Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

...instead of Amazon. Didn't know Amazon carried it. This purifier was intended for wilderness trips in the US. Sadly, it did not produce good tasting water as shown in the marketing videos. The water tasted like cheap plastic...even with the activated carbon filter installed. The bottle COULD have been filtering to the 15 nm spec but I had no way to test that. So, it MIGHT have been safe, but tasted awful. *************************************************************************************************************************** EDIT: 6/1/2012 There is recent strong criticism of this review for the weight given to taste in view of the bottle's declared purpose and presumably unblemished record for SAVING LIVES by removing waterborne pathogens from the most dangerous sources in the world. At the time I bought it, there was sufficient information available to generate the expectation that there would be no taste issue at all. It was the hingepoint in the buying decision. The bottle failed miserably in meeting OUR expectation regardless of what others think the weight for taste should have been in this buying decision. It is appropriate for a prospective buyer to assign their own weight to taste giving due consideration that the bottle we received could have been an outlier. There are relatively few Amazon reviews on the LS6000 compared to its stablemate Lifesaver Bottle 4000 Ultra Filtration Water Bottle. There might be insights to be gained from consulting those reviews as well, given that capacity is likely the only major difference between the two. The original review continues below. *************************************************************************************************************************** I returned it to the East Coast distributor after a week of putting many of gallons of water through it trying to get rid of the plastic taste. I noticed that in the marketing video I saw, the bottle had yellow pump components. The one I received had black pump components. Am wondering if a new material spec might have produced a change in the taste of the water. However, the dist says no. The unit was impressively easy to pump and put out water at a pretty good rate. The emphasis on use seemed to be oriented toward using your teeth to pull on the teat to drink. However, it was never my intent to use it that way. I wanted to use it to fill containers. It was less user friendly pulling on the teat with your fingers when the bottle was under pressure after having been pumped. The pressure in the bottle would cause the water to spray out before you could direct it into a suitable container. Alternatively, you can hold it over your container and then pull the teat open. A provision for an output hose that could be used in place of the teat would be nice. Because of its fully integrated design, certain precautions have to be observed in order to prevent cross contamination. For example, you must develop a discipline of ensuring the cap for the teat is securely snapped in place before submerging the bottle in a source. Failure to do so could possibly contaminate the teat. It would be a good idea to download the User Guide from the Lifesaver Systems website and to familiarize yourself with this bottle before ordering it. The 6000 version provides more water at a lower cost/liter than the 4000. As a matter of fact, it's total operating costs compared to other filters/purifers is really hard to beat. For you backpackers, I would peg the size of the 6000 between a 1 liter and 2 liter soda bottle. The distributor reports that the activated carbon filter is optional. This could save a good chunk of money in operating costs if you want to forgo the convenience of an integrated filter in favor of trying to fashion your own external ACTIVATED carbon filter at a much greater savings. The activated carbon filter can remove certain organic contaminants an improve taste dramatically. The Lifesaver comes with 1 activated carbon filter that you install prior to using. The distributor seemed willing to work with me to solve the plastic tasting water. They even contacted the inventor, Michael Pritchard, to see what might be causing the issue. However, communications were slow and my wilderness trips were starting so I didn't have time to work through it. I am told that my bottle will be carefully examined to try to determine the cause of the off taste. The manufacturing process that produces the LS6000 is virtually the same as the process that produces the LS4000. The only meaningful difference is the size. It would follow that a similar issue could be had with the LS4000. I recommend that this be bought through Amazon with the free shipping. As of this May 2009, price is the same as through the dist, but you pay $20 for shipping via the dist and you eat the shipping if you have to return it. Have spent MANY, MANY hours researching water filtering/purification systems for backpacking. This product showed the most promise for a device that would produce safe water under almost any circumstance you could imagine at a such a reasonable cost with its 15 nm filter. I was crushed at having to return it. I am convinced that this device still shows the most promise save for the experience I had. I am hoping there is a resolution to the plastic tasting water soon. My fallback will probably be a the top of the line Katadyn Pocket Katadyn Pocket Water Microfilter with 'only' a 200 nm ceramic filter and an external activated carbon filter. This will let viruses through, but viruses are reportedly not an issue in North American wilderness waters, especially if you are choosey about your source. Had my LifeSaver 6000 produced the bottled water taste as asserted in the marketing videos, I would have given it 5 stars....and kept it! ***UPDATE 05/11/2010*** It has been a year since I wrote this original review. There has been no news from the distributor regarding the plastic taste and others have noticed it as well in the LS4000. Earlier this year, I decided to opt for the Katadyn Pocket Water Microfilter, Katadyn Carbon Cartridge, and SteriPEN Classic Handheld Water Purifier. It's a little more to schlep. See my reviews at the provided links. I'll stick with the Katadyn system.