Lifestraw Review: Does the Lifestraw Personal Filter Really Work?

lifestraw review

Any time you plan an outdoor activity lasting more than a few hours you’re going to need to consider water. It’s essential for cooking, washing, and drinking, and without it, you’re going to be in serious trouble.

If you are going for some days, it might not be comfortable to bring a lot of tiny water bottle units. 

Also, bringing some liters of clean water will add a lot of weight to your backpack. Depending on the weather you’re going to need a bare minimum of four pints a day, and usually more like double that, and a pint of water weighs a pound.

You can carry enough for an overnight trip but go out for any longer and you’re going to need to pick up more supplies as you go, including some gallons of safe drinking water.

If you plan to stop at campsites there might be not contaminated water available there but often you’re going to have to collect it from natural sources, which might be safe to drink but still have some waterborne bacteria and parasites.

Bottom Line Up Front: YES, the Lifestraw Personal Water Filter really does work as water filtration tool. In fact, it’s one of the easiest to use best value filters on the market available here via Amazon.

Great Pick
57% OFF | LifeStraw Personal Filter | Amazon

Absolutely! It's a small insurance policy for the unexpected. I don't leave camp without one (sometimes 2!). Put simply, this is the most cost effective emergency water solution from a company with a proven track record and thousands of happy users.

Get the Amazon deal
We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you.

Why a Filter?

The problem is that natural water sources are often far from safe. In the developing world, millions of people die every year from waterborne diseases and even in the USA, you can have a pretty bad time if you drink from the wrong place because of all the bacteria and parasites.

Bacteria, viruses and protozoans (protozoan parasites) all thrive in water and can cause nasty – even lethal – infections and contaminated water can also contain particles of toxic metals or industrial pollution. It’s vital to make sure any that you collect is safe.

There are several ways of making water safe (clean water), with sterilizing tablets and boiling being two of the best known water purification methods to make sure you get some safe drinking water.

They’re not perfect though. Both will kill microorganisms but they won’t remove suspended particles, and the water they produce doesn’t taste great either. Boiling leaves it flat and deoxygenated, while tablets leave an aftertaste of chlorine or iodine.

Luckily you can now get highly effective filters or a portable water filter or filtration system capable of removing virtually all contamination from water. Not only are they safer than boiling or tablets, they’re also faster – and most of them don’t affect the taste of your water source.

Criteria to Judge a Good Water Filter

Water filters come in all shapes and sizes, and there are a few things to consider before buying a portable water purifier. Some key points are:

  • Weight and bulk. Some filters are designed for large groups or static camps and are too heavy to be much use for backpacking. Smaller, lighter ones are available but tend to have a lower flow rate and shorter filter life, so don’t expect to filtrate gallons of water at once.
  • Filter life. Modern filter cartridges can last a long time – sometimes thousands of liters before needing to be replaced. A few can even be cleaned and reused. Smaller devices tend to have a shorter filter life, though.
  • Convenience. Do you need a filter that lets you drink immediately like a filter just a water bottle for the go, or are you happy with the one that needs some setup but can purify larger quantities?
  • Filtration Efficiency. Not all filters give the same level of purity or water purification efficacy. All modern ones will get rid of suspended particles and bacteria. Most will clear out protozoans. Only a few will catch viruses – but waterborne viruses aren’t usually a problem in the USA.

For backpacking, a personal survival water filter kit or your bug-out bag the best filtration option is usually a lightweight one-piece filter that will eliminate everything down to protozoa.

We think the best, and certainly, the best known, on the market is the LifeStraw Filter. For larger-scale systems, check these out.

LifeStraw Personal Water Filter

lifestraw personal water filter review

Features At A Glance

  • 2-micron filter size
  • 1,000-liter filter life
  • Chemical-free
  • 9 inches long
  • Weighs 2 ounces

LifeStraw now make a family of filter units but their best-known product is the original LifeStraw Personal Water Filter.

This was developed for disaster relief organizations and for distribution in the developing world, but as it’s priced at around $25 it’s become very popular with backpackers and preppers as well. It’s a disposable unit – you can’t replace the filter when it becomes clogged – but with a 1,000-liter life that’s not a big problem, you will be able to filter some gallons of water.

The best thing about LifeStraw is its simplicity. It’s just a lightweight (but very tough) plastic tube with a mouthpiece at one end and a hole at the other. The inside is filled with a microfiber filter cartridge. It’s nine inches long, an inch in diameter, and weighs just two ounces, so it’s ideal for ultralight backpacking, and using it couldn’t be easier.

You just stick the open end in the water and suck it up through the mouthpiece. Even a muddy stream or stagnant puddle will give you fresh, clean drinking water with a LifeStraw, and it’s a very quick process.

With larger filters, you usually have to set it up, fill the reservoir and wait for the water to flow through into a collection bottle, but with the LifeStraw you just remove the protective caps and drink.

As you’d expect from such a simple design using the LifeStraw is a breeze. The instructions say you should stand it with the open end in the water for a minute before starting to drink, so capillary action will start water moving up through the fibers, then take five sharp sucks to get it flowing.

