I have the katadyn combi and the siphon filter but I usually steer people towards the Sawyer filters they are more compact, light weight and last longer not to mention cheaper. I think I have 8 sawyers and 4 katadyn filters probably a little over kill but hey i will at least have clean water.
The combi will do 16k gallons and the siphon filter i think 5 k both are pretty compact but heavy.
I think any water treatment system (portable or not) must also include the ability to purify. The Pocket is a durable unit, and offers a huge gallon count. However, without an activated carbon element (and these add-ons only have a useful life of ~50 gallons), there is no removal of agricultural or industrial chemicals, or bad taste.
For long-term fixed position use, Sawyer or Berkley systems with heat (boiling) or UV (sunlight) purifying might be best. For bug out, where one can expect relatively short-term use (days to weeks), any Katadyn, MSR, etc should prove adequate. Make sure you include some purifying method.
With this in mind, does anyone have experience with the First Need XL system from General Ecology? It is a filter / purifier in one.
It has very limited filter/purifier useful life (~150 gallons, and the element must be replaced, not cleaned). However, for a short time use system (a few days to a few weeks), it seems to be a great system - no batteries, no bad taste, no chemicals, no wait time.
Trouble is, it seems too good to be true, and I am skeptical.
Curious if you got the test results back yet?
What color were the ones breaking? I noticed they recently changed to a black color.