*Thanks a lot for watching! Also...If you enjoyed this video, please make sure to hit the LIKE button and subscribe to the channel... More friends the better.*
After both my Katadyn water filter was 100% clogged and my Salomon water filter was 75% clogged, I ran into your video...I must admit, I didn't it a chance of working...until it did! I destroyed a Salmon water filter by soaking it in vinegar (looks like the fins melted), so I was seriously skeptical about non-mineralized water working...wow, total believer now...thank you, thank you, thank you!
Fully agree with you about tap water. I used a lot of tap water and my Befrees clogged worse. I switched to distilled water and mixed in bleach and vinegar with minimum results, so I tried two squirts of CLR with distilled water and now my Befrees function like new. Thanks so much for the warning about tap water.
The acidic properties and chemical make-up of both bleach and vinegar can create a harmful chlorine gas and they should never be mixed together. The noxious gas can irritate lungs and potentially be fatal.
That’s what I use to clean my coffee maker (vinegar in water) but I use tap water for that. So, just incase I didn’t hear correctly, will any regular bottled water work? As long as it’s not mineral or flavoured?
Yeap this trik works 100%! Used my BeFree 2 times in action and it got cloged. Tried vinegar and back flushing with no succes, but demineralized water did the trik. Thanks man!
Not a big fan of this trick.... I prefer mine but there's always a limit. If the water was super dirty or the filter froze ... not good. Hope this trick will help... Mostly does but there's always a chance it doesn't sadly.
I’m going to try Demineralized water next. I used bottle water yesterday and according to this you don’t get good results using that water. My last hope is the DM water. I’ll know tonight.
wait I don’t understand, so when the filter “expires” do you have to change teh filter? Like buy a new one? Or do you have to just shake it in the water until it’s clean? Or do you have to shake the filter after use to clean it from dirt, and then when it expires, you have to buy a new none?
Hey bro hope you are well. Sorry we haven't been able to visit you for a while we were in Bulgaria then Malta were we got stuck due to Covid and flights we're cancelled. But great to catch up with you again. This is such a great idea. Nice filter ideas. Thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge with us. Stay safe and catch up again real soon God bless.
Great video! I just got BeFree filter! I have a hard time finding demineralized water even on Amazon USA. Do you know the good brand and so on? Is Aquafina demineralized water? Thank you!
Thanks!! Aquafina does have a demineralized version but not all of them... I find it weird cause it's EVERYWHERE here in Canada... Every stores. There's no better brand...as long as it's demineralized, that's the important thing here :)
Hi! Just received my Befree 1L today. After yours video have some questio: demineralized water it's the same as distilled for filter unclog? Generally it's not the same but if both don't have minerals can I use destilled? Greetings from UK. Tom P.S. Should I prepare some ways filter for longer storage? I mean couple months.I bet just clean in demineralized water and lets dry fully?
They aren't the same... demineralized has less minerals than distilled but it's should work too. Just clean it after a couple uses and let it dry...will be enough. 😉
Oh no, I mostly use mine with tap water.. it's almost completely clogged. I just tried 30 minutes like you showed in demineralised water, it did not help to unclog my filter! Just renewed the glass to leave it in another 30 minutes. Why is it not working for me?
There's a limit too sadly.... After using tap and minerals water for a long time... your filter could be clog badly.... Try to leave it for the night (won't do any harm) or add vinegar, sometime it helps (but you'll need to rince it after).... This works 95% of the time and always worked for me but.... there's sadly a limit. Hope it will work.
@@paddle_hike Thank you! I left over night and even shake many times with demineralised water, it's not unclogging so i guess mine is over after way less than 500L, they suggest it could filter up to 1000L, very expensive filter after all...
