🚚 Ships free on 5-packs and up📦 Tracked, 7–20 business days
Hollow-fibre emergency water filter
The taps stop. The shelves empty. You still drink.
When the water goes off, a family has about three days in the house if someone planned, and a cupboard of empty bottles if nobody did. This straw turns the creek behind the house, the rain barrel, the bath you filled or a tap under a boil notice into water your kids can drink, in seconds. Mesh pre-filter, hollow-fibre membrane rated 0.01 micron, carbon stage for taste. Drink direct. Screw it onto a bottle. Hang the pouch and let gravity work. No power, no chemicals, no expiry on the shelf.
⏱ Ships tracked in 7–20 business days. The time to order is before the forecast, not after it.
Bacteria, protozoa & sediment out
Clean water in under a minute
1,500 L per straw, rated*
365-day money-back guarantee
The spare in a 5-pack is the one that ends up in the car, the one you hand to a neighbour, the one that matters. Every order includes the quick-start card.
Bacteria, protozoa and sediment: yes, that is what a 0.01-micron hollow-fibre membrane is for. Viruses, salt, heavy metals and chemical spills: no. For sewage-contaminated water, filter first and then add tablets or boil.
Why a straw instead of stored bottles?
Stored water is finite and heavy; 3 days for a family is 36 litres. The straw gives you the ability to make drinking water from any freshwater you can reach, 1,500 litres per straw by the supplier's rating.
Does it taste like pond?
The carbon stage takes out most of the earthy taste and any chlorine. It is not a flavour filter; heavily stagnant sources still taste of where they came from.
How fast will I see clear water?
Immediately. Drinking direct, the first sip arrives after a couple of pulls to prime the membrane. In gravity mode a litre takes a few minutes.
Do I need the guides?
No, but they are free with 5+. The Family Water Backup Plan covers storage targets, advisories and your household reserve; the Home & Go-Bag Checklist covers what to pack and where it lives.
Full specifications
Hollow-fibre membrane rated 0.01 µm (supplier spec, lab report pending) · activated carbon stage · mesh pre-filter · rated 1,500 L · flow about 0.5 L/min direct · fits 28 mm bottle threads · 1 L squeeze pouch, syringe, 60 cm tube, lanyard included · straw 20 × 3.5 cm, 65 g.
0.01 micron membraneNo powerNo expiryPouch, syringe & tube includedThreads onto any bottle365-day guaranteeIn every Plan Backup kitFree shipping on 5+0.01 micron membraneNo powerNo expiryPouch, syringe & tube includedThreads onto any bottle365-day guaranteeIn every Plan Backup kitFree shipping on 5+
Developing story
The Pentagon planned for 90 days. Most homes can't get through one night.
In October 2026 the Pentagon told its bases to be able to run 90 days without the civilian grid. Ready.gov and the CDC ask every family to hold three days of water, two weeks if they can. Most households have none stored, and bottled water is the first thing gone from a supermarket shelf when a boil notice or an outage hits.
In the newsPentagon tells bases to run 90 days without the civilian grid · Fox News, 25 Oct 2026Ready.gov: store one gallon of water per person per day, for several daysCDC: try to store a two-week supply · filter, then disinfect, when it runs outBoil-water notices routinely follow floods and main breaksPentagon tells bases to run 90 days without the civilian grid · Fox News, 25 Oct 2026Ready.gov: store one gallon of water per person per day, for several daysCDC: try to store a two-week supply · filter, then disinfect, when it runs outBoil-water notices routinely follow floods and main breaks2026
Headlines quoted or paraphrased from the named outlet or agency. No outlet or agency endorses any product.
01The PentagonLiveFort Bragg-class installations · FORTRESS directive90 days
What the Pentagon's FORTRESS plan asks of its own bases: operate for 90 days with no civilian grid. If that is their planning horizon, three days is the least a household should manage.Fox News, Oct 2026
02Your householdGuidanceReady.gov · CDC household water advice3 days → 2 weeks
What Ready.gov and the CDC ask of you: one gallon per person per day. For a family of four that is 48 kg of water for three days, and most homes hold none of it.Ready.gov · CDC
03The shelvesLiveSupermarket water aisle · boil-water notice day oneHours
How long bottled water lasts on the shelves once the notice goes out. The people who arrive first get it. Everyone else is looking at a tap they have been told not to use.Boil-water notices are routine after floods and main breaks
You cannot store your way out of a long outage. You can carry the ability to make clean water from whatever is nearby. That is what this is: not a gadget, a decision you make once, for the day you hope never comes.
