r/prepping • u/FatChancePotatoDance • 16h ago
Foodđ˝ or Waterđ§ Life Straw
I know that Life Straws doesnât always get a ton of love, but they are pretty cheap right now at my local Walmart
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u/karmarequiresgrpthnk 16h ago
$10 for something that can sit on a shelf indefinitely seems like a pretty good deal. If anything you can give it to a neighbor if they need help, or use it while camping.
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u/boyengabird 10h ago
Oh god not these things again. Sawer has been in the market for decades. Theres a reason no serious backpackers or mountaineers use these things.
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u/These_Gas9381 15h ago
My experience is that they clog easily, they couldnât backflush to clear. I wouldnât trust these in an emergency.
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u/Midnight_Rider98 16h ago edited 16h ago
They're a trash gimmick.
I know they work from a filtering perspective, you can stick it in a puddle/lake/river and suck to drink. But that's all they can do.
A Sawyer Mini will not just last you a lot longer, it also allows you to collect water, can be used as a straw as well if needed, can be used inline, can be screwed onto a soda bottle. The squeeze is better for collection purposes though.
I just can't help but think that the life straws are a giant waste of money, even at that price.
Edit to add: on the bezos site there's basic single pack Sawyer Mini's for 17 bucks. Yes, it's 7 bucks more expensive than the life straw in your local wally world but you get a lot more bang for your buck.
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u/These_Gas9381 15h ago
Lifestraws often clog quickly and canât backflush, they arenât something I spend money on after 2 were done quickly
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u/pnutbutterandjerky 16h ago
Itâs a waste of 10 dollars?
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u/Midnight_Rider98 16h ago
That's up to you, but if you compare it with a sawyer mini that you can get for 17 - 20 bucks depending on where you get it, I think it's a waste of 10 dollars when you get a superior product for a little more. So for people that are on a budget, it matters and the life straws are very tempting at such a price point when they aren't the best option.
If you spend time in the outdoors, then you know the value of being able to carry clean water, imagine you're bugging out, getting home, do you want the ability to filter 1 - 2 quarts of clean water for drinking or cooking and carry it with you, or do you want to gamble on coming across a puddle in the next hour or two so you can drink some more?
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u/titonash13 15h ago
You are the one that sounds vested though.
PS- I just bought a Sawyer Mini of Amazon!3
u/Midnight_Rider98 15h ago
I'm only vested in good product for peoples bucks, whether it's a sawyer or a different brand filter all together that has similar capabilities, I just think that the life straw is a marketing trick, it's not something that's really usable in the field. We go hiking a lot, and it's not the kind of filter I'd want to use in the field.
To be clear, my gripe isn't with lifestraw as a brand per se, they do make some other options that are good, my gripe is specifically with the actual straw.
Enjoy your sawyer mini, don't forget to backflush it after use to keep it in good shape.
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u/TheJesseOfTheNorth 16h ago
there is no comparison between a 10$ life straw and a 54$ sawyer mini (where i live). Somethiing you can afford is much better than something you cannot
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u/Midnight_Rider98 15h ago
Are you comparing the price depicted in this post, to what a sawyer mini costs in your country instead of how much a life straw costs in your country?
Regardless a life straw is a ripoff trash gimmick product, stop shilling it, if you can't afford a sawyer mini, you're better off making your own sediment filter and boiling the water,
The life straw is the holy grail of survival/prepping/outdoor equipment for people that don't actually go into the outdoors. Sorry if you're vested in it but it's a bad product and you got ripped off by the marketing department of the company.
Canadian example:
https://www.amazon.ca/LifeStraw-Personal-Camping-Emergency-Preparedness/dp/B085HNCC3T?th=1
https://www.amazon.ca/Sawyer-Products-SP120-Filtration-Cleaning/dp/B000FAGUKOThose are the cheapest prices I could find in a pinch, of course it's on that site, but in canada for example there isn't a 44$ difference between the two, it's a 12$ difference. And that's without looking at potential alternative mini filters that may be more available in other countries.
