Continuing my articles on having an emergency pack ready in case something happens, the LifeStraw Personal Water Filter is another product that you should include. Even though the emergency pack does include a few days’ worths of water, what about after that?
I once went on a beautiful hike at Yosemite Valley National Park and ran out of water halfway through. The hike from one end to the other is about 8-10 hours and we had all thought we brought enough water. We did not. Halfway through, we finished our water.
There was plenty of streams and rivers on our hike but we didn’t want to risk drinking unfiltered water. We got by with the fruits we brought along until we got to the Mist Trail area towards the end of the hike where they had a water fountain.
Right after that trip, I bought a portable water filter so that this will never happen again. At least, in this case, we knew that there would be water at the end of the hike.
In a real emergency, you don’t know when help would come. Look at the recent disasters we’ve had and the damage that was caused by the hurricanes in Texas and Puerto Rico. Either you’ll need to make it to a shelter or stay put and hope that help comes.
If you’re unable to get out and get to a shelter and you only have a few days’ worths of emergency water rations, it’s best to have one of these personal water filters to make more clean water from any nearby water source.
LifeStraw makes great outdoor products, many of which can be included in your emergency pack. This particular product can filter up to 1000 liters of contaminated water without iodine, chlorine, or other chemicals.
It does not require batteries and has no moving parts so it’s reliable to use. There are other types that use a hand pump and if the hand pump breaks no more clean water.
The LifeStraw Personal Water Filter removes a minimum of 99.9999% of waterborne bacteria, 99.9% of waterborne protozoan parasites, and filters to 0.2 microns, which surpasses EPA filter standards.
It comes in a sealed bag, which would be perfect for your bugout bag or any other prepper gear supply kit and not just for your hiking and camping trips.
