AquamiraFrontier Pro: Ultralight Tactical Water Filter - GRN Series III

I got (both) Tactical and PRO versions ...... AFAICT, the color and the pricing is the only difference. The PRO version was a subdued gray color, really no more visible than the OD "Tacticool" version ... Side-by-side ... visually? ... you can barely tell the difference, between the PRO and the Tactical. Depending on your source, the Tactical can cost ~$5 more (plus?).Functionally ? ... In terms of what you get, in the package ?? Everything else is exactly the same ... IDENTICAL, other than color and pricing and packaged-graphics . I have a Camelbak Tactical pack and a Digital ACU sleep-system and I can tell you that I was worried that the PRO version might be ORANGE .. Not the case (on *my* order, at least) ... The PRO version was a nice "Panzer" Gray, in my case ... just fine, for $5 less than the Tactical OD. I imagined there would be some functional "value-add", to the Tactical version ... NOPE ... Just OD green, with all the same parts, pre-filters, straw and adapters. So ... unless you are gonna (somehow) wear this thing outside your tacticool green pack, just get the PRO version, and save a "fiver". SUGGESTION : This filter could use a lanyard-hole or a belt-clip ... would be a very helpful/useful "value-add" ... AND ... Make the tactical version MOLLE/PALS MOUNTABLE (include a plastic speed-clip) ... Now THAT *would* be VERY "tacticool" !... I would have two-to-four of them, lined up, in a row, on my webbing and (frankly) four of these guys, at ~50 gallons capacity, each ? .. would be a better option than a larger/bulkier Katadyne Hiker, partly because of the redundancy ... if a part breaks? .. I have FOUR MORE (at the same price) ... I can lend one to a buddy and I could distribute four filters among my various packs and pockets and "kits" ... This "redundant granularity" (on a dollar-per-gallon basis) makes the smaller Frontier series filters MUCH more flexible and dependable ... as a total system, than a larger "Hiker-type" system (at 4x or 5x the cost) ... I'd much rather have four of these (at 50 gallons each) than ONE of the larger filters (at an "iffy" 300 gallons) ... FURTHERMORE (think on this) ... The cost of the replacement filters, on the larger units? ... "pro-hibitive" ... I can use one of these Frontier filters "all-up" and just "toss-it", while salvaging any unused parts and adapters and pre-filters, etc.... compare ! ... @ $15 each per 50 gals ... versus ... ~$80 ea., for ~300 gallons (at *most*, with frequent cleaning !!) ... Get a BUNCH of these ... You will have spare parts and extra pre-filters ... run them on multiple bladders (in-line, as I do) and just toss-them (keeping the extra parts) when the main filter clogs (rather than trying to scrub them clean ... how annoying!) ... And if one of these breaks ? ... you have three more (one in your pocket, one in your fanny-pack, ... one in your day-pack) ... If had it to do over? ... I would have just gotten a dozen of these Frontiers. Instead, I got a Katadyne Base-Camp, when I could have just used a Platapus (Nalgene or Camelbak) bladder and used the (included) Frontier "in-line" filter option ... again ... disposing of used filters, rather than trying to "baby" a much more expensive Hiker-type filter. Many noobs just do not understand that, to get the ~300 gallon claimed capacity, out of larger filters (highly expensive replacement) you must scrub the filter FREQUENTLY and avoid mirky water, altogether (or you may get only~30 gallons out of them) ... Would YOU not rather have five or six of THESE filters, complete with extra parts and adapters and pre-filters, for the SAME PRICE ?! I wish I had "done the math" and figgered this (all) out, before I dropped a bundle on a Hiker+Base+replacements ... (smack forehead) ... Live and learn ! (or just read this review ! ) A Steripen (UV pen) and some lithium 8x batteries are also a great idea, to suppliment these filters (for UV virus eradication). Hope this helps !

