Is this real?
Survival Straw
Survival Straw - Complete Water Purification System

And here.

The Survival Straw is not a filter! It is a highly efficient water purification system that destroys harmful bacteria and viruses that exist in most sources of water. Unlike a typical filter which attempts to trap impurities, the Survival Straw eliminates them.

A single Survival Straw can process over 5,000 gallons (This is a claim by the manufacturer that is not verified) - that's a lifetime of pure water. Compare this to a typical carbon filter which has to be replaced about 30 days after initial use.

Introducing the Most Remarkable Breakthrough in Water Purification

Destroys E.coli, giardia, cryptosporidia

Removes Ethylene Dibromide, EDB, Iron, Mercury, Chlorine, Radon, Pesticides, Herbicides, Arsenic, Cobalt, bad tase and odor

100% Alloy Media No Silver or Carbons

Long Lasting

Eliminates Heavy Metals

Eliminates Carcinogens

Meets FDA Standards. EPA Est. 67814-FL-001

Certified Bacteriostatic Device

Lifetime Replacement Guarantee

Patent Pending

Lifetime replacement gaurantee from the manufacturer

Certified to destroy greater than 99.99% of most bacteria, Certified to remove greater than 99.99% of ethylene dibromide (EBD), Destroys greater than 99.99% of microorganisms including E.Coli, cryptosporidium and giardia lambli cysts.

Searched the patent database for the last hour and a half (I was bored). Either this is very new, or there is no patent. All of the straw-like water filtering/purifying devices use activated charcoal and/or halogenating resin matrix to "purify"

Someone's going to have to buy one and figure out exactly who the manufacturer is--every place I could find one was merely a distributor.

The detailed description says that it 'destroys' Crypto and Giardia, etc. That means it must be a 2 stage process like the Katadyne filter bottles because to remove taste and chemicals there must be some kind of filter. But it can't be using iodine because that wouldn't kill crypto.

I'm dubious.

I hope it works better that a "water filer straw" that I had back in the '80's. I don't know how effective it was, 'cuz sucking a golf ball thru a garden hose would have been easier...

I have a Pristine filter straw with the evil carbon filter ooOOOOOoooo!!! Sure bacteria will grow on it...if you seal it in a Ziploc wet and leave it there for months...but so will anything else that's been in contact with nasty water and your mouth.

ok, I'm intrigued

This website claims it is made in the USA.

This website stands out because it is a dedicated website for the product, but doesn't have other hallmarks suggesting that they are the manufacturer. The owner of the site did repost the specs on an ezine but that doesn't mean anything.

Allegedly survival straw is a trademark, and the device is patent pending, but neither turned up anything

I can find references to the survival straw as far back as 1998 linking to survival straw.com , but that URL is dead and owned by Russians.

Unfortunately, web.archive.org has nothing about survivalstraw.com

The whole thing is really odd.

Hi Troglodyte,

The bottom line is: Yes it works.
I've been using mine for a long time now. Works as advertised and it is still going strong after many years of use.
Look up my post here from okt. 2006.
Regards,
Pharaoh.

Might be interesting, bunch of different ones

http://forums.equipped.org/ubbthreads.ph...=true#Post81654

Such a discussion is not complete without mention of the istraw which seems to be the most professionally marketed product of the bunch. No aff. This is the one I was thinking of buying, domestically.

"professionally marketed" = blonde taking a sip.

She is cute, though.

LOL well thats not what I meant of course. The website has changed, it was a bit more sterile 6 months ago. Now it is looking a bit too glossy. I'm a bit hesitant to drop $30-$40 for one.

The more I think about it, the survival straw mentioned previously, with the "magical alloy", seems like it would be better.

There was a bit of info in the patent search I did about copper & bronze being used to purify water. Didnt' get into the details. Like I said before, someone's going to have to buy one, figure out who the manufacturer is, and basically disect it.

The "gubmint" did its filter research back in the late '90s and this particular gem wasn't included, so all bets are off re: effectiveness.

Apologies for dragging-up an old thread, but I've been interested in this product for a while. Very little info can be found, and while I'd be willing to buy one to test it out, I really don't have any equipment to do so.

I was able to find an abstract on the Science Technical Information Network of testing performed in 1984 by the Armed Forces Food Science Establishment

Evaluation of Survival Straws



Has anyone got any more info on this? It's surprising they've been around for so long without someone doing an evaluation?

i have an older one and it was very hard to draw thru.bending over with it to drink right out of the lake just about gives you a headache.i tried scooping out a cup of water and using the straw sitting down,still very hard to use.if i were to take one in a kit i would use it as part a gravity filter.

Eeewwww, Iodine. No thank you.

The PreMac Model SWP is virtually the same size as the straw type filters.

http://www.pre-mac.com/PWP_SWP.HTM

Yuk, again Iodine, you would be better off getting a Millbank bag, a titanium Mug, a Bic Lighter and a bag of Earl Grey or Lapsang souchong.

I like the survival, or filter, straw concept. Small, light, and cheap enough to have several on you, and keep one handy in a shirt pocket for instant use, they seem ideal. Unlike chemical treatments there is no need to wait, nothing to mix or measure, no delicate electronics or battery to fail.

I bought a few of the Frontier straws,a few yrs.ago,& Stupidly didn't pay attention to the instructions,I had read prior to using one.I got a Huge mouthful of charcoal,gritty funk upon my 1st sip from one of these,& then it tapered off gradually,thereafter.They worked well for me,After my Hazing of stupidity,lol! Live & Learn!