Platypus GravityWorks Carbon Element

Goodbye nasty water! This little carbon filter is now an essential part of my emergency water plan and always goes with me on hikes. At less than an ounce, it’s easy to take with me on long hikes even when I’m trying to cut down on weight. You will love this if you enjoy clean tasting water when you are out hiking, camping, or in emergency situations. The Playtypus carbon filter is estimated to last about 1500 L.I recently used this in conjunction with the sawyer mini on a 4 day hike through the enchantments in Washington. The carbon filter worked flawlessly and was able to remove the nasty taste that is often associated with filtering untreated water. I connected it to my sawyer mini using ¼” tubing. While a bit heavier, I much prefer this to the ultra-light iodine tablet solution. Yuck! I’ll be picking up a few more of these to include in our emergency kits and in the car.Cons:This is not a carbon filter that you can open up and replace the carbon elements. The carbon filter is small enough that it is only going to last about 1500 L. If you are looking for something that is going to be able to filter more before having to be replaced, this is not the one for you. It is a sealed container that once used up, will be discarded. If you don’t care about taste, don’t want more resistance added to your filtration, or you are trying to go ultralight this is not for you.I give this a subjective score of 5 out of 5Here is my scoring by category:Durability: 5Features: 5Value: 5Aesthetics: 5Effectiveness: 5Persistence: 5Ease of use: 5Packaging: 5Size: 5

I love this little thing. I keep it in-line with my Sawyer Mini from a 2.5 gallon bag to my hydrapak. I used it during a two night solo up into Tea Creek, WV in August 2014. The gravity feed system took a moment at first to get started, but it would only take about 5-10 minutes to fill my 3 liter hydrapak. The water tasted fine with no unpleasant notes, however it did seem a little thick.I went back to Tea Creek in Noveber 2014; it may have been in the teens or twenties the night I stayed. The temperature was too low to try filtering my water without the chance of the water freezing in the line, so I was forced to boil my water via an alcohol stove. The water was a little bitter and it had a thicker mouth feel than what I remembered.The water at Tea Creek is high in tannins,(it has a nice blackish brown color) so there is going to be some bitterness. I do remember the taste being signifigantly less foul with a better mouthfeel when I used the carbon element. You may be limited on the time of year you can use this filter since it may get damaged if water freezes and thaws inside it.I would say it is a good purchase for 12 dollars if you live in an area where water has some funky flavors. It can make a rough day a little less $hitty.

I used this as part of a gravity filter while biking. I'd collect water with a cnoc bag and hang that from my handlebars or from a branch. The sawyer mini from there and then this Platypus carbon filter. A hose between them and another to a water bottle connector. Was a great system that I could use on snack breaks or whenever I'd otherwise reach a stream I had found on the map. It occurred to me that this may have saved my health at least once when gathering water near farmland, as activated carbon filters can not only clean foggy weird tasting water, but if I'm correct they can also cut out some pesticides and other chemicals. I'm sure of at least one situation when the water I was filtering was really sketchy, but who knows. I'd rather be safe then sorry.So I figured this one I've had was used up and looked around to find a reusable carbon filter from another reputable brand. In looking through my water kit for a compatible hose, I thought to look for a seam to maybe crack open this Platypus GravityWorks filter to see what is inside. Would you believe it! The bottom part comes off like a cap if you just tap it with a hammer and some kind of wedge. Top part might alternately do the same as well. On each end there is a foam disk to keep the carbon chunks in. It would have helped to know this and to have saved money. The other one is a little bit larger too but it might be a useful feature in these activated carbon filters because it increases the working surface area. I do prefer this Platypus one because it is lightweight, of compact size and it works well.The cap does have a pretty good pressure fit and isnt broken, but by itself, I'd be running the risk of it falling apart without somehow resealing. I suppose every couple of hundred gallons, when replacing the carbon, I could apply a couple of dabs of ca glue (superglue) on the outside and put a bit of tape on the edge. Then with each replacement, I'd crack the seal with a blade.Hope this helps someone. I'm not an expert, so of course, be thoughtful of any weakpoints in the system if you're going to try this.Would be great if the company made the cap a screw-on type or if someone could improve upon this diy idea.

I have a few gravity filtery from platypus and other brands watch nice about this you can use on other brands if you want and its so much better when you filter out water and you know it's safe but you drink it and it doesn't taste bad so you know when you cook food or boil water for your meal it doesn't taste like how it smelled

Removed sucessfully bad water taste in a post filtering treatment of lake water in a camping trip

Greatly reduced odd tastes in pre-filtered river water. I slotted it into a nalgene multi drink water bottle and fill the bottle (photo) from an MSR 09385 filter pump.

merci ce produit est bien conforme à la description. je l'ai branché à un Sawyer et ça marche aussi. L'eau sent encore un peu le goût de plastique. et attention comme c'est du charbon actif ça tâche un peu au début.

Ich bin mit einem Freund vier Wochen durch die USA gereist. Wir mieteten uns ein Auto, fuhren in die Nationalparks, ließen das Auto stehen und dann hieß es backpacking. Dort hatten wir unsere permits, um jeweils fünf Tage mit Rucksack durch den Park zu wandern: Yellowstone NP, Yosemite NP, Grand Teton NP. In den Nationalparks anderen haben wir nur kürzer gezeltet.Wenn man mit dem Rucksack loszieht, erhält man von der Parkverwaltung feste Plätze, an denen man zelten kann. Dort ist dann immer ein kleiner Fluss oder ein See. Das ist notwendig, weil es ohne nicht geht. Wasser kann man unmöglich mit sich tragen, maximal zwei/drei kleine Wasserflaschen oder ein Trinksystem im Rucksack. Ich z.B. hatte ein zwei Liter Trinksystem im Rucksack, dass reichte im Juli für einen halben Tag. Aber alles, was über einen Tag hinausgeht, jede Übernachtung, erfordert, dass man ein Wasserfilter mit sich nimmt. Ich hatte den MSR Guardian und den Sawyer Wasserfilter mit. Wenn man einen See oder Fluss hat, kann man nicht einfach so das Wasser trinken, was dort rumsteht oder rumfließt, es ist kein in Fjord in Norwegen.Gefriergetrocknete Nahrung im Rucksack ist extrem Platzsparend, man benötigt dann natürlich aber auch entsprechend viel Wasser zur Zubereitung. 3 Mahlzeiten am Tag waren Pflicht, bei 20 kg Marschgepäck und 10 km Marsch auf 2300 Meter Höhe.An den Guardian habe ich dann noch einen Platypus Gravity Aktivkohlefilter angeschlossen. Der wird mit einem Plastikrohr geliefert, so dassman das Plastikrohr an das Ende des Guardian oder des Sawyer macht, da dann den Aktivkohlefilter dran und das Wasser was aus dem Platypus kam war klar und schmeckte wie Leitungswasser. Auch aus den braunsten Brühen, es ist beeindruckend. Ohne Aktivkohlefilter ging es auch, aber das Wasser war etwas trüber und schmeckte torfig. Zu Testzwecken hatte ich den Katadyn Aktivkohlefilter mit, den man mit sehr teurer Aktivkohle auffüllt. Er erwies sich als unpraktikabel, weil er viel zu groß war, die Aktivkohle mit durchgepumpt wurde und einfach unhandlicher war. Der Platypus ist kompakter und muss nicht jedesmal präpariert werden. Ich war vollkommen zufrieden. MAn kann ihn ohne Probleme für einen 4-Wochen-backpacking Trip benutzen.

思ったサイズで使いやすいです。値段がもう少し安いと、もっといい。