Grayl primarily from a backpacking standpoint. Okay I’m going to start with the cons and just a short disclaimer. ![]()
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