lifestraw

Ausseknifeknut

Ausseknifeknut

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Gday guys I bought myself a life straw to chuck in my pack, anyone have any experiences with them ? Any pros or cons you'd like to share ?
 
Lifestraws seem to do just fine with natural contaminants, though I'd still probably go for a stream rather than a pool of stagnant water. I've been told that they won't filter out chemical pollutants, like spills from oil or factories, but even if it did I'm not sure you'd want to try drinking from such water...
 
about the only downside is that once you find water, its kinda hard to collect it. you pretty well have to just drink there as you find it. I was on a hike where I saw a few guys who had glued soda bottle caps to their to make a sort of sawyer style filter. But it looked a bit rough, and hard to work. granted I was comparing that to my MSR mini-works, which while isn't the worlds fastest filter, it can sustain a reasonable flow rate. trying to fill a bunch of little bottles without getting contaminated looked to be a pretty major task. Apart from that, there is a survivorman where Les used a lifestraw on some really nasty water, and he said it did the trick. (didn't do that much for flavor, but when you need the water....)
 
I have LifeStraws in all my, and my children's BOB's. I've used one once, the entire trip [testing phase] without any single issue. Taste of the water was fine, ease of draw was ok. Was like drawing a really thick milkshake through a straw but that means it's working. I highly recommend them for any kit.
 
I have a few Lifestraws and Sawyer Mini's for backups to my Steripens. Like gadget mentioned, you have to be around a water source and it's difficult to collect water. The Steripens are much more convenient and the Sawyer Mini's can be used on standard water bottles, their bladders, and seem to be more versatile. I've never had to use my Lifestraw or Sawyer, but carry them anyways in the event I run out of batteries or I break the Steripen for whatever reason. I also have a MSR mini, but have never used it and it sits in my vehicle kit for when we go on road trips. Most of my friends that I backpack with have ditched their old standard filters for Steripens or Sawyers with Lifestraws for backups.
 
They're intended primarily as an emergency item for direct use, not for filling bottles, etc. No mechanical flter can take out dissolved chemicals or viruses. They mainly take out bacteria and protozoans like giardia. Carbon filters may help on taste but viruses need chemical or ultraviolet treatment. Sediment and other gunk will clog up a straw pretty fast and can't be cleaned out like most pump filters. If "dirty", let water sit in a container to settle before drawing off the top. For regular backcountry use seriously consider getting a "real" filter.
 
the life straw was originally designed to be an every-day use filter. the element is supposed to last one person a year of drinking water, so its not like you should be able to clog it up too fast. yeah sediment will do it in, but that's the same of any filter system, some are more adaptable to it than others. And with a lifestraw, you can do a seep-hole near water, and still get something, where as trying to fill a little pouch from 1/2 inch of water would be maddening.

In general unless you are pulling water from human contaminated sources, you should be fine when it comes to viruses, there just aren't that many that are water-borne. Noro-virus can hang around a bit, but UV or a shot of chlorine will fix that (even the solar method is good enough for that) But un-less you are downstream of the out-house, you should be okay with that one.

I like lifestraw as a company, with their buy one-give one model. Less keen on sawyer, just due to their big hypey claims and the other product they still sell.
I will probably be getting a steri-pen at some point for my personal trips, but until then, the mini-works does the job, and its a proven bit of kit. I'd like to get a gravity filter for larger groups, but I don't often need that, most of my larger group trips are supported, so we have caches and logistics support.

Everyone has their own speed, and style, so do your own thing.
 
Grease said:
Lifestraws seem to do just fine with natural contaminants, though I'd still probably go for a stream rather than a pool of stagnant water. I've been told that they won't filter out chemical pollutants, like spills from oil or factories, but even if it did I'm not sure you'd want to try drinking from such water...
Click to expand...

Although drinking from moving water may give you the feeling of safer water it really has no bearing on water quality :) . And yes hydro carbons ex are a much different matter depending on there specific gravity they could be on the surface, on the bottom, or mixed in solution. If drinking is life or death and the sign of oil ex is present (sight or smell) id drink from mid water column as most sink or float. But that's me and only as a last resort :)
 
I have been using a Sawyer SP140 filter bottle, and find it is much more satisfactory (for me) than the Lifestraw. Being able to walk away with 34 ounces of water rather than just a mouthful, is more practical.
 