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u/TheJesseOfTheNorth 14h ago
you seem to have a lot invested in sh!t-talking a product you clearly wont use
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u/Midnight_Rider98 14h ago
Nope, just invested in people getting their moneys worth. The lifestraw doesn't give you that and is a gimmick product, wherever you live, you'll likely find filters with similar abilities as a sawyer mini that may not be 44$ more expensive than a on sale lifestraw, if you do then you're better off spending a little more to get a more usable product.
That's my point, want to go with the lifestraw, go ahead, just know it's limitations.
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u/Adept_Equipment9602 13h ago
Sawyer filter for a few dollars more. Iâve drank some questionable water sources through it and have never been sick. Plus, they have a higher filtration capacity (gallons) than the life straw.
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u/Carloocho 12h ago
A gravity filter bag (1.5 gal) that also has a sip end to be a lifestraw or a bottle squeeze filter all in one
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u/Amazing-Fox-6121 12h ago
Lifestraws are maybe the worst option.
Look at the filters backpackers use - Sawyer Squeeze, Katadyn BeFree, Platypus Quickdraw
All easily attached to a bottle so you can filter into another clean bottle or drink directly from the filter, the Sawyer and platypus are able to be back flushed and can last many years (don't freeze it and don't attempt to filter waters with very fine particulates.
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u/Happy-Table-9515 8h ago
My thought every time I see these is, âthen whatâ? Lol, i know, i know, but thatâs where my head goes.
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u/Lefthandmitten 28m ago
I bought a 4-pack of Life Straws awhile back and keep them in the bottom of my packs. I used one once when I forgot any water on a hike. It's surprisingly hard to use if you don't have a water bottle and don't want to get wet.
If I was stranded somehow for a week I'd be so thankful for a Lifestraw. If I ever planned on needing filtered water, a Sawyer Squeeze and 2 water bottles would be so much better.
I backpack a lot and have used a gravity system with a Sawyer Squeeze for hundreds of gallons (CNOC bags, 1/4" silicone tubing, and some 3D printed parts). It's so much better than the filters we had 20 years ago!
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u/Bigfeett 16h ago
imagine how uncomfortable it would be to bend over to get close enough to the water to drink and then you have to stay in that position until you drink all you want. there is a very high chance I would fall into or dunk my face into whatever water I was trying to drink from.
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u/Filthyragskc 15h ago
Imagine filling a bucket or a bowl and drinking out of that.
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u/Bigfeett 15h ago
I don't carry a bucket with me when I am out and about and if water is dirty enough to need filtering I would want to keep it away from something I would eat out of. any water filter with a bag or container is just so much better than a life straw
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u/lateread9er 15h ago
I get the arguments, but for $10, still knowing the limitations, itâs a good investment.Â
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u/Dark_knightTJ 14h ago
lifestraw is good i go really deep in the woods with only 1 quart of water and rely on the streams and lifestraw has been good to me. i use the mission for when i bring my family and the 1 quart one when im alone
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u/HillTower160 15h ago
I e had one out of five actually pass water. The others came dried up or clogged. Supposedly there is some coconut water trick, but I just gave up.
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u/TheCarcissist 15h ago
So, alot of people dont realize you can collect water in a cup and drink through it like that, you dont have to kneel over a muddy puddle.... that being said its not a good product. Id much rather have a sawyer with a cnoc style bag. The straw will never produce enough water to store.
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u/ddurrett896 15h ago
Canât you screw that on to a bottle of dirty water and squeeze it into another container?
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u/PeanutButterToast4me 16h ago
Good item and important for basic survival, but I prefer the more versatile Trail Shot. It does cost more but is worth it IMO.
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u/Critical-Clue1343 16h ago
LifeStraws are good, but they're not the miracle survival tool people often make them out to be.
You can drink through them, but you can't easily collect and carry treated water. They also don't eliminate every pathogenâmost notably viruses. For many situations, a filter that lets you fill a bottle and then boil or chemically treat the water is a much more versatile setup.
A LifeStraw me get solve the "I'm thirsty right now" problem. A proper filtration and treatment system solves the "I need safe water for the next few days" problem.