Survival Gear Test - The Lifestraw Personal Water Filter

Water is necessary for your survival. Although you can go an extended period of time without food, you won’t last long if you fail to stay properly hydrated. Severe dehydration is one of the most common dangers in survival situations that people are not prepared for properly and as a result, many people become victims of the devastating effects of dehydration. Even if you find a small puddle of water, you still have a serious problem if the water is unsafe to drink.

Even if you find a source of water, the safety of that water for drinking purposes may be questionable and the Lifestraw can help solve that problem. At a filter rate of .2 microns, it will handle most anything except for waterborne viruses. Recent rains left a few places that made an excellent source of water for my test of the Lifestraw.

In order for it to be considered a fair test, a waiting period of three days produced no ill effects from my use of the Lifestraw. No effects from dysentery, diarrhea or nausea were experienced. It worked and worked as designed to filter and purify a questionable water source. The water source looked fairly decent but was still questionable.

It does require some effort on your part but works quite simply. To use it requires only that you suck water through it like a straw but it does require a little effort to get it started. It reminded me of one of those thick milkshakes that takes a while to get it started but eventually gets sucked up the straw. Just insert the bottom into the water source and suck through the mouthpiece. That’s all you have to do to make it work. 

It’s comparable in size to a small Streamlight Stinger Flashlight but weighs significantly less than the flashlight.

To clean your Lifestraw simply blow through the mouthpiece to flush the excess water out and give it a good shake or two. It would also be a good idea to flush it with properly treated water before storing. It has a shelf life of three years (per the manufacturer) and will safely filter and purify over 250 gallons of water. It also has caps that cover both ends of the Lifestraw and comes with a safety lanyard. The lanyard comes off easily if it becomes entangled or hung up. All it takes is a slight tug to remove it completely.

Its light weight (only 2 ounces) was impressive but also makes it somewhat vulnerable to rough handling. You will need to be careful not to bang it too hard against other objects in order to avoid breaking the plastic filter enclosure. There are also no moving parts or items that need to be replaced. It comes in a sealed package with a complete set of instructions for its care and use. Both my Lifestraws shipped quickly and arrived as stated by Eartheasy.com from which they were obtained.  At a cost of less than $20 (USD) per Lifestraw , this is a great piece of survival gear for everyone.

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker