i'm gaga over in-line filters

Water. You need it constantly, it's heavy, and it can be filled with little buggers that can make you feel terrible. When backpacking, every ounce you carry counts. You get water from anywhere you find it. Streams, rivers, lakes, ponds.... in a pinch, you can even squeeze water from fresh elephant dung! I saw it on man vs. wild. For the last six years I've been using my trusty PUR Hiker water filtration pump. It's simple, and has proven itself reliable. But pumping water through a filter is a time consuming process.

Well, I think I may have found a solution in the in line filter. It's simply a water filter that removes the pump assembly and attaches right to your water bladder's drinking tube. So, in theory, all you have to do is fill the water bladder with untreated water, cap it off and start sucking water through the tube. Ingenious! In camp, it can also be used as a gravity filter by putting the bladder above the filter and letting gravity filter the water in to whatever container you put under.

Reviews online have been mixed, but the issues seem fairly minor so I'm going to try it out. Here's the scoop. I'm going to purchase two different kinds.
The Sawyer biological inline water filter and the Seychelle inline filter We'll use them here in the Catskills next weekend as well as for the first week on the AT and see how it goes. Both claim to have a filter rating that is better than what I've used previously, although none (including the one I use now) filter out viruses. In order to kill those buggers and as a backup I'll be bringing along some Aquamira or Micropur tablets.

So far, I've already started testing out the Sawyer and it appears that it will work exactly as described so we'll see! My hopes are high!