Many readers will be aware that Three Points of the Compass has long been a fan of the BeFree water filter from hydration specialists Katadyn. There is an additional filter pairing that snuck past many as it was primarily aimed at runners. Salomon have been producing clothing and equipment for outdoor activities since 1947 and from 2020 they increased the neck size on many of their runners bottles to 42mm. In Spring 2020 they announced the release of their Salomon Soft Flask XA Filter. Currently priced at £40 (2022), this has a 490ml capacity and utilises a filter cartridge with obvious similarities to the BeFree though the XA Filter Cap 42 is not branded as such and there are a couple of differences. One is the red colour of the filter’s plastic body. The second is the inclusion of a bite valve rather than flip-top cap. The Salomon filter also has a slightly longer body (112mm) but has a similar open frame design to the cage surrounding the filter membrane to improve cleaning and flow, rate though the XA filter does appear to have a greater amount of hollow-fibre filter membrane exposed. Interestingly, normally you will find this filter listed with the same ‘up to’ 1000 litre life as the BeFree has but occasionally you will also find it described as having a lifespan of up to 1500 litres. This does, at first glance, appear to be the same filter as the BeFree and it is possible that Katadyn or HydraPak produced this, or perhaps it came from another of the various water filtration specialists scattered across the globe.

While this was purchased as a filter and flask pairing, Three Points of the Compass is more interested in the potential to pair the filter with a larger water holder from HydraPak. The 42mm screw neck diameter on the XA filter is the same as the BeFree filter, the filter technology is the same, the filtering performance is similar, the drinking cap is different, they are interchangeable and can be used on just about any wide neck 42mm thread soft sided flask/bottle/bladder on offer, in particular those produced by HydraPak. The Salomon XA filter cartridge weighs 36g against the 34g of the Befree. The Salomon filter cartridge can also be purchased as a stand alone item. As I write this (February 2022) both Salomon and Amazon have it on sale for £32.