@@LauraDeVasconcelos well, a sawyer that you don't backflush will go bad even faster. It all depends where you filtered too. But I understand the frustration, sorry it didn't help
@@paddle_hike I was cleaning mine as katadyn advises, but they say tap water and Germany water is known for being very hard! Now i learned better to clean/maintain with demineralised water thanks to you! Cheers
I agree and explained why before.. my filter wasn't as bad as i believed... But this trick was proven by many for years ;) just the test that i wasn't able to find a super dirty clogged filter at that moment. But, i agree... I'll do better next time. Thank you :)
I can't find demineralized water anywhere and I'm in the US. I went to two grocery stores, a pharmacy, and home depot and no one had it. Seems like something I'll need to order online.
weird cause it's very common .. I have it in every stores here in Canada. Some did find it in stores but I couldn't tell you which ones :( sorry. Maybe, some will reply with the infos.
@@silentspoon6655 distilled has less contaminents and viruses but more minerals than demineralized....but could be an alternative...but not as effective
@@paddle_hike I got demineralized water online and let the filter sit in it for more than 12 hours and it's still super clogged. Is it possible that my filter is just too clogged for it to be cleaned?
never heard of this way for the Befree but maybe...can't say yes or no since i don't have a printer like most of us and didn't try it. Thanks for for the info :)
If you want the minerals out, both are practically equal in that respect. Distilled is more pure in every other aspect. Just do a search using distilled vs mineral water and you can see the differences in the two. For cleaning filters, there is no difference.
would distilled water work? sure.... But the point here is NOT to use TAP water like everyone's using... Which makes it worse. I found that Demineralized worked better for me and (as per you can see) in the comments... To many people too :) Thanks for your information
Demineralised water *IS* distilled water.... how else do you think they get the minerals out? They sure as heck don't filter it! It's just two different words to describe the exact same thing. One term describes the process (distillation).. the other describes the end result (water with the minerals removed).
@@Garryck-1 well.. the distilled removes more than just the minerals... The point here is you don't need distilled....As long as you don't use water WITH minerals..it will work. Most use tap water so...that's a problem. We have the option here in Canada to get both and one's cheaper and works fine so... The goal here is to fix the problem, not the water.
@@paddle_hike I have 2 filters that were completely clogged. After soaking it for 1h in distilled water, it flows better but I have to squeeze it a lot. I’ll soak it longer and see if that helps.
@@jessicaphillips7208 try DEMINERALIZED water...even better than Distilled... If they were clogged and dried for long... could take longer... It's something I do after the trips.... there's a limit to it at some point hahahaha but should help a lot for sure :)
wait I don’t understand, so when the filter “expires” do you have to change teh filter? Like buy a new one? Or do you have to just shake it in the water until it’s clean? Or do you have to shake the filter after use to clean it from dirt, and then when it expires, you have to buy a new none?
All filters have a lifespan but this trick is mainly to rince and maintain your filter... basic cleaning with this one only requires you to shake it with water... but if it clogs after using super dirty water... this is the trick for it. You can buy seperate filters without the bottle
@@theranberceau8684 well there's many types but demineralized or deionized will clearly be written because they are different.... But how bad is your filter??? some did try to boil the water "let cool down a bit" ... some said it could help too but i didn't try this one. Always been doing my trick after each long trip.
I explained that I'm im a red covid zone.. i can't hike and clog my filter like if i was hiking at the moment lol... that's why i said.. it wasn't that much clogged. This trick is used by tons of people and I've been using it for years. Try it... if it doesn't work for you. Let me know 😉 take care
@@paddle_hike I thought the same thing. The second squeeze was two handed, and using more force. But if you say it works, it's worth a try. Why can't you flush it backwards like a sawyer squeeze?
@@kevinmcalpine4521 not made for this... you rinse it just by shaking it in the bottle..different type of filter. Yes, i explained why i did it on the video cuz my filter was not clogged enough "this time" but I've been doing this trick tons of times before and it's a known trick too 😉
Salut , je n'ai pas ce filtre donc je ne peux commenter sur son manque d'efficacité ou son amélioration après ton truc mais ... j'ai trouvé que tu avais pas mal " squeezer " fort ton sac après le traitement comparé au début ou tu le laissais couler librement 😁 , la science te le pardonnerais pas 😉 , mais je te crois sur parole , merci !
haha tel que j'ai dit...mon filtre n'etait pas "si" bloquait autant que la veille et quand y ai bloqué, si tu squeeze trop fort, l'air pop la bouteille et c'est pas super mais effectivement... je squeezais plus en dernier mais c'est le debit normal pareil hahahaha! si tu rempli la bouteille biensur! le truc marche effectivement mais mon filtre bloqué l'etais moin et je devais "dealer" avec la situation hahahahaha.
