Happy Birthday!

w00t! That's right, it's my birthday!

I don't have much to add that's radio-related, but I did get a nice gift in the mail yesterday. I opened it early because I thought it was something I'd ordered myself. When I cracked the tape, though, I saw that it was a Katadyn Hiker Pro water filter that my brother had sent me. This is going to be perfect (and very needed) when I make my end-of-summer hike through the Ocala National Forest in Sept. It's going to be hot and humid and water will be critical. This will ensure I'll be able to resupply the hydration bladder and water bottles when they run low.

I was so excited when I opened it I went right to work putting it together. I have to say it was very simple and went together quickly. However, there is a foam piece with a hole through it that I can't find any info about. I'm assuming it's another prefilter but I'll have to read some more. I don't recall seeing any mention of it in the documentation. The instructions do say to pump the handle a few times to wash out the carbon dust. Holy cow that was nasty. Oddly enough it was a milky white color instead of the black I expected.

Once assembled I went over to the retention pond behind my neighbor's house. Sure, I suppose there could be fertilizer runoff or whatever that the filter wouldn't protect me from, but I was anxious to give it a shot. The water was kind of brownish and I had to shoo a mallard away from my watering hole. :-) As I pumped the intake was stirring up the silt on the bottom. When I got back to the kitchen and checked the glass, it was crystal clear water that smelled fine. I drank a liter and I'm still here today so I guess it worked. I checked the filter and pre-filter and there was fine dirt/silt on it so it did it's job.

So my first impression is a good one. Looking forward to trying it out in a more natural setting this weekend. Thanks brother!