Katadyn Hiker Pro Review

The Katadyn Hiker Pro is perfectly happy providing clean and fresh water for small groups and solo hikers. While it does require some muscle to get a liter of water, it's one of our favorite hand pumps on the market.

Water Quality

The Hiker Pro utilizes an anti-clog pleated cartridge constructed of glass fiber and activated carbon to filter out standard bacteria and protozoans (Giardia and Cryptosporidium) with a 0.2-micron pore size. The activated carbon does a fantastic job cleaning the water of any nasty smells or stenches, leaving you with fresh, clean water to drink on the trail. We worked with SGS Labs to create custom water quality tests for our most recent round of testing. The results supported the manufacturer's claims: the Hiker Pro eliminated ≥99.9% of all bacteria, as well as the physical beads used as stand-ins for Giardia and Cryptosporidium. The results also revealed that the filter is capable of eliminating up to 80.8% of all viruses. And for a filter that doesn't claim to protect against viruses, that's pretty good. We still wouldn't trust it if viruses are a known risk in the areas you are travelling, but for most North American trails, the Katadyn Hiker is a reliable treatment system.

Ease of Use

You'll need to do some initial assembly after you take the Katadyn out of its box, but after that, setup in the field is pretty darn easy. Click everything into place and pump fresh water on-the-go. When you're ready to pull the filter out on the trail, unload the bag, unzip, and get pumping. The hose that comes with the setup has a well-designed little float that keeps the tube from hitting the bottom of the puddle and sucking up muck. Because of the longer tube length, it has a nice niche where this filter can take water from even the smallest sources. On a trip to Death Valley, we found it was easy to get water from tiny puddles without much effort.

Ergonomics could be better. The handle on this pump is a little small, and the top is curved, making it hard to hold the filter. Holding the pump took some time to get used to, but filtration isn't bad for a pump filter.

The water bottle adaptor fits easily onto a Nalgene, but won't fit inside narrow-mouth bottles. That said, you don't need to use the adaptor if you don't want to. We also love that it comes with several adaptors so you can plug this into a hydration pack if needed. One caveat is its performance in silty water. If pumping gets hard, backwash the system manually; otherwise, you can crack the plastic housing while trying to push water through the pump. While we didn't experience this, other online users report having had this issue. Filtration is easy when you don't mind pumping for water and when clear sources are plentiful. Be sure to pre-filter if you plan on pumping from especially turbid water sources.

Durability and Maintenance

Overall, this filter performed fine for us in the field but did require maintenance. The construction seems to be prime time with a pumping hand, but it is a little awkward at first to figure out.

While this filter isn't self-cleaning, it's certainly low maintenance unless you hit super silty or murky water. Make sure to clean it regularly to last you its rated 1,100 liters (~300 gallons). Some online users reported this filter cracking when they tried to force water through it when it was clogged. To avoid this catastrophe in the field, unscrew the bottom, remove the filter, scrub it clean, and then put it back together.

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Treatment Time

Treatment is relatively fast. We averaged about 53 seconds to pump a liter during our timed trials. The flow is nice and fast, offering quick filtration.

While we think the time is decent, it's not as early as other hand pumps out there. Also, one of the issues we had with the Hiker Pro is that the handle is not easy to grab. After a few pumping sessions, we also noticed that it got harder to pump the water through the filter. While these issues did occur, we are still happy with the overall treatment time.

Weight and Packability

Including the entire kit, this pump weighs 13.4 oz. For a hand pump, this is pretty light; compared to modern squeeze bottles or chemical treatment drops that can weigh as little as 3 oz, the Hiker is one of the heaviest. It also takes up a bit more room, packing up to a size slightly bigger than a Nalgene bottle. While this kit has multiple parts to keep track of, we appreciated the cute little carry case.

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Should You Buy the Katadyn Hiker Pro?

The Katadyn Hiker Pro is historically one of the most utilized hand pump filtration systems. However, when put next to more modern options, it doesn't compete well. It filters out contaminants and allows you to access funky water sources more easily, but it's awkward to pump, is heavier to carry, and costs a lot more than personal squeeze bottles. If you prefer a hand pump system and aren't dealing with super murky water, the Hiker Pro will do fine, but if you are open to different filter types, there are others that work great and cost less.

What Other Backpacking Water Filters Should You Consider?

The Katadyn Hiker Pro isn't our first choice for particularly turbid water sources, but the MSR Guardian Purifier is. It does a great job filtering silt and sand from the murky sources we tested. If you don't mind a squeeze rather than a pump, the LifeStraw Peak Squeeze offers the best combination of portability and water quality that works exceptionally well for 1-2 people.