That’s good advice; do it that way and the water will flow freely. If you’re really in a rush you can just submerge the end and suck hard until water starts coming out. It takes a little more effort, but it works.

Great Pick
57% OFF | LifeStraw Personal Filter | Amazon

Absolutely! It's a small insurance policy for the unexpected. I don't leave camp without one (sometimes 2!). Put simply, this is the most cost effective emergency water solution from a company with a proven track record and thousands of happy users.

Get the Amazon deal
We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you.

Does the Lifestraw Really Work? 

In fact, it works really well as we’ve found in this LifeStraw review.

lifestraw review

The LifeStraw can deliver water at a good rate, fast enough to let you drink normally. It also doesn’t leave any after-taste because there aren’t any chemicals involved in the water purification process.

If the water you’re drinking is very muddy the bottom of the filter can sometimes get clogged, but blowing through it should clear it out and let you continue drinking.

Safety is a vital consideration with the best water filters, and this one scores highly in that department. The filter size is 0.2 microns, which is pretty small. Any suspended particles – mud, algae and anything organic – are guaranteed to be caught. Most bacteria are from 0.5 to 5 microns across so it’s also very efficient at trapping those.

The occasional one might get through but it’s rated at 99.9999% effective against bacterial contamination; that means you have essentially no chance of being infected. Protozoans (like giardia lamblia) are larger than bacteria but some of them release small spores which aren’t as easily filtered; even so, the LifeStraw is 99.99% effective, which again means there’s no real risk.

The filter does have limits. Viruses range in size from 0.3 microns (which it will catch) down to just 0.2 microns, so it isn’t really effective against them. The good news is that while this could be a problem in some developing countries you don’t usually have to worry about viruses in US water sources.

What you might encounter is chemical contamination, and it won’t filter that out either. If you suspect the water contains industrial pollution don’t try to filter it with your LifeStraw.

The only real drawback with this filter is that you can’t use it to produce clean water for cooking – you can only drink directly from the mouthpiece. We tried holding it upside down and trickling water in the bottom, but without the suction, it drips through very, very slowly.

If you want to fill bottles with potable water get a Sawyer Mini, but if it’s drinking water you need the LifeStraw is very hard to beat. It’s tough, effective, affordable and extremely simple; every backpacker should carry one of these, and make sure to stash at least one per person in your bug-out bag or emergency preparedness kit. If you want to feel good about the purchase,

LifeStraw uses a share of their profits to donate large community filters to villages in the developing world.

Verdict: An economical and effective filter that’s equally good for outdoor sports or emergency use – and weighs next to nothing. You can check it out here, at this Amazon listing, or at REI.com right here (members receive dividend).

Suggested Lifestraw Alternatives

For a full overview of our top recommended water filters for hiking, check out this page. Otherwise, the following two are similar to the Lifestraw and might do the trick for you.

  • Sawyer Mini– This is slightly larger than the Lifestraw, but you can screw it to the neck of a bottle full of dirty water and pour it out through the filter. It also has an amazing 400,000-liter filter life, and costs from $25-$30.

Sawyer Products MINI Water Filtration System | Amazon
$18.35

Sawyer's lightest and most versatile personal water filtration system, the conveniently compact, high-performance Sawyer MINI Water Filter is perfect for everything from camping with the kids to traveling abroad where tap and bottled water cannot be trusted.

Buy at Amazon.com
We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you.
02/14/2023 12:05 pm GMT

  • Lifesaver Systems 4000 Water Bottle – This is a 26-ounce BPS and BPA-free bottled water with a built-in pump and a replaceable filter cartridge in the neck. It’s expensive – it retails for around $170. On the other hand, it will filter 26 ounces of water in less than a minute and it filters down to 0.015 microns.

Lifesaver Bottle Filters 4000 & 6000 UF | Amazon
$269.99

Lifesaver bottle filters out bacteria, viruses, cysts, parasites and fungi from water. Tested by Independent Test House to meet adaption of NSF Protocol 231.

Buy at Amazon.com
We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you.
02/14/2023 05:14 pm GMT

  • LifeStraw Water Bottle: Using a similar process to the LifeStraw water filter, the LifeStraw bottle is ideal for on-the-go scenarios where you need a full water bottle quickly (filtered water bottle) and can’t wait to siphon safe water by hand. 

LifeStraw Go 1L Water Filter Bottle | Amazon
$44.95

The award-winning LifeStraw water filter has now been incorporated into a sports bottle to give users access to safe drinking water even when there is no water source nearby. Simply use the bottle to scoop water from any pond, stream or river, and you will have a supply of fresh, clean drinking water.

Buy at Amazon.com
We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you.
02/14/2023 09:55 am GMT

Even the smallest viruses get filtered out, along with suspended heavy metals and most pollution.

Great Pick
57% OFF | LifeStraw Personal Filter | Amazon

Absolutely! It's a small insurance policy for the unexpected. I don't leave camp without one (sometimes 2!). Put simply, this is the most cost effective emergency water solution from a company with a proven track record and thousands of happy users.

Get the Amazon deal
We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you.

Further Reading on Water Filters

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *