filter straw

[strnorm]

Got a frontier water filter straw from cabela's weighs less than 1oz filters 20 gallons removes 99.9% of giardia crytosporidium & bacteria such as e. coli has anyone had any experinece with it? no bigger than a magic marker:-?

[Frolicking Dinosaurs]

It has a 2 micron filter which is larger than the 1 micron recommended by the CDC for disease prevention. However, the Frontier Straw is as effective as many of the larger water filters in use. It is available from many suppliers. This was the best price I found: http://www.wisementrading.com/water/filter_straws.htm

[rafe]

Getcher faith-based water treatment from a faith-based internet retailer. Why not? :rolleyes:

[strnorm]

Thanks FD, it cost $6.95 at cabelas

[Frolicking Dinosaurs]

Sorry, Cabela's web site listed it as $9.99.

[SuperTroll]

used one to experiment, that went well.....put the other in my survival kit....it goes on dayhikes and simple overnighters as a just in case....

I used the first one for a week straight, drinking from clear running streaams, and on the last day, used it to drink from a mud puddle....that killed it...for use in clear water it's okay, but it dislikes murky water with suspended particulates.

[Pokey2006]

You can't use it with juice mixes, like Kool-Aid, either.

I have something similar, and I love the convenience of it. Not sure if it really works, but I haven't gotten sick yet ... though I do still treat really questionable water.

[strnorm]

Hey, Pokey how you been? storm from Tn. water here in TN is so good dont need a filter:eek:

[guelahs]

i used a couple frontier straws on a three week section last year. i rigged it up as a gravity system with a four liter platypus as a reservoir and tubing i canibalized from a PUR filter. letting water settle in the platypus for about 10 minutes got rid of the suspended particles problem, and, empirically speaking, i never got sick. i plan to use this system again during a two-month section this summer, though i'll carry iodine as a backup.

i did read that the actual micron size of the filter is bigger than the 0.3 micron rating of many a popular pump filter. so while you might opt out of this sytem is you were hiking someplace where typhoid is a problem, this filter fits the bill for crypto and giardia.

..then again, nothing is fool proof.

[Colter]

I have used filter straws and I didn't get sick. Of course I'm not sure the water was contaminated, either. Perhaps the gravity system would work, but otherwise I wouldn't recommend them for my primary water treatment system. It's too much work to drink and you're likely to not get as much water as you should.

Personally, I prefer Aqua Mira.

[icemanat95]

Filter straws are designed for emergency use, not regular use. They are a great item to have in an emergency kit or tuck away into a hunting day pack, just in case, but relying on them is just plain dumb. They aren't designed for that.

[guelahs]

if you're going to bend down and dip the filter straw into the water source itself, yes, that would suck, but i'm not sure i agree with you about the regular usage thing.

at the risk of sounding dumb (again), isn't filtering 20 gallons of water and making it potable the same as filtering 20 gallons of water and making it potable? the only thing missing is the emergency, but going a few days without water will certainly fill that criteria...

kidding aside, you got any data to backup that 'just plain dumb' comment? i can't disagree that daily usage is an off-the-label application, but isn't finding new and other uses for existing technology something that gives enterprising hikers the warm and fuzzies?

this filter runs on pore size alone, so there is no chance of chemies getting diluted by daily usage. moreover, if the water is allowed to sit and settle and suspended particles are reduced, doesn't it stand to reason that the filter would last longer than if you quaffed straight from a mud puddle? am i missing something here?

there must be a way to drink tasty (read: tasteless) water without being a slave to the pump, a thirsty-yet-waiting sipper of chemicals, or a raw dog drinker of whatever water. i'm hoping to find that way.

[Hikes with a stick]

I have one of these, I bought it at Cabellas too... I think I paid about $10 for it. I have not used it yet, I bought it for emergency/backup use. Its too expensive to use very often, you would be lucky for a gallon of water to end up costing you $.50. With my MSR filter, a gallon probably costs around $.15. Quite a bit of difference if you are going to be out for an extended period of time, not a big deal for a weekend hike.

I plan to take mine on day hikes along with some water treatment pills and my nalgene. If I run out of water, I will fill the nalgene, pop in a pill, and later drink it using the filter straw. No floaties that way!

[tanpuma]

I am not on this board much, but I just pored over Colin Fletcher's (the late)
book the complete walker IV, it had a chart in it with what treats what.
Iodine and chlorine treatments do not kill Crypto , and this is common here.
there is a section on pore size and why certain filters with larger pore sizes have a" torturous" path, and this is why a 2 micron filter of this type, can trap a 1 micron bug in its maze. See his book for the various explanations. I have no idea if the frontier filter is in his book or if it is this type. I returned the book to the library. The frontier filter is probably safer than chemical treatments for the US type bugs: giardia, crypto, bacteria, but not viruses.
The torturous path filters can clog easily, silt has to be settled out first.
I use a safewater anywhere in- line, and am worried that there isn't a decent replacement. the seychelle in-line has gotten bad reviews.