Ok so even after reading the reviews I decided to try this out. Dont waste your money. Its a tiny brita filter in a very inconvenient design (unless you have a camelbak or nalgene bottle and want to either hold it upside down or suck the water out of the contaminated container). Im sure if you have one of the afore mentioned items its at least not horrible.I personally only had a smart water water bottle that fit the threads on this. Since I use a brita pitcher at home and dont keep water bottles laying around the only ones I have are in my BoB and Im not dumping out pure smartwater for this filtered garbage and I dont want to contaminate the bottle with tap water or anything that may be clinging to the container that I could put the smartwater in. So I took a plastic bag and stabbed the straw that comes with this filter through it, attached the straw to the intake end of the filter, filled the bag with tap water and stood there (with the bite valve off) for about 5 min while the drip filter dripped... very slowly. After about 5 minutes I had about half a cup of water. I took my total dissolved solids water tester that I got with my zero water water filter (which actually does what it claims for the 2 mo. the $15 filter lasts) and tested my tap water. It rated right at 100-104PPM. My brita pitcher brings that down to 85-89. The water from this filter 98. Please note that this is after I followed the instructions and ran water through the filter till it dri...er ran clear. I also am aware that it is filtering tap water but my tap water tastes like metal, salt, and dirt with a hint of chlorine... yay Durham! This water does taste better than that but thats about it.I did contact McNett about the 3micron claims and this is what I got back:"Thank you for contacting us. We do not use a micron rating system to describe our filters' effectiveness. Our filters have been tested and certified by Biological Consulting Services in North Florida (accredited in accordance with NELAC) to remove greater than 99.9% of Cryptosporidium and Giardia.The reason we do not use a micron system is because there tends to be a lot of confusion about filter ratings and claims, so we tend to steer away from that type of language and focus on the filter's actual ability to remove particles and protozoa. I will begin with some basic background about Aquamira filters. Aquamira filters are depth filters that use the tortuous path method to provide filtration throughout the whole filter. Our filters also contain materials that attract and absorb particles in the water through a natural process called adsorption, further filtering the water.Depth filters like ours can be performance rated based on "challenge testing." In a challenge test, the filter is challenged with defined size particles or organisms. This type of testing renders the filter unusable, however, and is referred to as destructive testing. Manufacturers will perform these tests on a representative sample of each filter batch. Since every filter cannot be tested and verified individually, only a nominal rating is associated with depth filters.That being said, because we are using a depth filter, we would only be able to provide a nominal rating if we used the micron rating system. Even though users can be confident that our filter will remove greater than 99.9% of pathogenic organisms.Absolute ratings can only be applied to membrane filters due to the requirement of a definable pore. Membrane filters tend to have lower porosity than typical depth filters requiring higher operating pressures and they typically achieve lower flow rates.In closing, we do not use a micron rating system. Aquamira filters are depth filters and depth filters cannot have absolute ratings. Also, our filters remove particulates via the tortuous path method as well as through adsorption, which is independent of micron ratings. With that being said, a micron rating does not necessarily indicate a filter's effectiveness in removing Cryptosporidium and Giardia. Our filters remove greater than 99.9% of Cryptosporidium and Giardia as tested and certified by Biological Consulting Services.I hope this information helps. Let me know if you have any additional questions.All the best,"Now, I dont have the ability to test for Giardia or Cryptosporidium so I have to take their word for it. I will however be buying some granular pool shock (73 percent Calcium Hypochlorite) and using a pinch of that to create a slurry of about 2 cups of what's essentially going to be liquid bleach and then using that "bleach" to treat up to 12 gallons of water... then I'll filter that water through this after about 30 min.

Review #1: Item arrived covered in white dust, package was opened, and parts were missing. Returned.Review #2: Item arrived in sealed bag, but now other parts are missing.Why still 5 stars? While I think the person putting the products into their packages is asleep on the job, the filter itself seems to work quite well once there are enough parts around to make it work.GOING ULTRA-ULTRA LIGHT:Here's a cool way of making this filter smaller and lighter with no drawbacks. DONT USE THE MOUTH PIECE UNIT THAT HOLDS THE MAIN FILTER. You can take out the filter and drink directly from it without the mouthpiece or the housing. You can also screw on the other attachments to the end of the filter, like the water tube and pre-filters. This drops the weight by probably over 50% and is still just as effective as the whole unit, although some extra care might be needed to prevent the tip of the filter from being contaminated with dirty water, but if that happens, it's easy to drain out some clean water and wash it off.