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The only variable water filter out there. The Katadyn® Vario can be quickly configured for longer life in dirty water or maximum flow in normal conditions.
Katadyn® Vario Microfilter's two-mode design lets you opt between fast filtration or extended lifetime of the primary filter (up to 500 gallons!)
The intelligent microfilter
The Vario combines individual efficiency with the simplest possible handling. The technology it uses consists of three filter levels: a high-performance glass fibre filter, a ceramic pre-filter that can be adjusted individually according to the cloudiness of the water, and active charcoal for eliminating odours. Anyone who needs up to two litres of drinking water per minute can use the glass fibre and active charcoal filter. If the water is extremely cloudy, the ceramic pre-filter can be fitted in a moment in order to extend the service life of the glass fibre filter. The Vario is compatible with standard outdoor bottles and hydration bladders.
Katadyn's lightweight Vario Dual Technology MicroFilter adjusts for dirty water or normal water conditions, so you get the cleanest, freshest water possible no matter where you're backpacking. A simple turn engages the ceramic prefilter when you're pumping out of a muddy lake so the pleated glass-fiber filter inside doesn't get destroyed. After a long, hard hike, this Katadyn water filter's dual piston pump works smoothly and easily - pumping out up to 2-liters per minute. The Vario Dual Technology Filter removes waterborne bacteria so you can drink safely on your camping trips, and uses a replaceable carbon core and cleanable ceramic disc.
The Vario from Katadyn is the only variable flow water filter on the market. Consisting of a multi-stage filter, the ceramic prefilter element can be turned on to maximize filter life in poor water conditions, or left off to achieve an incredible 2 Liter/minute flow.
| Dimensions: | 7.5 x 3.8 x 3 |
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| Field cleanable: | Yes |
| Filter Element Duration: | 500 gallons |
| Filter Element Type: | Ceramic & glass fiber |
| Filter medium: | Pleated glass fiber / ceramic |
| Housing material: | ABS plastic |
| Kills Viruses: | No |
| Micron Size: | 0.3 micron |
| Output: | 2.2 liters per min. fast-flow /1.1 liters per min. long-life |
| Pump Rate: | 2 qt. per min (max) 1 qt. per min (min) |
| Pump force: | UA |
| Pump strokes per liter: | UA |
| Removes: | Cryptosporidia, giardia, bacteria |
| Removes Giardia: | Yes |
| Weight: | 1 lb. 2 oz. |
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View other products from Katadyn classified in Hiking & Camping > Water Treatment. View all products from Katadyn.
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Sometimes, we can't be sure that the product is the same across the stores that offer its, so you may find the same product listed more then once on GearBuyer.com, we these list highly similar products below.
 | Katadyn Vario Microfilter Cartridge | $39.95 |
 | Katadyn Vario | $89.95 |
 | Katadyn Vario Water Filter | $73.95 - $89.95 |
 | Katadyn Vario Dual Water Microfilter | $89.95 |
These are products that have been indicated being comparable to this product:
 | Katadyn Hiker Filter Hiking & Camping > Water Treatment | $64.95 |
 | Katadyn Micropur Purification Tablets - Package of 30 Hiking & Camping > Water Treatment | $12.95 |
 | Katadyn Quick Fill Hydration Adapter Hiking & Camping > Water Treatment | $7.95 |
 | Katadyn Vario Carbon Replacement Hiking & Camping > Water Treatment | $9.95 |
 | Katadyn Vario Ceramic Disc Hiking & Camping > Hydration | $14.90 - $19.99 |
| Katadyn Vario Replacement Cartridge Hiking & Camping > Water Treatment | $31.94 - $39.99 |
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Like most hybrids in any technology... | |
| Rating: |  |
| This filter has some compromises. I recently used this filter for the first real test in a 5-day backcountry trip in Yellowstone. The water we filter is known to have a very high mineral/algae content. It is imperative on this hike to have a filter that is field cleanable. The MSR MiniWorks has been the standard before. I decided to try the Vario because of the ceramic prefilter option and the glass filter when water is clear. Well, compared to the MSR, the overall area of the ceramic is much smaller, therefore you would expect more frequent cleanings. This is absolutely the case. Whereas the MSR could filter a 2 liter Nalgene bottle before needing to be scrubbed, the Vario had trouble getting through 1 liter. It is very slow under these conditions too. About halfway through the filtering, the pumping gets very tough, and with building backpressure, the pumps starts dripping and squirting water from its seals. Now, jump over to some clean water...In the "Faster Flow" mode, this baby rocks! it beats the pants off of the MSR for speed. I could do 2 liters of water in slightly over a minute. Just wonderful. So...This filter is a hybrid. With compromises. You have a choice of ceramic or glass filtration, depending on water quality. This is great, but be aware that in mucky water, you will do a lot of cleaning, and a lot of slow pumping. But, in clear water, you will be glad you have this filter instead of the full ceramic competition. Weight is very comparable to the MSR MiniWorks. I love that it screws directly to a Nalgene bottle and and another cool "trick" is a metal clip on the end of the output hose to secure the hose into any other water bottle. This is just wonderful for Platypus water bags, and empty 20oz. water bottles. But, be sure and use a little duct tape to secure that clip to the end of the hose permanetly. I lost my first one, and Katadyn sent me a new one quickly. | |
