/out/ - Outdoors » Thread #357521

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Anonymous Mon 28 Jul 2014 06:17:09 No.357521 View View Reply Original Report

Quoted By: >>357549 >>357564 >>357567 >>357799 >>359477

Hello /out/casts. Filthy casual here. Does anyone have an opinion of lifestraws?

Around me, many trails switchback through small mountain creeks and streams. I've always wanted to drink from these things instead of packing 4 liters of water for the day, but Giardia exists, so I can't.

I've been considering a lifestraw. Are these things good enough for drinking from snowmelt streams?

I live in CO.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 28 Jul 2014 06:20:04 No.357524 Report

Quoted By: >>357529

I have one, and while I think it'd be invaluable for a true emergency situation, they're a little impractical for hiking use. For one, you have to lie on your stomach and put your face right up to the water every time you want a drink. Another, you can't really store it after it's been purified by passing it through. Also, they're a pain in the ass to suck through. I'd take one as a backup on a weeklong trip maybe, and I keep one in the car in case of SHTF, but for non-critical use I just boil.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 28 Jul 2014 06:34:13 No.357529 Report

Quoted By:

>>357524
There's one that comes attached to a plastic bottle so you don't have to get to a water source. Anyways, there are better options than any of the lifestraws for only slightly higher prices that'll last much longer. For one, the lifestraw won't get rid of viruses.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 28 Jul 2014 07:09:21 No.357536 Report

Quoted By: >>357572 >>359477

I use iodine tincture 2%. Just add 5-10 drops per quart and let it work for about half an hour. I've used it on a lot of water including ponds and it works fine, I've never gotten sick. It's quick and easy. Plus you get some iodine in your system which is sort of good for you or something. It tastes pretty good too, seriously.

I understand that idoine isn't 100% effective at killing giardia but neither is anything else. I think giardia is relatively rare and you can only catch it from beavers, humans (who happen to have giardia), and livestock. If you're drinking from a high mountain stream these things aren't really issues anyway.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 28 Jul 2014 07:17:49 No.357538 Report

Quoted By: >>357540

get the Sawyer straw. It's much better one every level.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO sawyer.jpg, 162KiB, 1500x1331

Anonymous Mon 28 Jul 2014 07:28:38 No.357540 Report

Quoted By:

>>357538
This. Cheaper too depending where you look.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 28 Jul 2014 07:53:45 No.357549 Report

Quoted By:

>>357521
You need to find out about the water quality in the area you're going.

Different water sources require different treatment methods. No filter gets all the viruses and bacteria. Not lifestraws or anything else. In water sources that have those, you need chemicals or boiling.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 28 Jul 2014 08:26:05 No.357564 Report

Quoted By: >>357808

>>357521
I grew up back when you could drink water out of any Colorado stream and not get sick.

I have no opinion on lifestraws, the last time I drank creek water I got a fever of 104 and shat orange slurpees for a week. I'm not going to risk that again for any reason.

Pack the water. Better yet, pack beer and whiskey. I'd rather have a strong back and a good buzz than stomach cramps and a twitching sphincter any day.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO water_filter1.jpg, 10KiB, 250x297

Anonymous Mon 28 Jul 2014 08:33:25 No.357567 Report

Quoted By: >>357568 >>357808

>>357521
>creeks
you can easily craft your own waterfilter and the filtered water to kill bacteria and stuff that wasnt filtered out

Just take a bottle, cut the bottom open and do
>pic related
If you use like a 0.33ltr bottle that should weight next to nothing and filter out a lot.
You just made your own "lifestraw"

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO cat-table.jpg, 55KiB, 521x454

Anonymous Mon 28 Jul 2014 08:34:27 No.357568 Report

Quoted By:

>>357567
Holy - what did I type, ignore the first part of that.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 28 Jul 2014 08:36:43 No.357572 Report

Quoted By: >>359477

>>357536
>I think giardia is relatively rare and you can only catch it from beavers, humans (who happen to have giardia), and livestock. If you're drinking from a high mountain stream these things aren't really issues anyway.
afaik all water in Colorado is contaminated.
giardia prefer high mountain streams, and have even been found in snowbanks and soil moistened with runoff.

it's not rare here, if you drink our water raw for a couple days you'll almost certainly get it.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 28 Jul 2014 16:00:39 No.357732 Report

Quoted By: >>357736 >>357808

Would you guys have any suggestions for filters then?

What's one that I can store the filtered water into a canteen I'm carrying? Can the sawyer mini do that? Kind of looks like a straw as well

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 28 Jul 2014 16:16:43 No.357736 Report

Quoted By:

>>357732
The Sawyer mini can be used as a straw, but it can also be used to filter water into a canteen. Fill the pouch with water, attach filter, and squeeze into your canteen. I don't think you can do that with a Lifestraw, but I know you can with a Sawyer Mini (and probably any of the Katadyn filters, but I've never used those).

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 28 Jul 2014 17:57:12 No.357799 Report

Quoted By:

>>357521
i wouldnt trust any purification method that doesnt allow me to examine the water visually first.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 28 Jul 2014 18:14:26 No.357808 Report

Quoted By: >>357838 >>357846 >>357850 >>357854 >>357982 >>357989 >>358043 >>359477

>>357564
>I grew up back when you could drink water out of any Colorado stream and not get sick.
No you didn't. That period in time never existed.

>>357567
>you can easily craft your own waterfilter and the filtered water to kill bacteria and stuff that wasnt filtered out
No you cant. Your little picture will not filter a god damn thing.

