Sidekick 3-Stage Straw Water Filter

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This lightweight, compact and practical water filter delivers 3 stage filtration for safe drinking. The straw design is easy to pack and use no matter where you are headed. 

HydroBlu says

Whether you are hiking, camping, backpacking, or just need a solid backup water filter, the Sidekick 3-Stage Straw Water Filter by HydroBlu is your perfect adventure companion. The 3-stage water filter provides the most robust filtration of any straw style filter.

The easy to use Sidekick protects you from bacteria, chemicals, heavy metals, and other contaminates. Large sediment is blocked with the cotton pre-filter membrane, increasing the longevity of the filter. Nasty chemicals and heavy metals are adsorbed by the Activated Carbon Filter. Activated Carbon removes lead, iron, cadmium, nickel, chromium, and zinc along with chlorine, pesticides, herbicides, gasoline, and diesel fuel. Once the pre-filter and Activated Carbon filters have reached their life expectancy of 50 gallons, they can simply be replaced with the extra end cap filter which is included. Finally, the Ultrafiltration Hollow Fiber removes 99.999% of bacteria. Hollow Fiber is made of dozens of tubes that have microscopic holes (0.1 microns) that don’t allow bacteria to pass through, while allowing clean water through by size exclusion technology.

Regardless, if you are running on the trail or backcountry skiing the lightweight design of the Sidekick won’t slow you down as it only weighs 1 ounce. It can fit perfectly into your pocket, day pack, or emergency kit. No matter where you go it’s always better to take your Sidekick with you.

Our Verdict

HydroBlu’s Sidekick 3 Stage Straw Water Filter is a reliable, lightweight and compact straw filter. The simple but effective design is great, plus the three stage filter itself is a amazingly effective at cleaning water by combining a cotton pre-filter with both the hollow fibre and activated carbon filter systems in one very small, lightweight and compact design.

This filter uses a combination of ultrafiltration technology with holes measuring just 0.02 microns allowing it to remove an extensive range of viruses along with 99.999% of bacteria. It also uses an activated carbon top to further filter the water. There is no shelf life for the filter and it should be able to clean over 225L of water before it needs the activated carbon filter replacing.

– Reviewed by Ultralight Outdoor Gear

Features

• Removes bacteria, such as Giardia, E coli, cryptosporidium, and more
• Removes heavy metals such as lead, iron, cadmium, nickel, chromium, and zinc
• Removes chemicals such as chlorine, pesticides, herbicides, gasoline, and diesel
• Perfect for camping, backpacking, scouting, hiking, and for emergency situations or emergency preparedness

Specifications

• Weight: 16g
• Size: 0.7″ wide x 6″ tall

Help & advice:

• The importance of water purification