| Alphawolf at REI on 09/13/2007 | |
excellent filter! | |
| Rating: |  |
| i have used this filter for well over a year and have had a few problems that the previous reviewers had however i knew how to fix the problems and it has been a very stout filter for me. i use this filter when i tack groups out for weeklong trips because it gives excellent water quality and rapid fill rates. i always use this on longer life setting and i know that if i filter from a silt floored stream i will have to clean the ceramic filter at least once, all of you that have written about vapor locking the filter and blowing water out through the umbrella, this is caused because the ceramic filter is clogged not just on the surface but entirely through the filter, all you have to do is take it out and scrub it with the scrub pad that came with it and then aggitate it in the stream for about 30 seconds and that will resolve the issue, no big deal. i love this filter because i can take it entirely apart and field service it i carry spare o rings just in case but i also replace them oncea year regardless of the condition this is common sense. the only thing that i dont like about this filter is that it is somewhat bulky but im willing to compromise that any day! i also have remedied the clogged ceramic filter by adding a cotton prefilter that msr makes and since i have done that it hasnt clogged once! | |
| campcook063 at REI on 09/15/2008 | |
Don't be mislead... | |
| Rating: | |
| I'm not really sure what many of these reviewers are talking about. I've had this filter for a year and I've never had any problems with it. I hike mostly in the Sierra Nevadas, but I've used it in CO Rockies as well. It pumps plenty fast. I've never once been disappointed with the speed at which it filters, and more importantly, I've never contracted G or Crypto or anything else. I've probably run 150+ liters through it. If it weighed a little less I'd give it 5 stars. Maybe my lack of problems with this filter derive from the clarity of the sources I pump from. I've never had any issues with excess silt building up in it. Anyway...I love this filter. | |
| BrandonRiza at REI on 08/25/2008 | |
Great pump | |
| Rating: | |
| So far, I've used this pump on three multi-day group trips (up to 10 ppl). On each trip, I was filtering water for many people in the group, so I was really pumping a lot of water out there. I always chose Longer Life mode, and it was producing water very quickly & reliably, without a lot of effort. I seemed to have a much easier time using this pump than people with me who were using the Hiker Pro filter. The dual-action pistons on the Vario are awesome and really move a lot of water easily. The pump is very easy to disassemble and clean once you're back in civilization. | |
| Troy at Eastern Mountain Sports (EMS) on 08/02/2009 | |
How to improve the filtering capability? | |
| Rating: | |
| Several individuals have noted that they have had filtering/pumping problems with the Vario. This is a good filter until you get a lot of silt in it...then it stops pumping. An easy way to keep out silt is to take along a few cheap paper coffee filters with you on your hike. Wrap one around the pre-filter bob and secure it with a rubber band. This will stop the pump from sucking in silt and help ensure a longer filter life for your Vario! For extra dirty water, use two coffee filters....you can extend the life of your filter and eliminate most problems if you use this simple technique! | |
| BitBucket at REI on 08/17/2008 | |
Very Good | |
| Rating: | |
| don't pump too fast or it will leak just keep the speed steady when you pump an it pumps fast. Its as good as any other filter, it is a bit bulky though. Use it all the time, just be gentle with it its not your kitchen faucet. I'm not sure what people expect they act as if backpacking equiptment should be able to fall off of everest and be submerged in corosive sea water for a year and not have problems. I like it but it could be designed a little better so I give it 4 of 5 stars | |
| Dr.Johnson at REI on 02/11/2009 | |
Fast and Easy | |
| Rating: | |
| I have used this for crystal clear winter river water in N. Michigan and for warm, green water dug out from the gravel in a dry river bed in Arizona. The water was clear and tasteless after filtering. The filter is quick and easy to use. We used one filter for five people on one backcountry trip, though one more would have been more convenient. It's a little bulky for hiking but lightweight and a lot less bulky than carrying 3 gallons of water for a trek in the desert! | |
| 4Season Outdoor Girl at Eastern Mountain Sports (EMS) on 05/30/2008 | |
Great product! | |
| Rating: | |
