Sure Beats Boiling and Bandana Straining!

LifeStraw® Filtering Water Bottle Beats Boiling and Bandana Straining!

Before my son Edward and I headed up the trail west of Leadville, Colorado, we did our research. The pathway through Holy Cross Wilderness would take us across two streams that could be knee-deep, although it was fallish rather than springish, so the snows had already melted and run down the mountain. Even with the streams in their seasonally-depleted state, we knew we’d have water nearby, so we wouldn’t have to carry gallons in our already heavy packs. We just needed some kind of filter to keep the streams’ nefarious little bacteria out of our guts.

We visited the local Scheel’s Sporting Goods store before taking off, where we reviewed water filtering options. Some solutions were cheap, but awkward. Others were expensive and awkward. I completely nixed the chemical pills, although I’ve since learned it’s not a bad idea to use both a filter and a disinfectant; filters do a great job of removing bacteria, but they don’t do so great with viruses.

Finally, we settled on the LifeStraw® Go, a 22-ounce refillable water bottle that uses award-winning technology to make drinking water safe—from bacteria AND viruses. On the company’s website, www.lifestraw.com, it says you can stop at a river, stream or even a puddle, “fill up the bottle, screw on the lid and sip filtered water through the straw.” It worked just as advertised. In fact, Eddie loved his LifeStraw better than just about anything else about the trip.

I was just happy that he had something to do when we reached the streams, so I could take a bit of a break. It was also fun to take photos of him in all of his LifeStraw glee. I do have to admit, I’m pretty amazed that we’ve reached this level of water technology in our world. I remember boiling water and straining it through a bandana in “the olden days”—still a perfectly good way to disinfect water if you don’t have a LifeStraw sippy-bottle.