Katadyn BeFree 1.0 L Water Filter Review
The BeFree makes filtering water frictionless, and my one wish is a better way to clean the filter.
Before the BeFree I carried a Katadyn pump filter, and the pump weighs 14.6 ounces in my older trip kits. Pumping is work on top of the work you already do all day. In August 2023 I switched to two Katadyn BeFree one-liter filters, and each one weighs 3.08 ounces, so the pair weighs less than half of the pump.
Filling the soft flask and drinking through the filter takes almost no effort, which is why I love the BeFree. The filters earned their keep on the Tahoe Rim Trail in July 2026. The west side and Desolation run with water, and the Carson Range on the east makes you carry every liter. We filtered at every source and saved each one as a waypoint before we left, which I describe in The Tahoe Rim Trail Right Now.
My one wish is a better way to clean the filter element.
What works
- Frictionless filtering with no pumping.
- Light enough to carry two.
What does not
- The filter is hard to clean well.
Open the BeFree in Backpackers Friend
The link adds the BeFree to Backpackers Friend as a small gear bundle with the weight filled in, ready to apply to the gear list of your next trip.
The trip kits in Backpackers Friend
The BeFree appears in seven of my trip kits. Each kit is a real trip and opens in Backpackers Friend as a gear bundle with every item, weight, and quantity.
- Tahoe Rim Trail, Leg 1, July 2026The first leg of my loop around Lake Tahoe, with the hammock as my shelter. 70 items on a 19.7-pound base weight. Read the trip report.
- Solo near Mammoth Lakes, September 2024A solo trip out of Mammoth Lakes. 80 items on a 21.5-pound base weight, including the only iPad I have ever carried.
- Ediza and Thousand Island Lakes, September 2024Two nights in the Ansel Adams Wilderness with my backpacking partner. 79 items on a 20.5-pound base weight. Read the trip report.
- Ostrander Lake and Buena Vista, July 2024A Yosemite loop with a guidebook shortcut through an old burn. 75 items on a 21.2-pound base weight. Read the trip report.
- Young Lakes, June 2024One night at Young Lakes out of Tuolumne Meadows in peak mosquito season. 77 items on a 21.9-pound base weight. Read the trip report.
- Chilnualna Falls, May 2024A solo loop toward Buena Vista that ended one crossing short, carried with a tent instead of the hammock. 72 items on a 17.7-pound base weight. Read the trip report.
- Point Reyes in the rain, February 2024An overnight at Coast Camp with a close friend in steady February rain. 78 items on a 21.7-pound base weight. Read the trip report.
More water and safety reviews
Keep your own gear list with the trip
The gear checklist in Backpackers Friend weighs every item by category, charts the pack as you build the list, marks each item packed, and saves a list as a reusable bundle for the next trip. The checklist lives on the phone next to the route, the camps, and the offline map. The gear checklist is part of Premium, and planning a trip, drawing the route, and tracking the walk are free with no account.
