Life Straw

[Carrot Cruncher]

I have just been reading an article on the BBC website about gadgets used in disaster areas http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-13430408 and came across the "Life Straw" which can be picked up for less than a tenner (according to the links). Has anyone got any experience of them as they seem an absolute bargain

http://www.vestergaard-frandsen.com/lifestraw
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LifeStraw

The problem is that having googled them I cant seem to find anywhere that sells them to the public apart from the odd one on ebay

[Ian]

I tried one years ago.

It was hard to draw through, I felt that the dwell time in the filter was much too low for the activated carbon to work and after a couple of litres it clogged. That was it, finished.

It was the fashion at the time for military (and especially wannabes) to carry one taped to their harness. As the fashion quickly died I suspect it was because the straw was rubbish.

I have always thought though that in the UK it might be worth carrying a foot or so of thinnish hose (1/4") to suck water from holes or other inaccessible places. You could even soak up a dribble with a handkerchief and wring it into your mouth. If I were that desperate though, I suspect that any water would be welcome, even if I had to push the dead sheep out of the way first, no filter necessary.

[luxor]

I tried one years ago.

It was hard to draw through, I felt that the dwell time in the filter was much too low for the activated carbon to work and after a couple of litres it clogged. That was it, finished.

im with Ian,

C.C. go for a proper water filter.

something like this.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Aquapure-1152-T ... rhf_shvl_5

[Carrot Cruncher]

Looking at the links there is a newer version out so it may be an improvement on the older ones. I'm not really in the market for another filter its just when I saw the price in the link ($5) I thought at that price you could afford to buy 4 or 5 and have one in every bag/vehicle

[Bladerunner]

I bought about a dozen a couple of years ago but I have never used one. I gave a couple to family members and the rest are in my BOB's and in storage.

I believe they have a shelf life but again that could be down to the fact they want you to throw them away and buy more. Or it could be they don't want to get sued when I keel over with some horrific skin eating virus that comes out of my stomach like something out of Alien.

Be lucky (and optimistic)

[JohnRio]

@Ian - you say you tried one years ago - can you remember how many years ago? And was it LifeStraw (pale blue with dark blue cap ends) or another brand e.g. WebTex (supposedly made to MOD specs, olive green)

The reason I ask, is I'm looking at picking up a couple of these, and reading around I've realised there are lots of different personal water filters on the market, many have been around for longer than LifeStraw which was only invented in 2005.

I found a UK site that claims to sell them to the public - a tenner for the personal straw, or £30 for the family sized filter.


http://tap-h2o.com/lifestraw.php

[Ian]

Perhaps 20, maybe 25 or more.

It was a transparent rigid plastic body 4-5mm in diameter with soft tubed ends, overall 25-30cm long. Packed in a printed transparent wrapper. For a couple of years it was the fashion in the military to tape one to the front webbing strap of your rucksack, you might find some pictures like that.

[JohnRio]

Righto. Thanks Ian. Yeah, I think the technology has come on a long way since then.

I've been reading around various reviews, and while the Webtex ones were some good, some bad, the LifeStraw reviews were all basically good.
It's shorter and wider than the kit you talked about, and uses physical filter, then micro gel/bead bound iodine and then activated charcoal. Flow rates averaging about 200ml per min (more when it's new). Supposed to last for several hundred litres.
Also, designed so you can "blow-back" through it to clear clogs in the filters.

[pseudonym]

I have a pre-mac filter, and a MillBank Bag as back up.

For a throw away item I have a couple of these:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I77dHj1ARvE

self explanatory.

HTH