>>357732
No filter will protect you against giardia. You need to go to the local forestry service station and find out what the recommended water treatment method is. You can NOT rely on filters in all areas. You will get very dangerously ill if you try in areas where it doesn't work.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 28 Jul 2014 19:16:01 No.357838 Report

Quoted By: >>357846

>>357808
>No filter will protect you against giardia
Source? AFAIK cryptosporidium is smaller than giardia, and things like Sawyer and Lifestraw can filter crypto.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 28 Jul 2014 19:28:42 No.357846 Report

Quoted By: >>359477

>>357838
>>357808
Um. Most expedition filters will filter giardia. What the shit are you talking about?

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 28 Jul 2014 19:38:49 No.357850 Report

Quoted By: >>357854

>>357808
>The MINI uses an exclusive 0.1 micron hollow fiber membrane filter and so filters 99.9999% waterborne bacteria (eg E Coli, salmonella, cholera) and 99.9% of waterborne protozoa (eg cryptosporidium and giardia)

So yeah, you're gonna need to post a source to back up your claim.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 28 Jul 2014 19:41:20 No.357854 Report

Quoted By:

>>357850
pretty much any filter that is worth a shit filters those things. >>357808 is just a 4chen moron talking right out of his ass.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 28 Jul 2014 20:07:41 No.357867 Report

Quoted By: >>357870 >>357871

Newfag to /out/ here,

Why can't you drink straight from streams? Isn't that what people did for thousands of years up until relatively recently?

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 28 Jul 2014 20:18:02 No.357870 Report

Quoted By:

>>357867
Yeah, but with all the air pollution we have now, a lot of water gets contaminated through the water cycle. And our modern post penicillin lifestyle means that our immune systems are generally a lot weaker that that of our ancestors.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 28 Jul 2014 20:18:38 No.357871 Report

Quoted By:

>>357867
Honestly, in most streams (in REMOTE areas), you're probably okay. Check upstream for carcasses or feces. In areas remotely near any kind of factory or city though, it's a big risk.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 29 Jul 2014 00:05:41 No.357982 Report

Quoted By: >>358142

>>357808
Sorry if I sound dense, but where would a filter not work?

If it filters out 99.9999% of protozoans, aren't you pretty safe unless you're drinking from a bacteria culture?

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 29 Jul 2014 00:23:08 No.357989 Report

Quoted By: >>359477

>>357808
>That period in time never existed.
ah, the young.

giardia in every stream in the state is a very recent thing. well to me it is. It's probably been like that your whole life. All 14 years of it.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 29 Jul 2014 02:03:20 No.358043 Report

Quoted By: >>358103

>>357808
>No you didn't. That period in time never existed.
My father is 70, grew up in a rural area and everyone drank from the stream regularly his entire childhood.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 29 Jul 2014 03:57:15 No.358103 Report

Quoted By: >>358142 >>358882 >>359477

>>358043
So then why did the occurrence of giardia become so much more frequent? Just population and sewage leaks?

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 29 Jul 2014 05:40:02 No.358142 Report

Quoted By: >>358877 >>359477

>>358103
If you grow up in one area, your body will encounter the local variety of giardia (from food, people, or the outdoors). Your immune system adapts, and you can probably get away with drinking the water flowing through your backyard.

But, the big problem of spreading giardia is animals. Livestock are a particularly big problem, if there might be cows, sheep, goats, horses, etc. in your area, you should definitely be careful with the water. Wild animals can also be a big issue. Pretty much any animal can carry the disease. They also can live for a long time outside of an animal. Good news is that humans generally survive infection (unlike some animals).

>>357982
They're an idiot. A 0.2 micron filter like the lifestraw will filter out everything except for viruses and chemicals. In the US and Europe, viruses are not a problem unless you're drinking directly out of some kind of aids sewer. Chemicals can be an issue (pesticides from farms, mine tailings, industrial runoff), but there's no portable solution to that.

Giardia can also be killed simply by boiling water. If you're really worried, this is THE most effective way to kill everything in the water.

Iodine and chlorine are only "moderately" effective at killing protozoans. They're really light and easy to pack, but if you don't want to take chances, boil or filter it.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 30 Jul 2014 09:30:02 No.358877 Report

Quoted By:

>>358142
Good to see someone has some sense here, one small amendment, forward osmosis filters can filter anything (even piss and seawater), they have some portable models except you need to bring this sugar syrup crap, which is kind of expensive and bulky.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 30 Jul 2014 10:27:50 No.358882 Report

Quoted By: >>359477

>>358103
giardia was considered almost extinct until the early 70's.

it began to show up then, with the first diagnosed outbreak of giardiasis in Aspen Colorado in I think 1975.

It quickly spread via sheep and wild animals throughout Colorado and the west. It was first officially monitored by the CDC in 1998 I believe, and first records on outbreaks began in 2002.

basically it was almost extinct and managed to explode and spread because of sheep ranching.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO katadyn-hiker-pump-filter-system (...).jpg, 40KiB, 538x600

Anonymous Thu 31 Jul 2014 04:29:57 No.359393 Report

Quoted By: >>359422

lifestraws are shit, save yourself the trouble and just buy the best water filter on the market, it's not very expensive, I paid $40 for mine brand new.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 31 Jul 2014 07:10:19 No.359422 Report

Quoted By:

>>359393
>best on the market

hardly. best for its price maybe. first need is best filter.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 31 Jul 2014 07:19:09 No.359426 Report

Quoted By:

Sawyers are supposed to be breddy gud. I've got a katadyn vario which fills up my bladders very quickly but is a bit much for hiking. I like the look of the katadyn bottle filters.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO vlcsnap-2014-07-31-07h37m44s37.png, 248KiB, 512x384

Anonymous Thu 31 Jul 2014 11:45:40 No.359477 Report

Quoted By:

>>357521
>>357536
>>357572
>>357808
>>357846
>>357989
>>358103
>>358142
>>358882

>Giardia

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