When the original Lifestraw came out, we were impressed, as it let you sip erstwhile sketchy water, which it turned perfectly potable as it traveled along the length of the straw. It remains as impressive today as it did back then. However, the long and stout profile of the straw meant you need to stash it in your pack. The Lifestraw Peak Series Solo takes that same design and shortens it to a size that can now fit in most people’s pockets.
That’s right, they made a shorter version of the recently updated Lifestraw, allowing you to leave your pack at camp while still being ready to properly filter water any time you need it. Granted, the shorter profile makes it very difficult to use as a straw (you’ll need to put your face uncomfortably close to the water), which is why they designed it to also be usable as a bottle-mounted filter.
The Lifestraw Peak Series Solo measures just 5.1 x 1.3 inches (length x diameter), making it compact enough to fit in most pant pockets and slip very comfortably inside most hip packs, allowing you to keep it on hand without the need for a backpack. It uses a similar design to the original, so you get an inner tube for water to flow through, with a filter that can eliminate bacteria, parasites, and all sorts of debris, including microplastics, silt, sand, and cloudy elements. According to the outfit, the filter can clean up to 500 gallons of water, so you can use it for an extended period. You’ll also know when it’s reached its limit, as water won’t be able to flow through, so you can switch up to a different filter when that happens.
Like the original Lifestraw, you can use it like a straw, essentially turning any dirty creek you find into your own giant beverage. That means, you get down on your knees, stick one side of the straw in the water, and sip off the other, with the device cleaning the water automatically before it reaches your lips. Problem is, this thing is compact at 5.1 inches long, so you’ll have to get uncomfortably close to the water to get a sip (chances are, you’ll have to lie on your stomach). Of course, you can always put the dirty water in a container and sip from there, which is probably better.
The Lifestraw Peak Series Solo can also be used as a filter, in case you’d rather collect some clean water in your own bottle. The best way to do that is to have two bottles: one for dirty water and one for clean. To use, fill up the first bottle from the sketchy water source, then screw on one end of the straw to the mouth of the bottle. It’s threaded and designed to work with any standard disposable PET bottles. From there, you just squeeze the water from the first bottle to the clean water bottle, pushing it through the filter on the way there. How fast does the filtering work? It’s pretty instant, allowing you to clean a liter of water in just 20 seconds.
The Lifestraw Peak Series Solo is available now.
- PROTECTS AGAINST 99.999999% of bacteria (including E.coli and Salmonella), 99.999% of parasites...
