I bought one, plus an additional filter, the annual maintenance kit, and the replacement pre-filter. I already own and use the mini-works but I wanted this one because it's suppose to be the best.
YES. I've been looking for the best water purify to take with me on my trip to the Himalayas this summer, and I think I found it. Thank you for this video!
Just pulled the trigger on the Guardian, and very excited. Love MSR gear. MSR has earned their reputation in my book, but you probably know that if you are here.
Thanks for the video! I just got back from a medical humanitarian mission in Peru and I wish I would have had one of these with me. I'm definitely going to take one of these with me when I go next year!
We're planning to drive from S. Korea to Europe. We'll be going through countries like Mongolia and Kazakhstan. This seems like the perfect choice for us as we'll often be away from civilization for long stretches and our campervan doesn't hold much water. I'm just wondering about the filter. I see that it filters to a very small size, but I've seen other filters that can do a similar micron size, but do not filter viruses. Was wondering how MSR Guardian is able to do that. Thanks!
Hey CampingCarJoa, I encourage you to take a look at our blog post "Backpacking Water Filter VS. Water Purifier: What's The Difference?" on The Summit Register: thesummitregister.com/water-filter-vs-water-purifier-2/ Let us know if you have any other questions. Thanks! -Riley
Thanks for the info. It was helpful. But I checked the price with MSR Korea and it's 480,000 won. That's about $440. I didn't know it was so much more expensive here than in the states. We can make a lot back on a review video, but I doubt we'd get close to $440,000. Hopefully the price comes down a bit before our trip which starts April of 2018. If not, we will probably look for something else. But thanks for your help.
The engineering surrounding the pre-filter and backflushing design, as well as the "straw" concept with pores smaller than all virii appears to be a big step forward in the mechanical filter market. Does the 10000 liter lifespan include a warranty against abrasion, cutting, or tearing of the pre-filter membrane?
All of our products have a warranty against manufacturing and materials defects. This does not extend to misuse or abuse, which our warranty/repair techs will determine after making a visual inspection of the product.
I'm looking for the ultimate water filter and this seems to be it! I definitely use too much plastic and end up buying 2-3 bottles per day to fulfill my water needs. The video says that the Guardian does not filter "chemicals, radioactive materials or heavy metals." My question and not a criticism is how do you know the water is safe to drink if that is the case? Do you not use it in certain situations or is there an additional process you can use to make the water more pure? In the video you are shown using the filter near water run off from fields with cattle but wouldn't that potentially include pesticides? As I said, not criticisms just genuinely interested to hear MSR's response before I buy this.
How well does the pre-filter work to stop glacier silt? I live in Alaska and come across lakes and streams with superfine glacier silt. I see in the specs for the Guardian that silt is listed as an item that can be filtered however it does not mention how fine the holes are in the pre-filter. My last filter was ended by glacier silt so naturally I'm a bit overly weary this time around and it would be great to hear a bit more in depth on just how well the pre-filter works against glacier silt before I purchase or even just a little reassurance :)
When filtering water with fine particulate like glacial silt it would be best to let the water settle if at all possible before filtering. Additionally, straining it through a coffee filter or bandanna would also provide greater protection against clogging.
Has MSR done anything to solve the major issue of the internal plastic piston breaking? Our Guardian completely failed after only 8 months of usage and we’d only got about 100 litres out of it. Anyone using this regularly and long term will eventually have the same issue. The plastic piston is weak and will never process 10,000 litres as MSR claim.
I knew it just like most things that are over-priced it always turns out to be a piece of junk Besides M.S.R. does not even care about helping low income families have clean drinking water or they would not price their filters at $350 I live in America and i cant even afford that when i have other important things & bills to pay for I guess im just going to buy the Life-Straw "Mission" or Life-Saver "Jerry-Cans" since these companies actually care about providing clean water to everyone at a affordable price
For this kind of equipment the seal mount and seal should be better quality. I hope that next generation of this model will be better to fix this issue.
Very interesting new product. Chem-free and a filter that doesn't need to be replaced. That would certainly justify the price. This could be a game changer. Can this be used in saltwater?
