Katadyn
Katadyn Pocket Water Filter
- Protection: 6/10 What it removes from water, and how well that is proved.
- Flow rate: 4/10 How fast clean water comes through when it is new. Real flow drops as it clogs: see Ease of use.
- Weight: 1/10 How much it adds to your pack.
- Ease of use: 6/10 Filling, squeezing or pumping effort, how fast it clogs in peaty or silty water, and how easy it is to clean.
Expeditions, river and canoe trips and car camping where weight is not the limit
- Type
- Pump
- Removes viruses
- No
- Flow
- 1 L/min
- Weight
- 550 g
- Pore size
- 0.2 µm
- Rated life
- 50000 L
Where to buy
Ultralight Outdoor Gear £369.99 In stock. Free delivery. Shown with an RRP of £394.99. Free tracked UK delivery. Lists the weight as 576 g.
View at shop: Ultralight Outdoor GearAlpinetrek £325.95 Out of stock. Free UK delivery from £85. Its page gives a delivery time of 5-7 working days.
View at shop: AlpinetrekWildBounds £265.95 Out of stock. Free UK delivery over £50.
View at shop: WildBoundsPrices checked 8 Nov 2026 on each shop's own page; shops can change them. We earn no commission on these links; shops are listed by price. More
Our ratings (out of 10)
1 to 10, compared with the whole market. Each says what it's based on. How we score
Protection
From maker's figures 6/10What it removes from water, and how well that is proved. 6: A bit better than average.
A 0.2 µm silver-impregnated ceramic element that removes bacteria and protozoa (Katadyn). Katadyn's manual says it meets industry standards for 99.9999% of Klebsiella terrigena and 99.9% of Giardia and Cryptosporidium, but it names neither the standard nor a lab and publishes no report, so this is a claim with no published test: 3. A named standard or a published lab report would make it a 4. It does not remove viruses (the manual says so).
Flow rate
From maker's figures 4/10How fast clean water comes through when it is new. Real flow drops as it clogs: see Ease of use. 4: A bit below average.
Katadyn gives about 1 L/min, in the 0.6–1.19 L/min band. OutdoorGearLab found about 1 L/min, in line with other pumps. Banded on Katadyn's figure.
Weight
From maker's figures 1/10How much it adds to your pack. 1: A real weak point.
550 g (Katadyn), in the 450 g and over band. OutdoorGearLab called it the heaviest filter in its test. Ultralight Outdoor Gear lists 576 g.
Ease of use
From reviews 6/10Filling, squeezing or pumping effort, how fast it clogs in peaty or silty water, and how easy it is to clean. 6: A bit better than average.
OutdoorGearLab (2) scores ease of set-up and of filtration 5 out of 10 each, which is 2.5 on our scale, rounded down to 2: many parts to connect, and its testers watched a video to assemble it. Adventures Andreams (3) found it easy to take apart and fast to pump, but a slow, fiddly set-up with tight hoses and caps to keep clean. DIYhabitat (4) found the pumping smooth and not tedious, and the ceramic simple to scour clean. Average 3 out of 5, so 6 out of 10.
Reviewers disagree on this.
In short
Good for
- Expeditions, river and canoe trips and car camping where weight is not the limit
- Groups of 2 to 5 (Katadyn's group size) who filter a lot of water
- Very dirty or silty water: the ceramic is scrubbed clean in the field
- Years of use: rated for 50,000 L, with a 20-year warranty
Strengths
- Ceramic element rated to 50,000 L and cleanable in the field with the scouring pad supplied (Katadyn)
- 20-year warranty (Katadyn)
- Metal pump parts (aluminium bodies, stainless steel rod, steel ball valves) with a plastic outer shell (DIYhabitat)
- Includes a gauge that shows when the ceramic has worn too thin to use
- About 1 L/min, and OutdoorGearLab found the pump needs little effort
- Rubber base keeps it steady on rock and wet ground
Weaknesses
- 550 g, the heaviest filter in OutdoorGearLab's test
- Very expensive for what it removes: bacteria and protozoa only, no viruses
- No named test standard or lab behind the removal claim
- Many parts to assemble: OutdoorGearLab's testers watched a video, and the hoses fit tightly
- Ceramic needs to dry out for several days after a trip to avoid mould (Adventures Andreams)
- Ceramic can crack if dropped or frozen wet: Katadyn says to check it for cracks after either, and does not say it is safe after freezing
Sources
We haven't tested this ourselves. Every score comes from these specs, tests and reviews.