@@bonpecheur4565 je voulais aussi montrer a quel point il peut etre "debloquer" et que c'est le plus rapide sur le marcher "vraiment". mais j'avais pas un filtre super bloquer pour l'inverse malheureusement :) hahaha
@@paddle_hike déjà eu le coup aussi pour faire démarrer la voiture de ma fille , 10 fois sans succès, j'appelle la remorqueuse pour la faire transporter au garage et le type arrive ici et s'asseois au volant et démarre du premier coup ... 85 $ de frais de déplacement 🙁 .
@@Andy-x3i8y no it shouldn't do this on a regular basis.... You can do it in town but your filter should last miles before clogging. I've used mine without issues for months.
*Thanks a lot for watching! Also...If you enjoyed this video, please make sure to hit the LIKE button and subscribe to the channel... More friends the better.*
Awesome info!! I iust got one, the 1 ltr option and I'm looking forward to getting to try it out
Great! Hope it helps
After both my Katadyn water filter was 100% clogged and my Salomon water filter was 75% clogged, I ran into your video...I must admit, I didn't it a chance of working...until it did! I destroyed a Salmon water filter by soaking it in vinegar (looks like the fins melted), so I was seriously skeptical about non-mineralized water working...wow, total believer now...thank you, thank you, thank you!
Awesome!!! yea...super clogged need to stay in for longer but yea!! it works :) ...Glad you were able to fix your filter !
Fully agree with you about tap water. I used a lot of tap water and my Befrees clogged worse. I switched to distilled water and mixed in bleach and vinegar with minimum results, so I tried two squirts of CLR with distilled water and now my Befrees function like new. Thanks so much for the warning about tap water.
Yep! Exactly. Was my pleasure 😊
The acidic properties and chemical make-up of both bleach and vinegar can create a harmful chlorine gas and they should never be mixed together. The noxious gas can irritate lungs and potentially be fatal.
This was a great tip, thank you! I have also found that letting it sit in some water with a little bit of vinegar works well also...
killing calcium with vinegar should help for sure...Good point Thanks :)
That’s what I use to clean my coffee maker (vinegar in water) but I use tap water for that. So, just incase I didn’t hear correctly, will any regular bottled water work? As long as it’s not mineral or flavoured?
@@AaronWanamaker91 most water bottle have minerals in it... needs to be without minerals 😉 that's the key
Yeap this trik works 100%! Used my BeFree 2 times in action and it got cloged. Tried vinegar and back flushing with no succes, but demineralized water did the trik. Thanks man!
Awesome! It's been working for me for years now so... i was happy to share 😉😊 take care
Naw, vinegar works, it also kills the mold and the bacteria, within 1/2 hour she was at her full flow.
@@chuckychuck yeah your right! I'v used vinegar too with good results. Works.
Best trick EVERRRRRRRRRRR! thanks
Thanks a lot.. Glad it helped
I 3D printed an adapter for the katadyn so it fits on a regular water bottle. If you need one yell.
Good to know and idea :)
That was great.. Thank you for making it quick and to the point!
Was my pleasure. Glad I could help
great info. thanks for the specifics on "no tap water". worked like a charm.
Glad i could help!! 😊
Two trips and mine is clogged...did the vinegar and water deal...uggh
Not a big fan of this trick.... I prefer mine but there's always a limit. If the water was super dirty or the filter froze ... not good.
Hope this trick will help... Mostly does but there's always a chance it doesn't sadly.
I’m going to try Demineralized water next. I used bottle water yesterday and according to this you don’t get good results using that water. My last hope is the DM water. I’ll know tonight.
