Pure2Go Traveler's Kit
The Pure2Go Traveler's Kit offers an all-in-one hydration solution that fits easily into a single bottle-sized bag – saving the user valuable pack space as well as providing some much needed peace of mind when straying from the comforting shores of any body of water.
The portable water filtration market currently sees two main types of product: the pump-and-gather method and the straw-to-water system. The third option is a little less common to encounter but is seeming to be the most practical and the utmost desired amongst the outdoor community - that is the collect-and-go method, and that’s what Water One has achieved with it’s Pure2Go Traveler's Kit: collecting a smaller haul of water sans any pump, coupled with a brilliantly designed purification straw. Simple and effective, easy and light and, seemingly, the best bet in terms of on-the-go water collection.
The total weight of the set is 8z (or 227 g); it's size dimensions are 28 x 6 cm. It's feature piece is constructed from very durable plastic and seems near impossible to damage, even from the roughest of handling imaginable. I can't necessarily picture it fraying, sustaining damage from drops, cracking or chipping, wearing down or deteriorating rapidly. In other words, the quality is readily apparent.
The Case
The case doesn’t ostensibly seem like an important part of the equation until you find yourself packing up frantically or trying to reconfigure all the contents of a pack. I admire anything with a plastic zipper for ease of use and lack of jamming potential – so no issues with this whatsoever.
The fabric of the case is surprisingly durable and I’m more than happy to see that the creators decided not to make it so small and snug that it’s a pain to pack up each time. A worthy note – I had left my Pure2Go case next to a fire and, without realizing, a few embers landed on the case and put themselves out before causing any damage to the case itself; had the case material been of lesser quality, it could have risked damage to the actual water bladder. All in all, the case is perfectly designed; while it's not the feature piece, it's certainly appreciated as it undoubtedly contributes to the overall ease of use.
The Bladder
To start with the collapsible bladder – which seems to have been designed with simplicity and pack efficiency in mind. My only qualm with the piece, if I had to muster something up, would perhaps be the inconvenience that comes with trying to get water into the bladder in the first place, as the walls are eager to cling together and some extra maneuvering is needed to get H20 flowing in. I’ll concede that it’s a very trivial point but when mosquitoes and gnats are swarming you, or you have to reach and contort your body in difficult ways to access a flow of water, it makes for a difficult time to have to use both hands to keep the bladder open and able to take in water.
In my case, I had found that dragging the bladder so that it skims atop the water proved an effective method to quickly fill it up with one hand in those exceptional or tricky situations.
The bladder itself (0.8L) comes with a plastic grommet that allows for easy hanging off thin tree limbs or off a pack - a small but important detail. The cap, worth noting, is not attached to the bladder, meaning that it can get lost. The bladder itself is brown and camouflages well with the forest floor, which can make it hard to find for the more disorganized and clumsy user.
Ostensibly and in practice, the bladder holds up well, is easy to pack, stores a decent bit of water and can, most importantly, be externally fastened to a pack. Despite the slow water intake and the choice of color, there's nothing to really complain about with respect to the bladder construction and applicability - the bladder does the job it's supposed to do.
The Straw
The straw portion itself is a work of modern ingenuity given its two-stage filtration-then-purification design; in essence, it both filters and purifies water. This is something that many water filtration systems don't do, and something that's hard to come across without actually adding supplements to water containers.
A few spits gets the carbon taste and grey-colored water out of the straw for its first use. Every mouthful requires a rather hard drag but, knowing that this is due to all the complexity of the systems inside, makes it completely worthwhile.
Inside the upper cartridge of the straw is what Pure2Go refers to as ViroBac, a purification technology that contains a halogenated resin. The resin compound is ionically-bonded with a carrier media and it destroys waterborne bacteria upon contact. The company has extensively tested the purifier for almost three decades.
It's claimed to kill 99.9999% of waterborne bacteria; 99.997% of waterborne cysts, 99.997% of waterborne viruses and also remove radioactive contaminants.
Inside the lower cartridge is a microfiber filter, regarded as "Ultrafiltration" technology, of which the pores measure to be a tenth of a micron. This membrane is effective in the removal of numerous bacteria and other water contaminants.
The entire straw is a bit weighty - 4.8 oz (136 g) - which is nothing to really complain about given the immaculately-designed quality and intricacy of all the components inside.
Application
I had the fortune (chancing a misfortune) of using this particular Purifier in some exceedingly questionable water - see the below image. And despite almost expecting that gut-wrenching stomach trouble to kick in few hours after downing about three bladders full of Pure2Go-distilled H20, I’m more than happy to report that I experienced absolutely no issues.
There are two moments that I had experienced which are worth noting, moments that made me absolutely fall in love with this product and consider it my go-to for future expeditions: The first had been the first tremendously refreshing taste of stream water, initially masked by the carbon but eventually fully present. The fact that this purifier allows me to not only drink from any stream I come across but also take a decent amount of water to go shatters any limitations when trekking through the wilderness, and for this I'm ecstatically pleased with Water One's astounding purifier - the successful result of 28 years worth of product testing.
The next moment that made my experience all the more notable had been the gratified sense of trust that I had felt after taking a leap of faith on a product that could have left me crawling out of the woods clutching my stomach in pain. The Pure2Go saved me valuable pack space and allowed me to maneuver through the wilderness at a much faster pace.
This product is a must-have for any trail-runner who's tired of bringing along bottled water. Even for the long-excursion trekker, it's a great supplemental piece to any pump-collection water system because it takes up so little pack space.
The only drawback I've experienced with this product (and I'm hard-pressed to think of much) is its color - brown is tricky for outdoor tools given the ease at which things can get lost on the forest floor when juggling numerous tasks and tools, though this can be remedied by simply painting or tying a brightly colored object onto the purifier.
Despite this trivial bit, the Pure2Go Traveler's Kit is flawlessly designed and wholly trustworthy. For myself, it's a new welcomed staple in my pack, one that I won't ever think to leave behind when heading out, as it allows me free range without compromising neither my mobility nor my maneuverability through the woods.
