Top 5 Best Water Filter Straws

If you travel a lot or go on a lot of outdoor adventures, having the best water filter straw can help make your trip healthier and more enjoyable. Everyone needs a reliable source of drinkable water, no matter where you are, but it’s especially important to have while camping in order to avoid dehydration and stay safe. Keep reading below for water filter straw reviews and ratings.

The 5 Top Water Filter Straws

When camping, water filter straws are just one of the many options for water purification you can choose. These water purification straws are convenient for camping, hiking, or adding into emergency kits, and they protect you from ingesting microplastics, protozoa, and bacteria. Keep reading for more information about the top 5 best water filtration straws on the market.

* Ratings are determined using our specialized rating system.

Sawyer Products MINI Water Filter Straw

Versatile and lightweight, the Sawyer Products MINI Water Filter Straw is small enough to fit right in your hand. Weighing only two ounces, it is great for international travel, hiking, or camping. The MINI uses 0.1-micron absolute filtration to give you clean water that doesn’t include microplastics, protozoa, or bacteria.

Removing 99.999% of bacteria like E. coli, salmonella, and cholera, the MINI also removes protozoa exceeding the EPA guidelines. This water purification straw also filters out all microplastics. Using a group of tubes to filter the water, the MINI works similarly to the technology used in medical dialysis, making your water safe to drink.

This is an easy-to-use straw filtration system that allows you to drink right from a water source. It also includes a reusable drinking pouch that lets you take your water with you. It is rated up to 100,000 gallons and includes a reusable squeeze pouch, a drinking straw, and a cleaning plunger. Plus, before it is packed, Sawyer tests each individual unit three times before it is sold. 

LifeStraw Steel Personal Water Filter Straw

Featuring two-stage carbon filtration, the LifeStraw Steel Personal Water Filter Straw is perfect for survival and emergency kits, camping, and hiking. With a durable and sleek body, the LifeStraw will filter out almost all protozoa and bacteria. It also includes an activated carbon filter that is replaceable reducing chemicals like herbicides, pesticides, and chlorine.

Good for up to 1,000 liters, you get odor-free water that tastes great. It removes almost 99.9999% of bacteria found in the water, surpassing the standards set for water filters by the EPA. It can filter up to 0.2-microns without needing a pump or batteries.

Made of food-grade stainless steel, the LifeStraw meets standards set by the FDA. This water purification straw also comes with a steel cap ensuring added durability and weighs only 4.2 ounces. This is the perfect product to put in a disaster kit or to take on international travel.

LifeStraw Personal Water Filter Straw

Featuring a long-life span, the LifeStraw Personal Water Filter Straw uses hollow fiber membrane technology to provide safe drinking water anywhere you are. With the ability to clean 4,000 liters of contaminated water, the LifeStraw is a great choice for international travel or outdoor adventures. Weighing only two-ounces, the lightweight LifeStraw will not weigh down your pack, so it is easy to take camping or hiking.

Easy to use in lakes, ponds, and rivers, the LifeStraw is also a good addition to an emergency or disaster kit. This water purification straw can filter out bacteria and protozoa up to 0.2 microns providing a minimum of 99.999% removal surpassing EPA standards. This is a great alternative to purifiers and iodine tablets thanks to its high flow rate when you are drinking right from a water source.

Membrane Solutions Water Filter Straw

Portable and lightweight, the Membrane Solutions Straw Water Filter Straw is perfect for an emergency kit or to take with you camping or hiking. Only 6.7 inches long, this straw filtration system working in any glass, cup, or bottle. It only weighs 9-ounces and will fit right in your hand.

Using advanced technology, the safety filtration system works in four different stages that include a hollow fiber membrane, activated carbon filter, and a coarse filter screen. It can remove any visible solids and harmful substances by 99.99999% making your water smell and taste better.

With a pore size of 0.176 microns, the Membrane Solutions Straw Water Filter can filter out most tiny materials, and it can also give you an optimal flow rate. This is an easy to clean and disassemble water purification straw that helps to increase its service life. With each carbon pack, you can filter 264 gallons of water making it a great choice for international travel, camping, hiking, and emergency kits. 

Survival Hax Outdoor Water Filter Straw

Featuring 0.1-micron purification, the Survival Hax Water Filter Straw is perfect for hiking and camping. The 7-inch portable straw was created to clean contaminated and dirty water into something safe to drink. It can clean 400 gallons of water or last your five years from the time you open it.

Water is cleaned as it flows through the filter’s bottom into hollow fiber membranes. It then runs through an activated carbon filter and leaves you with great tasting water that is chemical and BPA free. You can connect this water purification straw to any 28 mm water bottle for storing water for later use.

The Survival Hax Water Filter Straw is easy to carry and comes with a carabiner allowing you to easily attach it to backpacks. It also comes with other features including an emergency whistle found in the top cap and a signaling mirror and compass in the bottom. You can also use the extension tubing to either drink from water sources that are hard to reach.

Important Water Filter Straw Features to Consider

All water filter straws have the same basic function, but they’re all built a bit differently. If you’re still wondering which straw is the best for you, think about these features.

Portability

Obviously, the best water filter straw should be portable, especially if you plan to use it hiking or camping. If you’re a backpacker, space is at a premium. All water purification straws are fairly compact, but you may want the most compact straw possible.

Micron Rating

This is the rating that is based on the average size of the filter holes. Basically, the smaller the micron rating on a water filter, the better. This tells you that fewer bacteria can flow through the filter, giving you cleaner water. If you will be drinking from a lake or river close to the city, this is really important. Look for a filter that has 0.1-micron-sized holes since bacteria can range between 0.2 and 2-microns in size.

Maintenance

You may need to replace or clean your water filter straw if it’s not working very well. If you drink from water sources that have a lot of bacteria and sediments, like a river or a lake, then this can happen quickly. As the water filter gets clogged, it won’t work as well. Some filter systems will have a few stages that can help filter out contaminants while prolonging the filter’s life. 

Filtration Speed

If you have a high flow rate, you can filter and collect water faster. Some portable water filters, like a water filter straw, will let you filter water instantly.

Convenience

Depending on where and how you use your water filter straw, some can be more convenient than others. It can also depend on your preferences and abilities. If you can bend down easily, you won’t want to use a water filter straw straight from a river, but could use one that works in a glass or connects to your camping water bottle.

Taste Quality

Chemicals and organisms in your water can make it taste bad, which is actually telling you that the water isn’t clean. Clean water doesn’t really have a taste, which is how it should taste after it goes through the best water filter straw.

EPA Standards

The EPA has standards on contaminant amounts that are allowed in your water. This ensures that your water is safe to drink. the best water filter straws follows or exceeds these standards.

Benefits of the Best Water Filter Straw

If you hike or camp, you know there are a lot of benefits of a water filter straw. This personal plastic water filter allows you to take dirty or contaminated water and make it clean water that is safe to drink.

Many water filter straws can remove up to 99.99% of bacteria found in water, and some even surpass the standards set by the EPA. They also don’t use batteries or have any moving parts, and they can fit in your pocket, making them easy to carry.

When you use a water filter straw, you have a great device perfect for lightweight, on-the-go water filtration, which can pair nicely with portable water purification tablets. The best comparable water filtration device is a water filter bottle, while bulkier camping water filters, gravity water filters, or water filter pitchers may need to stay in camp with the camping water purifiers. Depending on your needs, different types of water filtration devices may suit your needs more or less than others. The best water filter straw is ideal for quick, lightweight water filtration, especially while backpacking.

How Do You Use a Water Filter Straw?

Water filter straws were originally part of a movement to provide clean water to the world’s disadvantaged people, and more specifically to take out microorganisms from the water in countries in Africa. While they help millions of people in many countries around the world, they can also help you when you are out hiking or camping.

In the shape of a large straw, a water filter straw can take out sediment, protozoa, and bacteria. Not all of them will remove viruses. Depending on the straw, you can filter thousands of liters of dirty or contaminated water straight out of rivers and lakes. It is also lightweight and simple to carry and use. 

The water filter straw is simple to use. Just stick the end of the straw into the water source and start to suck on it. As you suck, water will move up the straw. After you are done drinking, just blow into the straw to get rid of any extra water. 

Water Filtration Versus Water Purification

The determining factor of whether a water filter can only filter water or actually purify it depends on its micron rating unless you’re using a light-based purifier like a UV water purifier. If a filter has a smaller micron rating, that means that it can take out smaller contaminants than filters that have a larger rating.

When you use a camping water filter, impurities found in the water are removed by straining or filtering the water. Purifying water means removing harmful chemicals, pathogens, and contaminants. The most common type of water purification is boiling. Be sure to know the difference between water purification and filtration to keep yourself safe in the outdoors.

Keep in mind that water filtration does not remove some chemical and viruses, so it can’t be relied on by itself to make water safe to drink.

Conclusion

For us, the Sawyer Products MINI Water Filtration Straw is the best water filter straw out of all these great options. It’s lightweight and small enough to fit into your backpack easily. Giving you absolute filtrations at 0.1-microns, you won’t have to worry about microplastics, protozoa, and bacteria no matter where you are. It is easy to use and lets you drink right from a water source if you want to. Well tested before it is even shipped out, the Sawyer Products MINI Water Filtration Straw is the definite winner of the best water filter straw roundup hands down.

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