For long term storage, should it be stored with bleach solution in it (like the Guardian Gravity)? Or should it be stored with clean/tap water in it, after sterilization?
Great advertisement Guys. You forgot to mention that the MSR Guardian does not remove bad tastes nor chemicals nor poisons nor heavy metals. So giving the idea that the Guardian can make every water save is very dangerous.
Is it possible to make Guardian Junior? Give the consumer same level of protection but from a smaller size and cheaper cost? Not everyone needs to filter 10,000 liters.
Looks awesome ... question for you guys. Since there is a lot of pollution world wide. Have you guys considered adding some sort of GAC filter to help absorb some of the chemicals/metals that are found in our lakes and rivers?
Do not buy this filter. I own one and it has been very good, until it began to leak terribly around the filter cartridge. If you do your research, you will find many reports of this issue. MSR claims that people are "over tightening" the filter; they are not. Just basic usage of screwing on and off Nalgene bottles causes it to leak. Worst part? MSR refuses to replace the filters. Yes, a $350 water filter and a company with "safety" in their name refuses to replace a defective product. Other than this catastrophic issue and abysmal company support it is the best water filter I've ever used. Wish they would stand by their product.
I'm noticing a huge flaw in the design. I just got my MSR Guardian and the dirty water outlet hose (back flushed water) terminates alongside the dirty water inlet hose. Both hoses are next to each other, so the automatic back flush system dumps out right next to the inlet hose. I see this as a HUGE design flaw as the back flush water gets re-sucked up into the inlet hose. Any gunk, dirt, bacteria, virus etc that gets back flushed will end up just going back through the system. So I modified the design already so the back flushed water is dumped away from the inlet hose. Please look into this.
Hi Yoshi, This is not considered a design flaw. The water being back flushed is not necessarily any dirtier than the water source that you are pulling from. Let me know if you have any more questions or concerns! You can reach me at Ryan.Dillon@cascadedesigns.com
@@MSRGear that's great to know!, it's out of stock everywhere and has been for months now and so are most of the replacement parts. Are you planning on releasing an updated version?
Just bought one; my usual filter (also an MSR, of some age!) is in someone else's pack at the moment and I'm heading into the mountains kinda last minute. The moment the MEC salesguy said self cleaning back flush I went for it, even though the water I'm about to filter is pristine by most every standard (except our horrible little friend, Giardia -- been there done that ain't gonna do it again :) ).
Hi MSRGear, just had a look on your website and it looks like you're not making the Guardian or any one piece purifier anymore. Is there a Guardian purifier replacement in the works?
Hi Alan, We are still producing the Guardian. We had a few hiccups with our website the other day and some products weren't displaying correctly, it sounds like the Guardian may have been one of those items. Cheers, MSR
@@bryanthornburg8636 except chemicals. doesn't do those. so sometimes some color and chemically taste can remain in my experience...luckily my experience is not bad chemicals though.
@@bryanthornburg8636 exactly. so I filled in the missing information since your comment would possibly no longer be true with chemicals present. Other filters can filter chemicals, therefore, it is important to note for this question.
@@michaelgabrielse5931 it was still unnecessary, since again I never implied that it was capable of removing chemicals, everyone should be capable of reading what it says it can and can not do anyway.
Wide mouth Nalgene bottles are commonly used. Check local outdoors stores for Nalgene brand bottles. The opening on the threads is the same as our Dromedary bags.
We offer the Annual Maintenance Kit, which contains the parts that will be most likely to wear out. Because the Guardian is so new, we don’t have a stock of hardware (bodies, levers, pump heads, etc…) built up yet. We do have the filter cartridge, pre-filter and hose kits in stock though.
Hi, bought it and love it. Just one question. Will there be an fitting activated carbon module to add on the bottle screw? I got the katady bottle adapter, but this is not handy at all.
