Author
Field Mag
Photographer
Courtesy LifeStraw
There you are, hiking along a wooded trail and ahead you see a pristine mountain stream just as you reach peak thirst. Or maybe you’re traveling in an unfamiliar country, and in the local bus station you fill up a water bottle from the public drinking fountain. The water may look clean, but is it?
LifeStraw has a solution for the “what ifs” in these scenarios, and many others, with the new Peak Series, a five-piece collection of versatile, durable, and lightweight water filtration devices designed for use in the backcountry, on the road, and everywhere in between.
With roots in humanitarian aid, and a continued commitment to providing a year's worth of safe drinking water to a child for every product sold, LifeStraw and the Peak Series builds on nearly two decades of experience and innovation. With an update to its marquee (and namesake) product, the LifeStraw, the $20 tube that does let you drink directly from wild waters by removing 99.999% of the bacteria, parasites, microplastics, and dirt it may contain, front and center.
The new and improved Peak Series Straw weighs just 2.3 ounces, can filter over 1,000 gallons of water in its lifetime, and still cost just $20. Like its predecessor, it’s packed with hollow fiber membranes dotted with 0.2-micron openings that act like tiny, tiny straws that allow clean water to enter while blocking the nasty stuff. Only now, the new personal water filter Straw has a better flow rate and it's more adaptable, thanks to a built-in attachment that works with a gravity hose, and universal threading that lets you secure it to standard screw-cap bottles—SmartWater bottle-toting ultralight hikers, take note. Plus it now comes in a sleek “dark mountain gray” colorway.
Accompanying the new Straw is the Peak Series Collapsible Squeeze Bottle ($32), which is available in 650-milliliter and one-liter volumes and opens up a whole new world of LifeStraw uses. Both sizes take that same membrane microfilter tech and integrate it into the leak-proof lid with a flexible, durable soft flask. The fill-and-go design makes them ideal for everything from hiking, trail running, and fishing to camping, overseas travel, and general everyday use. It's all modular too, so you can take the filter out when you don't need it, or screw it onto another bottle entirely.
With base camps, #vanlife parking spots, and larger groups in mind, LifeStraw’s new announcement rounds out the series with three gravity bag systems that let you store larger amounts of water so you can fill up your camp cup over and over without going back to the stream. Out today is a three-liter bag ($60, as pictured at top) that's ideal for two, with an eight-liter bag for bigger groups, and an eight-plus-eight system for when the whole crew is in backcountry attendance, releasing mid May.
Ensuring those larger camp trips go off without a hitch, the two 8L systems are built using super-durable 840-denier double TPU laminated, nylon-reinforced fabrics. It's akin to the stuff that the best adventure duffels are made of and equally resistant to punctures and rips.
Beyond making water filtration look very, very sleek, all of the products in the Peak Series assert that LifeStraw isn't just thinking about emergency preparedness (or straws). Rather, the evolving brand is considering the reality of spending time outdoors whether you're a hardcore thru-hiker or a casual car camper.
Published 03-08-2022
