Life Gadgetry- LifeStraw

LifeStraw is a personal water filter that has been used by people around the world for years now to enjoy clean water when there wasn’t any available. You can throw in your pack for hiking, camping, running, trail riding, to take a cool refreshing drink from the runoff culverts out at the range or just for emergencies. This straw weighs about 2 oz. and can be used to filter more than 1,000 liters of water (264 gallons). LifeStraw does not use batteries or any moving parts, and can remove up to 99.9% of waterborne bacteria and protozoan cysts; the straw is also BPA free and does not contain any chemicals. This makes it possible to drink water from puddles, streams, rivers, etc, and avoid the ingestion of many sickness-causing bacteria without any use of chlorine or other common water purification chemicals. Using the straw is very simple- just suck through it like any typical straw, making sure to blow back out after drinking to ensure the filter doesn’t get clogged for future use.

There are multiple options available – the standard LifeStraw seen below, the “LifeStraw Family 1.0” and, for those of you who prefer something like a Nalgene bottle, the LifeStraw Go (a refillable bottle introduced last December). Keep in mind also that each time a LifeStraw is sold a child in Africa gets clean water for the entirety of a school year (thanks to the LifeStraw Mission).

You can learn more about the LifeStraw and where you can purchase them here on their website; you can also check them out on Facebook.