Lifestraw ultralight water purification system by Vestergaard Frandsen

Interesting product. Appears to have limited use for backpacking in North America, or the USA at least, if i understand the product correctly.

In case the basis of my statement/assumption is not clear, and anyone please correct me if you think i’m mistaken, iodine based chemical disinfection coupled with 15micron filtration works fine for bacteria and viruses, but protozoan spores are going to escape both the filtration and chemical disinfection is my guess.

Also, the meaning of “Active carbon withholds particles such as parasites” is unclear to me, and so without more clarification, i’m thinking flukes and tapes for instance are handled nicely, but what about protozoan cysts? To me it appears somewhat redundant if cysts aren’t handled as tape eggs and fluke cercariae would be handled by the 15micron pre-filter. Can anyone clarify my confusion so that i no longer wallow in the mire of ignorance on this issue?

Just curious, does anyone know what it weighs and costs?

95 grams

The company states that this device will not remove Giardia.

It looks like they are trying to support Third World health with inexpensive and easy to use techniques like the water filters and bug nets– more power to them on that.

I wonder if a filter that will take care of giardia would be to hard to draw on by mouth, or the exposure time is too short, or both.

I wonder too, if there isn’t some sort of filtration system that could be built by the users– charcoal isn’t to hard to come by and there must be some ways to use plants or fiber to filter water. I’m thinking of some big gravity feed system with a hand pump. A big ceramic filter might be the basis of a community filter, with the rest built locally.

It might be interesting to know about natural filters as a survival technique, but I guess boiling is good there, provided you have the pot and the fire. A bandana would catch the big chunks.

Dale,

>>”I wonder if a filter that will take care of giardia would be to hard to draw on by mouth, or the exposure time is too short, or both.”

The Seychelle inline filter (~2micron pore size) eliminates Giardia and larger organisms (tapes and flukes for instance) (though some Crypto and some bacteria will pass through a pore this size, and all viruses are small enough to pass, of course) it is used by some on these Forums for both gravity filtration and “on demand” inline filtration spliced into their bladder hose. So, I would conclude that this is not an issue.

Also, exposure time is only an issue if disinfection is the mechanism of inactivation/purification. If a mechanical barrier filter is used (like the Seychelle and the common hiker’s pump filter), then there is no exposure time issue, just a pore size issue, i.e. the pores must be small enough or the route circuitous enough (resulting in essentially a smaller effective pore size – not sure if this method is actually used in any hiker’s filters – sometimes called a labyrinth filter) to eliminate the desired organisms.

The BBC did a story on the Lifestraw. The straw costs $3.50.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4967452.stm

This product has just arrived here in Brazil.
It costs 40 dollars plus shipping, from an Internet store.
It sold out in a few weeks (at this price)

Technology isn't for everyone.

There have been a number of these sorts of things on the market over the years. Iodised resin is hardly new.

In my experience, and I have tested a number of them, the initial surge of iodine is pretty savage. You may find it rather unacceptable, although it is mainly in the smell rather than the taste.

Not removing giardia makes it very questionable imho. That is a serious hazard. I would not bother using it myself.

This is just a reflection, really, but several years ago iodinated matrix filters/purifiers were pulled off retailer's shelves because the filters were deemed not completely effective. Basically, the argument was that water didn't spend enough time in contact with the iodine to completely purify the water–i.e., for complete in-bottle treatment you need 1/2 hour, but water only spends seconds in the filter. As Roger noted, iodine taste very strong at first. My guess is that perhaps they "shocked" biotics with exceptionally high levels of iodine… and with use the iodine levels in the unit dropped to ineffective levels. But this is conjecture. From a practical standpoint, many people felt that there was pretty solid merit for something like a 99% purification rate; my understanding is that pulling them probably had more to do with corporate concerns about being sued on that 1%. Honestly, I have no data to the efficacy of iodinated matrices as related to viruses–ok, or bacteria, either. Just some food for thought.

Hi everyone,

Here's an update from Vestergaard Frandsen, the makers of the LifeStraw, in this thread, since it pop ups pretty frequently in customer queries to us:

LifeStraw no longer contains iodine and filters down to .02 microns across, which means virtually all bacteria, protozoa, and parasites are filtered out (LOG 6 at least). There are no moving parts or chemicals, and the filtration is purely mechanical. It is much lighter than previous versions.

We're also proud to note that LifeStraw is now available for sale in the US for hikers, campers, backpackers, emergency preparedness, or adventures in faraway places: http://www.buylifestraw.com. There is more product info available there. We only sell through two reputable online retailers, Eartheasy and Green Beetle Gear.

You can read a few recent reviews here:

http://www.thesurvivalistblog.net/lifestraw-water-filter-system
http://www.gadling.com/2011/10/03/gadling-gear-review-lifestraw-portable-water-filter/
http://billhowardoutdoors.blogspot.com/2011/10/gear-review-lifestraw-water-filtration.html

Got questions? Ask us at twitter.com/lifestraw

So, is this a better updated option nowadays?

I read that Lifestraw actually does filter giardia nowadays. Mine just arrived in the mail from Amazon. The website and instructions says it removes giardia.

After removing the lanyard, it weighs 1.6oz. I plan on using it on my next hike this October (Goat Rocks Wilderness area). I'll bring a backup.

The pamphlet that came with it indicates a shelf life of 5 years (I think previously it was only one year). Good for about 1,000 liters.

The original posting for this discussion was in 2006. Looks like they upgraded the straw a bit.

I carried one and tried it out on my last trip, although I did not use it exclusively on the trip. Instead, when I came to streams, I pulled it out and sipped with it. The first time I used it, it was rather easy to suck through, however, I noticed that one the following tries, it was not as easy as the first time, but still not too bad. I plan to use it some more though.

You can see me using it in this video around the 6:25 -ish mark and then again at the 27 minute mark:

This thing sucks. No really, what's the point. For half the weight you can use chems or at 3 oz (plus containers) the Sawyer .1 filters (e.g. Squeez) are available.