Dear MSRGear,Can this product be used savely in still water sources? And do you need to clean the tubes? Thanks for the nice video, I'm thinking of buying one
Hello, The Guardian Purifier can safely be used in still waters for removing protozoa, bacteria, viruses and particulate. But make note, it will not remove chemicals or heavy metals. It's always a good call to clean/sanitize the tubes before storing the purifier. Skol! MSR
with all due respect to what seems like a good product, using paid employees and free trips would not, in my humble opinion, constitute independent review guidelines and was kind of ridiculous - whoever came up with this scheme has not done your company any favors - trust me
@@Spridle60 ------yeah - i won tickets many years ago to London - talk about crappy food and micros - i was food poisoned - day 1 - never trust anything except McDonalds when in a 3rd world nation like United Kingdom, makes Rahway NJ actually seem like paradise
I'm looking into this but at the moment the price is a little hight right now for me but Is it possible that if this is as good as it it would you be designing one with the carbon? So far the only filter I know that rids all bacteria, viruses, metals and chemicals is the Sawyer Select S3 and possibly the Grayl
The company Life-Saver also makes filters that can remove Viruses but also have Activated Charcoal to remove Chemicals Neither Life-Saver or M.S.R. can remove Heavy Metals which are Ions that are almost as small as the water molecule itself so i dont know who told you that Also the company Life-Saver makes Jerry-Cans wherw you can take a shower and filter 20,000L and the most expensive one is $225 I personally would reccommend Life-Saver over M.S.R. because this company only cares about making a profit instead of actually helping provide clean drinking water to low income families Which are the ones that are most impacted by low quality water sources such as in Flint Michigan
I own the MiniWorks and the Autoflow filters and am very happy with them, but this Guardian seems to be the one to have. I have a question about the self cleaning aspect of this filter. It looks as though this filter dumps waste material out into the water source. Could there be an issue with "nasties" from one water source being transferred into another water source?
+WisconsinEric You are correct, it is possible to transport organisms from one place to the next. However, it is basically impossible not to do so. The microbes found in the water are brought there by animals and rain. The ones from the rain get there when rain washes stuff from around the water source into it. As you are walking, camping, and hiking near the water source your boots and other gear are going to be just as likely to transport the same “nasties” from one area to the next as the water filter is.
MSRGear Thanks for the reply, and I had already decided that I will be purchasing a Guardian purifier with one of my REI coupons this year. I have spoken with your Cascade Designs crew on the phone several times over the years, and you guys at MSR and Thermarest have great service, and top notch products. Thanks for that. As for the "nasties". Some places around here request you hike with clean boots, especially in trout streams, and the Wi DNR requests that fisherman empty and clean boat livewells to minimize that cross contamination risk.
in was a difficult task maybe to find a dirty water in such beautiful montains! but guys succeeded. Also It would be difficult to make more stupid promotion for PURIFICATION filter in the mountains where filters often not needed at all since it easy to find pure water. Go to the really harsh conditions and show! I am dissapointed.
I frequently travel in the Arctic where drinkable water is questionable at best due to contamination so I carry a water filter to keep things safe when in shelter. My main question involves freezing of the filter element. When traveling, if the filter element freezes will it be destroyed? I know that most filter elements will not survive the harsh travel storage temperatures without rupturing and rendering themselves unfit for use. (Due to endemic moisture remaining in the system after use... water expands when frozen and the elements break...) Can you comment on this new filter technology with regards to Arctic conditions? Would be nice to switch from ceramic to a new technology.
While you do want to pump all excess water out of the system when you’re done using it, it will withstand freezing. The hollow fibers in the Guardian are configured in a straight line, which allows as-yet-unfrozen water to be pushed out either end as expansion occurs. It is a good idea to know how to perform the filter integrity test, but freezing doesn’t pose the danger to this filter that it does to our HyperFlow or AutoFlow filtering devices.
Yes & No the Guardian will not remove any Chemicals from the water but Activated Charcoal easily will For Cysts such as Giardia & Cryptospordium which are big when it comes to micro-organisms any standard microfilter such as the Katadyn Be-Free or M.S.R. Trail-Shot would easily be able to remove it Including other micro-organisms such as fungi and bacteria but where the Guardian really shines is that it has pores 10 times smaller then any micro-filter which allows it remove viruses that are bigger then 20nm but not all because there are some even smaller then that But unfortuanely M.S.R. only cares about making a profit instead of actually providing clran drinking water at a affordable price to low income families Unlike the companies Lifestraw & Life-Saver which also produces ultra-filtration filters but their products are not only better but more affordable
When performing the filter integrity test, you need to be able to see into the bottle so that you can verify the presence or absence of bubbles. Our Alpine Bottles, being metal, don’t allow this so we recommend using a bottle that you can see into.
