Easy to use, easy to setup. My brother and I used it for a 3 day hike up and down pikes peak (stopping at the Barr camp which has a stream) where we used only it for all our water.

Used this on a recent 7 day canoe trip and found it very good. It packs down small and light, which is great for backcountry canoe tripping. There was a bit of a rubbery taste after the first and second run-throughs as some have noted, but that disappeared quickly for us. It was slowing down by day 3 or 4, but we backwashed (easy to do) and it sped up again. If the reservoir is filled very full it goes faster. It must have gotten downwind of some campfire smoke toward end of trip and it picked up a bit of smokey flavour. I anticipate that will clear with a few runs-through. Pleased with purchase.

Cool!

I do quite a bit of backpacking and canoe camping.I am always on the lookout for the 'next best thing' when it comes to gear.Within this, i have a special place in my heart for stoves, cook sets, and...water filtration systems.I have, probably, 9 or 10 different types of filters and purifiers. Katadyn, MSR, Sawyer, Grayl, just to name a few.My preferred method for obtaining potable water at camp or on the trail is by using a gravity system. Fill the bladder, hang it from a branch, and let gravity do the work. I'm not usually in a hurry to get anywhere so this method works fine for me.This LifeStraw system is pretty slick and versatile.If you are on the move, you can set the filter up so that it's inside of the bag, fill the bag and screw the cap on. It won't leak and you can squeeze the bag to supply you with water as you need it.For use as a static, gravity system, you can either opt to leave the filter inside the bag, or screw it on such that it is outside of the bag. Then attach the included tube to the filter and run the tube into your clean water vessel.Leaving the filter inside of the bag makes it a bit more streamlined, however, because it sticks up inside the neck of the bag, you won't be able to filter the last 6 or 8 oz of water. It works, just not ideal.The filter itself is super lightweight. Lighter even than the Sawyer Mini. With flow rates comparable to the blazingly fast Katadyn BeFree. It is threaded on both ends to fit a standard water or soda bottle, (Smartwater, Lifewater, etc al), which is nice as these types of bottles are very lightweight and durable.The included 2L dirty water bag is very robust without being super heavy. It will withstand a great deal of the pressure associated with squeezing water through the filter if you're in a hurry.My current go to filter system for backpacking has been a 2L Cnoc water bag, paired with the Hydroblu Versaflow. A couple of the things I love about the Versaflow is that there are rubber caps on either end of the filter to keep water from leaking out during transport or storage, and also the female threads on the output end to allow for easy backflushing with your water bottle. No need for an additional syringe or adapter. These features are missing on the LifeStraw filter, but it weighs about an ounce and a half to 2oz less than the Hydroblu.On a recent 15 mile loop I brought along the LifeStraw filter along with my Cnoc bag. I screwed on a Sawyer coupler to the output end so I could use it as a gravity filter without the rubber tubing. It worked great!!It is very fast!!It took about 9 seconds of squeezing to fill a 1 liter bottle, and less than 5 minutes to fill a 1.5 liter bottle letting gravity do the work.Very nice.I mentioned the rubber caps on the Hydroblu being one of my favorite features. This is because if below freezing temperatures are expected, I will often put the filter inside my sleeping bag at night to keep it from freezing. Freezing will ruin any of these hollow fiber filters and render them useless. Kind of dangerous actually.The Hydroblu's caps help keep it from leaking.If I were using the LifeStraw filter, I'd have to put it in a zip-lock bag. Not a deal-breaker, but simply an added step.I really like this system.Not sure if it will replace what I have already been using, but it's great to have options.If you are looking for an initial setup that will get you out on the trail, you could definitely do way worse. This is a "one and done" filtering system. Everything you need in one very convenient package.Lightweight, versatile, easy to use.Highly recommended.

I like that it’s has everything that you need to gravity filter. No need to buy any additional parts.What I don’t like is that for somewhat dirty water it may take a really long time to filter as it gets clogged. Sometimes even up to 30 to 45 minutes for the 3 L. If you want to speed it up you’ll have to unattached the filter and backwash it throughout the filtering process which is really annoying.