Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I've worked for an outdoor outfitter and among backpacking salespeople that I've worked with, the LifeStraw was regarded widely as a joke and gimmick that has benefited from outstanding marketing that has put it above in sales compared to far better filters. These sell like hotcakes because they are cheap and light filters, but they are far from the best, lightest, or most useful for this price range. The fact that they sell so well was actually to a point of frustration for me and some of my coworkers, as we tried to steer people toward more useful light filters. I've seen and heard of quite a few store returns of these, as they tend to stop working well before the 1000 liter capacity they boast online (in comparison - Sawyer mini claims up to 100,000 gallons when maintained properly). It's not that it doesn't work (it does - temporarily), it's that you can find better for relatively the same price or even cheaper. For example, the Sawyer mini is just as light, FAR more versatile, much, much longer lasting, and boasts a 0.1 micron filter. Here on Amazon, it is even cheaper than the LifeStraw. Note, I do not work for Sawyer. I just have the mini and have compared it with the LifeStraw and know quite a few people who have. And I'm also not claiming that the mini is the best filter out there - if you want to take care of viruses or have the ability to filter large amounts of water, you'll definitely need to get something else or upgrade. What I am saying is that the LifeStraw is not nearly the miracle it makes itself out to be.