IF you travel to Chile and go to Ojo's Del Salado there is a lake called Lago Verde...DO NOT try to filter or drink that water! It has high concentrations of Arsenic in it and your filters will NOT work
@MSRGear I live in Alaska and have used your MiniWorks EX and it was clogged fairly quick by the glacier silt in the rivers I've crossed on my hikes. Will the Guardian differ in performance in that environment?
Hi Gabriel, Glacial silt is going to clog up any filter fairly quickly. My recommendation would be prefiltering the water prior to running it through your MiniWorks and always trying to pulling water from the cleanest you can find. Send me any follow up questions you have at Ryan.Dillon@cascadedesigns.com
@@MSRGear so my million dollar question is why not incorporate a carbon puck during R&D? Personally id pay an extra $50 if it had some carbon for a cleaner taste
Hi Six Wings, Check out our blog on hollow fiber membrane filtration technology on The Summit Register: thesummitregister.com/hollow-fiber-membrane-advantages-backpacking-water-filters/ Let us know if you have any more questions! Cheers, -Riley
Loïc Peron as long as you keep the filter wet, no. But if you don’t use it for long periods of time, sanitize it per the instructions before you store it. Do NOT dry out the filter, it is meant to be stored wet, and if you dry it out it will stop working, so way to restore it, so I think it’s indefinite as long as you don’t dry out the filter. If you follow the instructions, it won’t dry out on you.
Hello, MSR purifiers will not protect you from high chemical concentrations or heavy metal contamination. Do your best to avoid water sources such as mining tailing ponds or those near agricultural operations. Since the Guardian has no carbon, it will not remove unpleasant tastes or odors. Best, MSR
Hello Victor, We don't recommend using our water filters in flood waters due to the possible contamination of the flood water with metal and chemicals. -MSR
I'll have to use my REI dividends and a 25% off next year... MSR is one of the company's that i have trust in their gear... mini ex filter, hubba, hubba hubba nx, 2× pocket rocket, pan,
The Guardian will not be effective against chemicals. For all of our filters, it is advised to stay away from mining operations or large-scale agricultural operations. The SweetWater and MiniWorks have activated carbon in them, which will neutralize bad taste or odor from a water source, but none of our water filters will filter out heavy metals or other waste water.
Can you work on something to clean the rivers? apart from also maybe running a campaign along with your products to create consciousness on those people that most ruin the water, along with solutions for the companies that uses water supplies as they main sources to their waste?
It’s silly to use a poor water source if you don’t have to. Especially if it under the influence of storm water from an urban area. The first source used in this video demonstration should not be emulated. There are better ways. I harvest surface water for drinking on a daily basis, it’s part of my profession, and I can’t watch a video where poor source choice has occurred without advising in the comment section against a decision like that. Great product, but for the right locations.
Hi G Neijsen, The Guardian Purifier does not remove salt from saltwater. Desalination-the removal of salt from sea and brackish waters-is the holy grail of water treatment and still very much elusive in small, lightweight, easy-to-operate and affordable devices. But DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, is one step closer to changing that, in part with MSR’s help. You can read more about what we are developing here: www.msrglobalhealth.com/6-technologies-msr-is-developing-for-global-health-disaster-relief/ Cheers, -Riley
"don't drink the local water" my case is different I moved for a bit from USA to Ecuador. I'm living near Cumbaya an area that could be similar to San Diego California. The tap water here is near damn alkaline.. The processing plant cleans the water for the "rich" community up to that standard. Now I just tested the mineral/PH levels so I wouldn't know about other factors but if the plant goes to the trouble to make it over 7.5 ph I'm sure the water is more than safe to drink.
It's not rated to be effective against toxins and chemicals but this video makes it seem like you can get safe to drink water out of a chemical water plant outflow. Pretty disingenuous video for an otherwise seemingly decent product.
