I live on the central east coast of FL ( by Kennedy Space Center / Cape Canaveral AFS, so the freezing issue is not a concern - usually !
I had contemplated removing the filter, as I had read a number of posts about doing that, but I wanted to see if leaving it in would have any negative affect. As far as I can tell, in my application, it doesn't hinder the catch cans ability to do it's job - BARRING it gets emptied prior to it splashing up onto the filter and possibly being "pulled" thru the output side.
I only allowed it to get up about an inch prior to emptying it to prevent this...
A guy at work who has an '91 CRX SI has now implemented one and is pleased with the crud removal !
About to install one on my 2004 Tahoe as well, then my 5.0 Mustang...
Can't hurt !!!!