LifeStraw Review

The Lifestraw Personal filter is suited for solo on-the-go use. It's lightweight design and low price make it very attractive. However, it's sucking speed is a little "sucky" and there are better products out there if you're willing to shell out a bit more cash. A decent option if you're looking for a fast on-the-go filtration system.

Performance Comparison

A lightweight personal filter that allows you to drink from virtually anywhere.

Photo: Jessica Haist

Water Quality

Utilizing a hollow fiber filtration cartridge with 0.2-micron pore size, it can filter out particulates, bacteria, and protozoa including Giardia and Cryptosporidium. It does not treat viruses. This handy filtration system works best in clear water but has the affinity to clean out turbid water.

Simply wear it around your neck or tuck into your pack as you adventure through the wilderness. It provides good filtration but struggles a little bit in turbid water.

Photo: Amber King

Durability & Maintenance

This system seems to be pretty durable overall with few parts. It's pretty simple. Our only worry is the LifeStraw could snap along the length of the tube because it's so long. The filter lasts around 1000 gallons (roughly 4000 liters), according to the manufacturer.

A look at the intake. While you can't clean this directly, you can blow the water back through if it gets clogged. While this isn't ideal, it works well enough.

Photo: Amber King

Unfortunately, you can't troubleshoot this filter as everything is enclosed and inaccessible. If it clogs, it's hard to unclog. Blowing it out the other way works, but it's not very efficient.

Treatment Speed

Using the power of suction, attaining water is instantaneous. It does not require pumping, and it's not a chemical treatment. It's a great emergency filtration system because of its quick ability to attain water. It, unfortunately, cannot store water, unless you donate a container that you carry dirty around with you.

Weight & Packability

The LifeStraw is one of the lightest options out there. At just 1.75 ounces and a narrow profile, it's super duper easy to pack away and use for lightweight travel. It slides nicely into a side pocket of backpacking, or you can wear it around your neck with its removable lanyard. We found that it was a little too long to use with a hydration vest as it got in the way, but could tuck into a pocket in the back.

An ultralightweight filtration system that can be used for trail running or short backpacking trips.

Photo: Amber King

Ease of Set-Up

There's not much needed for set-up. You only need to find a water source that you can access.

The LifeStraw's longer length doesn't require you to get your face right into the water, but we typically found ourselves on our knees getting muddy or having to get into the water source to access the water. It might be hard to reach a river with a super steep bank or use this on-the-go filtration system off the side of a big boat…unless you feel like getting in.

Ease of Filtration

After you've found your water source, suck with all you've got. For the first few seconds, you won't get anything as the tube needs to fill with water first before you can get water. The wide intake and output give you a decent flow of water after those first few moments. If the water is murky, this becomes even harder, and the flow decreases significantly. There are other products with a similar design that work better including the Sawyer Micro that offers a better rate of filtration flow, and less sucking strength required. However, the Micro also "sucks" in silty water.

The mouthpiece that provides some flow, but takes a little effort at first.

Photo: McKenzie Long

Another caveat to this system is that it doesn't store any water. If you plan on using this while backpacking and you know you have a long section without water, it's advised to carry dirty water in a storage container. From the storage, you can then drink. However, this isn't ideal as you have to sterilize that storage container before filling it with clean water once again. Because of these limitations, this filter is best for on-the-go use with less ideal options for storage.

This model can also be used to drink from a bottle, allowing you to collect water at the source and carry it with you, and then you can drink it later.

Photo: Luke Lydiard

Value

This value is hard to beat. Its capabilities are limited to personal on-the-go use. The Sawyer Micro and Sawyer Mini cost just a little bit more and offer better performance and versatility overall. If we had to choose between these systems, we'd go with the Sawyer Micro, but if money is your priority, the Lifestraw is hard to beat.

Little puddles in granite pockets are a perfect place to get water while alpine climbing with this model.

Photo: Jessica Haist

Conclusion