/out/ - Outdoors » Thread #162695

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Anonymous Thu 18 Jul 2013 18:28:01 No.162695 View View Reply Original Report

What types of filters do y'all use? How are life straws, any experience with them? My filter in pic. Haven't used it yet but plan on messing around with it today.

I'm planning on doing New Found Gap to Low Gap of the AT in a couple weeks and I was wondering if any of you have done this section and what I should expect from it? I'll be on the trail for 6 days. Planning on 5 miles a day.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO lifestraw.jpg, 30KiB, 537x571

Anonymous Thu 18 Jul 2013 19:45:30 No.162732 Report

Quoted By: >>162817 >>162963

Lifestraws are great, they're quite often distributed in third world countries, and thus are durable and reliable as fuck. They are also very simple and idiot proof. I now always keep one in my first aid kit, I stuff bandages and an antiseptic spray in it to keep the size minimal.

You can also use it as a regular filter, with a funnel and a tube, because after all, that's what it is. You could actually suck on a regular filter and have the same result. Though be wary that despite its name, water doesn't flow as freely as in a straw, you have to suck really hard to get water flowing.

Other than that, no filter. I don't mind drinking smelly water, and I don't get to deal with many chemicals and heavy metals. I just filter it with a piece of cloth to remove the largest stuff, and then I boil it or use tabs.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO sawyer_squeeze.jpg, 181KiB, 680x511

Anonymous Thu 18 Jul 2013 20:15:55 No.162742 Report

Quoted By:

http://sawyer.com/water.html

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 18 Jul 2013 20:43:45 No.162762 Report

Quoted By: >>162842

I've had the combi for 2 seasons now, great filter when you need to purify for a decent group.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 18 Jul 2013 22:43:06 No.162817 Report

Quoted By:

>>162695
There's nothing wrong, functionally, with the life straws, like >>162732 said. But they're not a great choice for backpacking (or at least how I like to backpacking) because you have to drink the water as you filter it. I don't know what the other anon was saying about using it as a regular filter, he probably knows more about them than me. But I like to fill up my water bottle and water bladder whenever I stop to get water. Or if I'm somewhere with an abundance of water, I'll just leave the bladder at home. Be careful with the pump filters OP, I've never had mine break, but I read a lot of reviews from people saying they break. So just keep that in mind.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 18 Jul 2013 23:19:35 No.162842 Report

Quoted By:

>>162762
I imagine it would be great for thru-hiking.
http://www.sawyer.com/sawyersaves/products-squeeze.html
It's like 3 oz. You can squirt it right into a bottle or use it like a straw.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 19 Jul 2013 02:55:57 No.162963 Report

Quoted By: >>163144

>>162732
Lifestraws aren't that great. For optimum water filtration, water needs to be filtered slowly so that they impurities have time to stick to the filtering material. It's impossible to suck through a straw slowly. My biology class two years ago did an experiment with lifestraws that showed only about a 40% decrease of impurities. It'll catch the larger micron stuff, but small micron pathogens slip right through.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 19 Jul 2013 10:27:02 No.163144 Report

Quoted By: >>163216

>>162963
>impurities have time to stick to the filtering material
If they need time to stick, then it's a shit filter. A good filter simply shouldn't let them pass, at all.

Official Lifestraws® have 0.2 micron filtering, and are known to be great. There are also Aquamira ones, that have 0.2 micron filters aswell, but are known to be more reliable. Then you have truckloads of other straw filters ranging from 10 microns to 2 microns.

Don't know which one you picked, but that hardly sounds like a good model, or then I'd be happy to learn more about that.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 19 Jul 2013 11:59:20 No.163152 Report

Quoted By:

>>162695
i have the hiker pro as well. it rocks! i dont want to waste tons of time just to fill up my 3L camelbak

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO billy-fire-tea3[1].jpg, 38KiB, 400x300

Anonymous Fri 19 Jul 2013 13:14:01 No.163166 Report

Quoted By: >>163170

I don't use filters OP
I boil my water, if it's dirty I pour it through cotton rag
but again I'm not drinking from a sewer.
I know, I'm crazy saving both money and weight.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO dil1.jpg, 2MiB, 2592x1944

Anonymous Fri 19 Jul 2013 13:32:34 No.163170 Report

Quoted By:

>>163166
Not everyone is willing to sit, start a fire, wait for water to boil, wait for it to cool down, and then finally drink.

I know, some people are crazy paying $80 and carrying 200g more so they can drink within 10 minutes and save hours on a trip.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 19 Jul 2013 16:12:22 No.163216 Report

Quoted By: >>163600 >>164128

>>163144

We used the official lifestraw. Yes, it has a .2 micron filter system but we detected existing pathogens (after filtering) that were .4 microns (that's as powerful as our microscopes were). So the existence of smaller micons had to be assumed.

The problem isn't with the filter--I'm sure the lifestraw filters are great, but it's the power of the suction. Our theory was that the power of the suction literally forced some pathogens through the filter (contorting them and bending them). The trickle effect (like with a conventional water filter) is really the best way to go.

Lifestraws are good, don't get me wrong, but I wouldn't use them in obvious polluted water (like water known to carry lots of pathogens and or/sewage). Drinking from a clear river or lake wouldn't hurt.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 20 Jul 2013 08:59:42 No.163600 Report

Quoted By:

>>163216
Good to know, thanks a lot.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 21 Jul 2013 09:56:55 No.164123 Report

Quoted By:

I don't know much about lifestraws, but from what I've gathered, they're an absolute bitch to suck water out of.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 21 Jul 2013 10:57:44 No.164128 Report

Quoted By:

>>163216
Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't particularly trust the experimental design capabilities of what I assume is an undergrad/highschool biology class.

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