@@vincentc6919 if it's very clogged...leave it in longer... Let it soak :)
J’ai vécu le problème avec le BeFree, c’est tellement frustrant. Je vais essayer ton truc. Merci pour ce partage!
oui effectivement mais......Le sawyer si le backflush mal (y ai foutu solide).. Tu m'en donneras des nouvelles du truc :)
I see you were reasonably rough with the bag, is it very durable? I ask because I just got one
yes...they are durable... very similar to the CNOC bags. I've been using both bags for a long time and they are solide. Never failed me "yet"
Thank you! 88 cents saved my filter!!
Awesome ! Glad i could help 😊
That was cool. That seems like a really good filter overall. I've been using the Sawyer Squeeze which filters fast, but not that fast. Take Care.
Sawyer squeeze is great! But the fastest is the katadyn... but both have pros and cons. Thanks
wait I don’t understand, so when the filter “expires” do you have to change teh filter? Like buy a new one? Or do you have to just shake it in the water until it’s clean?
Or do you have to shake the filter after use to clean it from dirt, and then when it expires, you have to buy a new none?
Hey bro hope you are well. Sorry we haven't been able to visit you for a while we were in Bulgaria then Malta were we got stuck due to Covid and flights we're cancelled. But great to catch up with you again. This is such a great idea. Nice filter ideas. Thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge with us. Stay safe and catch up again real soon God bless.
Thanks a lot ! Stay safe my friends 😊
Well done. Great video. Crow✌️
Thanks a lot buddy! :)
Great video edition. I subscribed to your channel. Thank you
Thanks a lot. I appreciate
Great video! I just got BeFree filter! I have a hard time finding demineralized water even on Amazon USA. Do you know the good brand and so on? Is Aquafina demineralized water? Thank you!
Thanks!! Aquafina does have a demineralized version but not all of them... I find it weird cause it's EVERYWHERE here in Canada... Every stores. There's no better brand...as long as it's demineralized, that's the important thing here :)
Distilled water is very likely going to be demineralized and pretty easy to find.
@@T.K... Thank you! Will try distilled water!
Great video, thanks
Thanks, glad you enjoyed 😊
Good fix - thanks!
Glad i could help 😉
Nice one mate.
Thanks a lot :) glad you liked it
It works!!! Thank you
You're welcome!
Cool I will try it
Great! I'm sure it will help. I've been doing this for years now.
Hi! Just received my Befree 1L today. After yours video have some questio: demineralized water it's the same as distilled for filter unclog? Generally it's not the same but if both don't have minerals can I use destilled? Greetings from UK. Tom P.S. Should I prepare some ways filter for longer storage? I mean couple months.I bet just clean in demineralized water and lets dry fully?
They aren't the same... demineralized has less minerals than distilled but it's should work too. Just clean it after a couple uses and let it dry...will be enough. 😉
@@paddle_hike Thanks! ;)
Very informative and helpful video. Thank you for sharing
Thanks, glad if can help someone
@@paddle_hike you welcome
How about washing it with Alkaline water?
No, alkaline water contain 4 source of minerals which is the complete opposite if this idea... minerals clogs filters
Oh no, I mostly use mine with tap water.. it's almost completely clogged. I just tried 30 minutes like you showed in demineralised water, it did not help to unclog my filter! Just renewed the glass to leave it in another 30 minutes. Why is it not working for me?
There's a limit too sadly.... After using tap and minerals water for a long time... your filter could be clog badly....
Try to leave it for the night (won't do any harm) or add vinegar, sometime it helps (but you'll need to rince it after).... This works 95% of the time and always worked for me but.... there's sadly a limit. Hope it will work.
@@paddle_hike Thank you! I left over night and even shake many times with demineralised water, it's not unclogging so i guess mine is over after way less than 500L, they suggest it could filter up to 1000L, very expensive filter after all...
@@LauraDeVasconcelos well, a sawyer that you don't backflush will go bad even faster. It all depends where you filtered too. But I understand the frustration, sorry it didn't help
@@paddle_hike I was cleaning mine as katadyn advises, but they say tap water and Germany water is known for being very hard! Now i learned better to clean/maintain with demineralised water thanks to you! Cheers
It would be better for us if you squeezed the water out with both hands for the before and after tests.
I agree and explained why before.. my filter wasn't as bad as i believed... But this trick was proven by many for years ;) just the test that i wasn't able to find a super dirty clogged filter at that moment. But, i agree... I'll do better next time. Thank you :)
Why is the filter so fast compared to other ones on the market? Does it really work?
It does...it's been used for years now by tons of hikers and thru-hikers. I drank tons with it and never got sick. It's just faster than most.
I can't find demineralized water anywhere and I'm in the US. I went to two grocery stores, a pharmacy, and home depot and no one had it. Seems like something I'll need to order online.
weird cause it's very common .. I have it in every stores here in Canada. Some did find it in stores but I couldn't tell you which ones :( sorry. Maybe, some will reply with the infos.
Distilled water.
@@silentspoon6655 not the same....
@@silentspoon6655 distilled has less contaminents and viruses but more minerals than demineralized....but could be an alternative...but not as effective
@@paddle_hike I got demineralized water online and let the filter sit in it for more than 12 hours and it's still super clogged. Is it possible that my filter is just too clogged for it to be cleaned?
I just got this filter and needed this.....
Thx!
- J B E N H I K E S
GREAT! glad I could help :) Works well if you do this !
Good tips again, thank you.
It was a pleasure... Hope it will help someone :)
The best thing to unclog it is to 3 d print an adaptor that screws on a bottle from the one side , and on the befree on the other and backflash it
never heard of this way for the Befree but maybe...can't say yes or no since i don't have a printer like most of us and didn't try it. Thanks for for the info :)
Excellent demonstration my friend hope all is well over there stay safe&happy!!(=
Thanks a lot... yea, all safe here. Just more boring with th covid
@@paddle_hike of course we will PREVAIL!!😁✊🔥
If you want the minerals out, both are practically equal in that respect. Distilled is more pure in every other aspect.
Just do a search using distilled vs mineral water and you can see the differences in the two. For cleaning filters, there is no difference.
I'm talking about demineralized water... which can be find in bottle here in Canada. Not distilled or mineral water. Not the same.
would distilled water work? sure.... But the point here is NOT to use TAP water like everyone's using... Which makes it worse. I found that Demineralized worked better for me and (as per you can see) in the comments... To many people too :) Thanks for your information
Demineralised water *IS* distilled water.... how else do you think they get the minerals out? They sure as heck don't filter it!
It's just two different words to describe the exact same thing. One term describes the process (distillation).. the other describes the end result (water with the minerals removed).
@@Garryck-1 well.. the distilled removes more than just the minerals... The point here is you don't need distilled....As long as you don't use water WITH minerals..it will work. Most use tap water so...that's a problem. We have the option here in Canada to get both and one's cheaper and works fine so... The goal here is to fix the problem, not the water.
Thanks. I'm going to try this because I'm ready to throw my fairly new filter into the trash...
should work... never had an issue with mine (after 2 years now)
I’ve had the same issue with clogging. I didn’t know about soaking it in non mineral water. I was using tap water. How long do you soak it for?
@@jessicaphillips7208 tap water makes it worst 😏.. depending on how clog it is....20min to 60 min
@@paddle_hike I have 2 filters that were completely clogged. After soaking it for 1h in distilled water, it flows better but I have to squeeze it a lot. I’ll soak it longer and see if that helps.
@@jessicaphillips7208 try DEMINERALIZED water...even better than Distilled... If they were clogged and dried for long... could take longer... It's something I do after the trips.... there's a limit to it at some point hahahaha but should help a lot for sure :)
wait I don’t understand, so when the filter “expires” do you have to change teh filter? Like buy a new one? Or do you have to just shake it in the water until it’s clean?
Or do you have to shake the filter after use to clean it from dirt, and then when it expires, you have to buy a new none?
All filters have a lifespan but this trick is mainly to rince and maintain your filter... basic cleaning with this one only requires you to shake it with water... but if it clogs after using super dirty water... this is the trick for it. You can buy seperate filters without the bottle
this worked
Good review and tips my friend. 👌👍 ~ Kristine
Thanks, i hope it will help others 😉
I can't find demineralized water anywhere
Where are you from? It's in every grocery store in north america... It's with the water bottles
It's also knowns as Deionized water ....depending the brands
I have distilled water but that didn't clear it up yet. I'll look for deionized water
Does that bottle of aquafina specially say demineralized on it or just purified? All the ones I see say purified.
@@theranberceau8684 well there's many types but demineralized or deionized will clearly be written because they are different.... But how bad is your filter??? some did try to boil the water "let cool down a bit" ... some said it could help too but i didn't try this one. Always been doing my trick after each long trip.
♥
🙂
thanks
you're welcome ;)
He used one hand the first time and two the next. I think thats why it came out with more force.
I explained that I'm im a red covid zone.. i can't hike and clog my filter like if i was hiking at the moment lol... that's why i said.. it wasn't that much clogged. This trick is used by tons of people and I've been using it for years. Try it... if it doesn't work for you. Let me know 😉 take care
@@paddle_hike I thought the same thing. The second squeeze was two handed, and using more force. But if you say it works, it's worth a try. Why can't you flush it backwards like a sawyer squeeze?
@@kevinmcalpine4521 not made for this... you rinse it just by shaking it in the bottle..different type of filter. Yes, i explained why i did it on the video cuz my filter was not clogged enough "this time" but I've been doing this trick tons of times before and it's a known trick too 😉
Super...like...Greetings!
Thanks ! glad you liked it :)
Salut , je n'ai pas ce filtre donc je ne peux commenter sur son manque d'efficacité ou son amélioration après ton truc mais ... j'ai trouvé que tu avais pas mal " squeezer " fort ton sac après le traitement comparé au début ou tu le laissais couler librement 😁 , la science te le pardonnerais pas 😉 , mais je te crois sur parole , merci !
haha tel que j'ai dit...mon filtre n'etait pas "si" bloquait autant que la veille et quand y ai bloqué, si tu squeeze trop fort, l'air pop la bouteille et c'est pas super mais effectivement... je squeezais plus en dernier mais c'est le debit normal pareil hahahaha! si tu rempli la bouteille biensur! le truc marche effectivement mais mon filtre bloqué l'etais moin et je devais "dealer" avec la situation hahahahaha.
@@paddle_hike hahaha me semblait aussi que tu avais pousser la note 😂
@@bonpecheur4565 je voulais aussi montrer a quel point il peut etre "debloquer" et que c'est le plus rapide sur le marcher "vraiment". mais j'avais pas un filtre super bloquer pour l'inverse malheureusement :) hahaha
@@paddle_hike déjà eu le coup aussi pour faire démarrer la voiture de ma fille , 10 fois sans succès, j'appelle la remorqueuse pour la faire transporter au garage et le type arrive ici et s'asseois au volant et démarre du premier coup ... 85 $ de frais de déplacement 🙁 .
@@bonpecheur4565 oh oops 🙄😲
Really? I've been a hater since my 6 month-old BeFree plugged up on my annual backpack in the Sierra Nevada. I'm gonna buy another one and try this.
Always worked for me and many people i know too 😉
It literally would not work from the box. Zero flow.
well that's clearly a bad one cause it's been proven and tested millions of time. But sadly, it can happen.
@@paddle_hike just got back from a two day trip. Replaced the filter. Flow has slowed immensely. Cannot clean. Can’t restore flow.
@@Andy-x3i8y did you try the tips here? Leave it soaking for the night... You can add a bit vinegar and warm water... These tips works for most people
@@paddle_hike yes but does this mean I should be packing in vinegar on a through hike?
@@Andy-x3i8y no it shouldn't do this on a regular basis.... You can do it in town but your filter should last miles before clogging. I've used mine without issues for months.