| I used it on a 7 day trek through Idaho Panhandle Forest. Some of the streams are known to carry the big "G" (my buddy got giardia from the same area). Was nervous to drink the water but had to. I will never lose faith in my water filter again! Nobody on the trip got sick and the filter was easy to use and clean. I'm glad I packed it! I like how it can attach to my water bottle too! | |
| Ben the backpacker at REI on 12/31/2008 | |
Compact, lightweight, and it works! | |
| Rating: | |
| This is a great, small water filter. There's no reason to mess with chemicals. I used it for a week straight without any problems. I keep it in my military ruck sack for all the fun countries I visit on the job. Its filtered some really nasty water and I haven't gotten sick. I still use some chlorine just incase here in the middle east. The only con is its much slower than the larger filters so be patient. | |
| JP at Eastern Mountain Sports (EMS) on 10/14/2007 | |
works great! | |
| Rating: | |
| So far we've only used this in the relatively crystal clear lakes of the Boundary Waters (thus on the "faster flow" setting only), and it has worked great! Easy to pump, fast output, no leaking. Love that it attaches directly to Nalgene bottles. Very happy with our purchase! | |
| CasaCusa at REI on 09/12/2008 | |
Aggravating Problems | |
| Rating: |  |
| I purchased this filter new from REI on the Saturday of memorial day weekend, took it on a 3 day in North Georgia near Jacks River Falls. Within the first 2 liters of water pumped i had to remove the pump housing and clean the ceramic filter. After that it pumped fine as long as i kept the pre-filter "bob" away from silt. The next morning, however, the pump refused to operate at all and would not even draw water in through the inlet tubing. I read the manual and found out that this may be caused by high pressure build up in the canister and the solution was to pump slowly until water was flowing and then increase the pumping rate to normal. This did not work at all. Changed to "faster pumping" setting (which bypasses the ceramic disk) and the filter still would not pump. I cleaned the ceramic disk and still was unable to pump. I disassembled the entire pump and cleaned all the pump o-rings and made sure there was no debris hindering operation, all to no avail. Finally figured out that the pump developed enough pressure to force air out through the pump seals on top(which you could hear audibly escaping the pump with a high pitched whining sound), but not enough pressure to force the air in the chamber through the filter media to allow water to draw into the chambers and start the actual "pumping" process. As a last resort before deciding to boil water for the rest of the weekend, i removed the pump housing turned it upside down in the stream to fill it with water and assembled the pump upside down, effectively filling the pumping chamber with water (where it was previously filled with air), basically priming the pump. With incompressible water now filling the pump chamber, vs. compressible air, the pump built up enough pressure in the water to force it through and actually begin pumping water. For the rest of the trip i just turned the pump housing upside down in the water to fill it and reassembled it before beginning to pump and it worked fine. The water quality and taste were wonderful, the pumping speed was ridiculous fast(could fill 3 Camelback Hydration packs in under 1o min on longer life setting) but the need to "prime" a filter at this price point doesn't sit well with me. If Katadyn doesn't give a good explanation of this problem and fix it on their dime, I'm taking this back to REI and will probably get the MSR Hyperflow and add a DIY carbon filter for taste and clarity. I hope no one else had this problem. | |
| Peisher at REI on 05/27/2008 | |
Buyer Beware | |
| Rating: | |
| I had several similar complaints with previous reviews. I started out a 60 mile, one week trip with this device, and was boiling and treating water in 3 days, probably only got 25-30 liters at best. I trouble shot every avenue, cleaning the filter, bypassing, speed of pumping, and by the end, it would take 1 hour to pump 1 liter. It would have been faster to collect rain water. This is not the product for a long backpacking trip. Most of plastic accessories are cheap and break easily. | |
| SDCardio at REI on 06/25/2008 | |
OK if water clean, not if water is silty | |
| Rating: |  |
| We used the Vario this summer on multi-day trips in Olympic and Grand Canyon National Parks. In both cases we found it to work well on the "faster" setting, which is suitable for silt-free water sources. Along rivers this can mean settling your water first. The "longer life" setting with the ceramic pre-filter was unsatisfactory. Within one or two liters filtered, it began to leak prodigiously due to the back pressure created on the ceramic filter. We broke it down, checked and re-lubed all O-rings, but the problem persisted. Nevertheless this is a satisfactory replacement for a Katadyn Hiker, which uses the same core filter. The lever handle is easier to use, the pump rate is faster (well over one liter per minute), and the screw-on feature which works with Nalgene bottles and MSR Dromedary Bags is *much* more convenient than fussing with the output tube and adapter on the Hiker. | |
| Chris in Arizona at REI on 09/12/2007 | |
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