In 2005, the LifeStraw water filter came out. It was accompanied by cool images of rugged outdoorsy types drinking from puddles. Even a decade later, there is still a lot of hype around the LifeStraw.
I’m not going to deny that the LifeStraw is a cool idea. It is great because it is:
- Portable
- Easy to use
- Can filter up to 4000 liters/1000 gallons
- Removes 99.999% of bacteria and parasites from water including giardia, E. coli, and Cryptosporidium
However, the LifeStraw water filter simply isn’t practical for backpacking for these reasons. Since people in my local FB hiking group keep talking about the LifeStraw, I decided it was time to write a post addressing why I hate the LifeStraw so much.
You Can’t Take Water with You
The LifeStraw water filter can only be used as a straw. That means you need to be next to your water source to use it.
This obviously makes some problems for backpacking.
- You’d have to stop and crouch next to the water source every time you want to take a sip of water.
- Unless you are following a stream for 100% of your hike, you won’t always have water to drink.
- Even if you are ok with sipping from a stream every time you get thirsty, it is annoying and time-consuming.
This looks cool, but is really impractical!
The company is aware of this flaw and has tried to fix it with the “LifeStraw Go” product. Basically, it’s a water bottle where you put the dirty water. Then you use the LifeStraw to drink the water from the bottle.
However, the LifeStraw Go doesn’t solve the next problem with LifeStraw…
You Can’t Use LifeStraw to Get Water into a Container
Let’s say that you need water for cooking. There is no way to use the LifeStraw to get clean water into a pot or other vessel.
True, you could boil the water for at least 1 minute to make it safe to drink… but what if you want to make a just-add-water meal (like this dehydrated hummus)?
If you were really desperate, you could suck dirty water through the LifeStraw and spit it into the container. This is not something that I’d want to do.
There Are Better Alternatives to LifeStraw
I wouldn’t hate the LifeStraw so much if there weren’t great alternatives. Personally, I use the Sawyer Mini (read my review here).
The Sawyer Mini also can work as a straw, so you can get those cool shots of yourself drinking water from a puddle (not sure why’d you want to do this though).
But you can also screw the Sawyer Mini onto a plastic bottle or the included pouch. Just fill the bottle or pouch with dirty water, then squeeze through the Sawyer Mini to get clean water for drinking, cooking, or whatever.
You can buy the Sawyer Mini here.
This is me filtering water with the Sawyer Mini. I’m using a plastic bottle instead of the pouch to filter clean water into a separate bottle.
I’ve used the Sawyer Mini while backpacking and countries where the water isn’t safe to drink – like here on the beach in Albania.
Admittedly, the Sawyer Mini does have a really slow flow rate. I’ve recently gotten the Sawyer Squeeze, which works the same way but filters a lot faster. It is a bit bigger and costs a bit more than the Sawyer Mini.
If you are going to be backpacking with more people, a pump-style water filter might be the better bet. The Katadyn Hiker Microfilter or the MSR MiniWorks EX Microfilter. These are pricier options though, and the filters don’t last as long.
Note:
I do want to say that LifeStraw does a lot of great work. The filter was originally designed as a way to remove Guinea worm larvae and more than 37 million LifeStraw Guinea Worm filters have been given to people in the developing world.
LifeStraw also gives away their products for free to the developing world and a portion of proceeds go towards supplying communities with LifeStraw “community” filters.
This doesn’t mean you need to buy an impractical water filter to help people in the developing world though. You can also make a private donation. Or Sawyer has an option where you can make a donation to solve drinking water problems. 100% of your donation goes towards their clean water programs. Learn more about making a donation here.
Image credit for guy using LifeStraw in a puddle: “P1090143” (CC BY 2.0) by popofatticus
7 Comments
Name *
November 29, 2018 at 11:00 amTrue, a filter like life straw or water-to-go is not perfect if you need to have filtered water for cooking. But for drinking it is perfect! I refused so many single use plastic bottles on my travels because of a filter bottle. (So important to refuse plastic when traveling) And if you can get fresh water from a moving source you can cook it 4-5 minutes and it is good for cooking. But I would always use sawyer or katadyn when out camping on a multi day trip.
Cheers
Jule
Diane
December 3, 2018 at 12:19 pmI agree that the Life Straw is useful, especially when you don’t want to use plastic. But I don’t get why anyone would buy it when the Sawyer Mini does the same thing plus so much more. Glad to hear that you are refusing plastic. 🙂 I used my Sawyer to drink questionable tap water in places like Peru and Egypt — saved me from the horror of bottled water.
Name *
May 11, 2019 at 9:30 pmReally weird post. If you don’t want to drink from a stream bring a bottle. If you want clean water for cooking search other methods. the product doesn’t have top meet your every need. It has to do what it was designed to do. Your opinion isn’t a fact and you should say you hate their product. When you kept on complementing it. You discussed how the corporation tried to help create a product from difficult consumers like your self. You also stated how they give to people in need with our purchases. Next time express your post by choosing alternatives instead of trying to dissuade people fro purchasing Life Straw. Hopefully this posts!
Diane
May 14, 2019 at 11:00 amI clearly recommend the Sawyer Mini instead of the LifeStraw. It does everything the LifeStraw does (filters through a straw) plus allows you to filter water into a bottle or pot for cooking purposes. So, one product solves all of my backpacking needs. BTW, pretty much everything on the internet is opinion, not fact. My opinion is based on years of experience backpacking and having to filter water in backcountry. Hopefully this insight will help people make the best choice when buying a water filter. Buy whatever product you want. This is clearly marked as my opinion about a product which gets a lot of hype even though it (for most backcountry situations) isn’t at all practical.
Chris
December 9, 2021 at 7:44 amYou are aware they make a gravity bag that stores In a backpack lol.
Ray
December 6, 2022 at 11:22 amIf you were thirsty to death and found only a pool of dirty water. You’ll know how such a straw saved your life. My friends also keep such dirty water in his water container until we found a stream.
Damon
December 13, 2022 at 5:21 pmThis one is easy – carry a Nalgene for dirty water and use your Lifestraw to drink from that. It’s my preferred method at this point.