I realise I need to get a better long term solution , thus is just a start , a bit of a last ditch thing, sort of abetter then nothing thing. As far as containers go I have a U.S. GI style steel canteen cup , a stainless steel u.s GI style canteen , a plastic GI style canteen , a 1l stainless water bottle , and I have three different ways of making fire . Any of these are options I can put in my pack before I go out , so boiling water is also an option. I have about 16 puritabs in there too.
 
not all situations are alike, nor do they all call for the same solution. Having multiple options is always a good idea.
 
I have better options but i will pick up a life straw when i see one next. The more the better. You could just spit water back out into a container if needed. Maybe not hte most hygienic but itll work.
 
To the people using UV wands... how do you get the particulates out of the water so no viruses or bacteria that are encapsulated in them end up in your gut since the UV wands cant kill them?
 
sure, but let's be realistic. Not very many people are out on expedition, exploring unknown places, with no support. I realize that all this is in part dependent on where you are, but in the Eastern half of America where I live, there are not many places with zero water supply, and not many places where you face days or weeks in the wilderness.
At worst for example in North Florida, just drink the water as you find it Even if it turns out to be 'bad', medical assistance is available. I would be more concerned about dehydration on a kayak trip, than some bacteria, if push came to shove, and you were a day or so from the pull out point.
 
I dunno about that Mannlicher.

Debilitating diarrhea sets in pretty quickly with some waterborne contaminants. You'll be on the ground spraying what precious water your body has out of both ends. Delirious with fever, in horrible pain losing water faster than you can replenish it, you won't be fit to hike out. It took me a week to recover last time I got it in faraway lands. Friends have gotten so sick they needed to be hospitalized.

I mostly carry my drinking water in from tested sources. Less chance of contaminants (either through user error in field conditions or inadequate filtration systems) or running into trouble finding a source. The extra weight doubles as a workout.

Not many portable systems get rid of all viruses and fewer still get rid of heavy metals and chemicals. The number to look for is what size the filter holes are. The smaller the holes the less bad stuff gets through. More on that here with a look at a few different specific filter systems.
http://www.thesurvivalistblog.net/a-combat-vets-perspective-on-bug-out-bag-water-filtration/
To remove chemicals you need to either get extremely good filters or use carbon filtering. With carbon filtering you'll need to replace the active carbon quite often.

Here is a link the lifestraw review from that same source.
http://www.thesurvivalistblog.net/lifestraw-water-filter-system/


The straw is better than nothing but far from ideal IMHO.

My thinking is that there is no way I am sucking a gallon of water a day through a straw if I can avoid it. For practical reasons you are probably going to want to fill up all your water containers in one go when you stop. Who wants to filter each drink individually even if water sources are plentiful. For that reason I'd much rather have a gravity, squeeze or pump system.

My car kit and wilderness kits have room. If they didn't I'd ditch something else before ditching a good water filter.
 
For UV all you need is to get the particles out, and those are pretty big. a simple few layers of cloth will get most of them, and settling/decanting will get the rest. Anything smaller than that shouldn't be a problem.

A quick read of the survivalist blog just reads like the guy is super paranoid. But here is the thing. He is so concerned about dissolved chemicals, but the reality is, if you have a chem spill, nothing is going to be purifying that water. Any petroleum contamination will melt the inside of the sawyer. double filtering just seems like a waste of time to me. espessially using a couple hundred dollar filter as a pump for a cheap one. If you want to pump from the sawyer, just go build a pump, it'd be cheaper.

most of the stuff that is going to get you is parasites, and amoebas. Algae is fine, (unless its blue-green or red) in which case no filter will be enough. Parasites are huge, as are amoebas. Bacteria might be little, but they don't live long, and there are few that are really bad for you. (you are not likely to find e.coli in your back country water, unless you are downstream of the septic tanks)

yes, there are some bad water things you can get. Most people get sick from fecal contamination of food, not their water. But everyone blames the water.
 
one thing is for sure. Dehydration will kill you every time. Drinking questionable water? Maybe, maybe not. Pays your money, and takes your chances.
 
@gadgetgeek. Most of the survival stuff online is highly paranoid. That article seemed good as it relates to a wide range of water filters. I did not read the rest of the blog. :)

@druid189. I'm not sure exactly what you are referencing... Was there something about fluoride in the articles I linked? Where did that come from?
 
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