If it doesnt remove heavy metals, I would not recommend drinking sewage water - like you did in the video... Many pipes and plumbing installations around the world, are not classified by restrictions from the state, like they are in some northern countries. With that being said, this means, that the pipes, faucets etc are made by a metal industry, which uses or reuses metals that are not fitting for human consumption. For example, old car wheels etc melted to make faucets, etc..... MSR should educate themselves on these matters, cuz their idea is good, but it is lacking knowledge and realistic guidance.
Hello Joselimai, Thanks for reaching out. We are constantly improving our videos from community feedback. We have shared your comment with our internal team for updated videos and new content in the future. Thank you.
How to show that a thing can clean water: Fly far, far away, pollute a lot, and then test it. It's not like there is dirty water where he was, nono, he had to go to Peru to find dirty water... Logic.
The video shows bacteriological testing but I would like to see your virus testing (I doubt you actually did any) but I like the pre-filter idea - but people should just add one drop of chlorine bleach per liter and give it 20 minutes before drinking to take care of inactivating all enteric virus.
Oh but we do, MaKayla! Do not doubt that. How many outdoor companies do you know of that make water purifiers and filters and have a water lab on site? (Two thumbs are pointing right back at us) Read about our lab and testing: bit.ly/2xTUfsC and more here: bit.ly/2fGyKES And because I can't stop tooting our horn, check this link out for all sort of articles about viruses: bit.ly/2yFiP4x Skol! MSR
You should listen to that Peruvian local lady. The water is not safe to drink. Sure, it may filter viruses. But it doesn’t filter out chemicals, which that polluted river evidently contains. The critical thinking skills of these outdoorsy types are a bit too naive to include on a scientific field trip.
$350? really? 2.8 billion people live on less than two dollars per day. how about making your filter affordable for the locals, and not just the trust fund kids from Seattle?
@lvbuckeye Our Global Health sector has developed the SE200 Community Chlorine Maker to treat water on a larger scale in low-resource settings. Check it out here: bit.ly/2aNEJs3
@@MSRGear Yes the Chlorine Community Maker is very innovactive but at $250 its only $100 cheaper then the M.S.R. Guardian Also there is certain disadvantages with Chlorine such as depending on the micro-organism you could be potentially waiting hours just to get a drink of water Also Chlorine gives your water a aweful taste & smell and reacts with organic matter that would absolutely be present in raw water sources to create toxic disenfection by products That is suppose to be the advantage in water filtration that you remove micro-organisms without out all the disadvantages of Chlorine And besides what is the point of creating one of the only ultra-filtration filters on the market that could change countless lives worldwide but then pricing it where only the Wealthy can afford Its not the Rich that are impacted from low quality water sources but low income families just like in Flint Michigan for example M.S.R. is more bent on making profits & less worried about actually helping people and perfect proof of this is how Overpriced everything on their website is such as $300-450 just for a tent
Great filter by why cant it be priced to a more affordable price say $225 both Life-Straw & Life-Saver Also produces ultra-filtration filters but with these companies you get way more for the same price or less Lifestraw produces two ultra-filtration filters one for backpacking & community use the 12L Life-Straw Mission Only cost $119.00 and the Life-Straw Community cost $329 less then the M.S.R. Guardian but can serve an entire community The company Life-Saver produces a pressurized bottle a 5L Cube and 10,000 & 20,000 L Jerry-Can that are all metal yet the most expensive one is only $225 And the bottle is only $100 how can both of these companies produce products that uses WAY more material to manufacture then the M.S.R. Guardian And yet charge less even for their top of the line products that can serve entire groups of people in the company Lifestraw case an entire community M.S.R. should not be so hell bent on making a profit that they price their products out of the price range the average person can afford It also worth noting that with a price tag that is affordable i can not only buy the water filter for myself but also buy it for my family and friends as a gift With a price tag of $ 350 I can't even buy it for myself yet alone buy additional units for family & friends it's just no way this company can justify an outrageous price like this
ok its a great product, but seriously? "saves money on water", "does not add waste".....jsut how much bottled water would you have to buy to mitigate the cost of this, and environmental footprint from its manufacture? lul. Still, great product, does not need the bullshit to sell it.
