It’s so important to keep hydrated, especially in the hills, and water management is one of the most important skills I think a person can have! I usually carry at least 1.5L at any time when out walking, sometimes in a hydration bladder, sometimes in a couple of bottles. It depends where I’m headed… If I’m going wild camping, I need to factor in that I will need water to cook with too, and sometimes you just don’t want to carry the extra weight. Not a problem if you’re near a source of water that can be trusted as you can refill, but what if you aren’t able to access completely safe water?

Well, gone are the days of sitting waiting for your iodine tablets (bleurgh) or chlorine tablets (marginally less bleurgh) to do their job. Now you can get a multitude of filter bottles, straws and all sorts to make your life quicker and easier when out on an adventure! I was recently sent The Lifesaver Liberty Water Purifier Bottle to review which, in fact, is the worlds’ first and only portable water purifier which is a bottle with an inline pump combined.

Over the past couple of months I’ve been putting this filter well and truly through it’s paces, and trying to find the grubbiest water I can. I mostly trust these filters, I’ve not yet *touch wood* become ill and I’ve refilled in some questionable places in the name of science and honest reviews!

The Lifesaver Liberty is a bottle with a combined inline pump. How does it work? You unscrew the bottle from the bottom and let that questionable water flow on in until full, at which point you screw the bottom back on, pump the bottle a few times  and activate the flow of water through the filter. It took some getting used to, perhaps because I decided to try it without reading the instructions, but I eventually got there!

The little white valve on the side of the bottle lets the water flow when you’ve removed the cap and you can drink filtered, safe and clean water!

If you can’t get the bottle directly to the source of water, there is a 5ft hose you can use to fill it, but I’ve been mostly filing from streams and rivers, so haven’t yet had the need to, though I’ve no doubt it will come in handy on a few trips I have coming up! The hose also means you can filter much larger volumes of water and filter it into another container!

THOUGHTS?

This looks great, it fits into every rucksack pocket I’ve stuck it in so far and it filters incredibly efficiently, removing over 99.99% of viruses, bacteria and cysts. You can filter around 2000L of water before the filter needs replacing and replacing it seems to be a simple enough task!

However, despite the website billing it as ‘small and light’, it’s actually pretty heavy and if you take the hose as well, will begin to fill your bag quite quickly. It’s also not the cheapest option out there at £89.99, with each filter costing £49.99, when they eventually need replacing. That being said, it pays for itself by not making you ill when out in the hills!

I will definitely continue to use this, probably on bigger trips when with friends and filtering for multiple containers, as I begrudge carrying the extra weight, but there is no disputing that it is a fantastic bit of kit and does the job incredibly effectively.

* Gifted for review but as ever my own honest opinion!