*Capacity is the supplier's per-straw rating multiplied by five. Actual life depends on source water and back-flushing. †Storage claim requires manufacturer confirmation; follow storage instructions.
Make room for a backup
Join the 10,000+ people making a backup plan.
See the straw in action, from the trail to your home kit.
For your trail kitWatch the demonstration.For your home suppliesWatch the demonstration.For family tripsWatch the demonstration.At home in an outageWatch the demonstration.Keep a backup handyWatch the demonstration.
Brand-produced demonstrations, not customer testimonials.
Three things decide whether your family can drink the water: what the straw physically stops, whether it is built to the official purifier standard, and what it leaves alone. Here is how it earns each one.
01 · It stops what makes families sickThe membrane's pores are rated 0.01 µm. Bacteria are about 50 times bigger; Giardia and Crypto are hundreds of times bigger. They do not get through, and there is no chemistry to get wrong.
What you get: the organisms behind nearly every waterborne illness after a flood or main break, E. coli, Salmonella, cholera, Giardia and Cryptosporidium, are physically too large to pass a hollow-fibre wall. Not a tablet that has to dissolve, not a boil you have to time: a wall, every sip, from the first second. Viruses are smaller than any straw class, so where sewage is likely, add a tablet after the straw. *Supplier rating; certified straws in this class test at 0.1 µm, which stops the same list.
02 · Built to the bar the EPA wroteThe US EPA Guide Standard, carried into NSF/ANSI P231, is the line every real purifier is measured against. Hollow fibre is engineered to clear the bacteria and protozoa lines with room to spare.
Bacteria
6-log · 99.9999%Designed for
Protozoa (cysts)
3-log · 99.9%Designed for
Viruses
4-log · 99.99%Not rated
What you get: the standard asks for 99.9999% of bacteria and 99.9% of cysts gone. A 0.01 µm membrane is built far inside that bar, which is why the same technology sits in disaster-relief kits worldwide. We make no virus claim, and we are paying for an independent P231 test so you see the numbers here, pass or fail. That is what "highest standard" means to us: the test, not the sticker.
03 · Nothing added. Nothing taken that shouldn't be.The straw removes what hurts you and leaves the water itself alone: no chemical tang, no chlorine aftertaste, and pH exactly where nature left it.
What you get: rain, creeks and lakes already sit inside the 6.5–8.5 band the EPA uses for good-tasting, pipe-safe water, and because the straw is mechanical rather than chemical, it keeps them there. Your kids drink water that tastes like water, not a swimming pool. That matters more than any "pH balancing" claim, which no straw can honestly make. pH is about taste and pipes, not safety; clear, neutral water can still carry Giardia, which is what charts 01 and 02 are for.
04 · Where it beats the alternativesBoiling and tablets each do one thing well. The straw does the four that matter on day one, with nothing to light and nothing to run out.
Straw
Boiling
Tablets
Sediment & cloudiness
✓
✕
✕
Bacteria & protozoa
✓
✓
partial
Viruses
not rated
✓
✓
Taste & chlorine
✓
✕
adds taste
No fuel, power or supplies
✓
stove + fuel
runs out
Capacity
1,500 L*
fuel-limited
30–50 L
What you get: clear, drinkable water on the spot, from the first sip, for years, with no stove to light and no box to empty. For sewage-risk water the honest pairing is straw first, then a tablet for viruses. Verified: supplier spec 0.01 µm and 1,500 L; packed in all three Plan Backup kits. Pending: independent EPA / NSF P231 lab test, turbidity and flow, published here the day we have them, pass or fail.
Behind the membrane
What's actually in untreated water.
Clear water is not clean water. Every one of these is invisible in a glass, and every one turns up in creeks, floodwater and tanks after a disaster. Pick one to see what it does to a household, and whether the straw stops it.
See the full list
Contaminant
Typical size
This straw
Giardia
8–14 µm cysts
Blocked
Cryptosporidium
4–6 µm oocysts
Blocked
E. coli
1–2 µm rods
Blocked
Salmonella
2–5 µm rods
Blocked
Cholera
1–3 µm curved rods
Blocked
Viruses
0.02–0.1 µm
Not rated, add tablets
Sediment, silt, rust
> 50 µm
Mesh pre-filter
Chlorine, taste, odour
dissolved
Carbon stage
Metals, salt, chemicals
dissolved
Not removed
Giardia duodenalis
Where it comes fromAnimal and human waste washed into streams, lakes and shallow wells. The most common intestinal parasite in the US.
What it doesDiarrhoea, cramps, bloating and weight loss, usually 1–2 weeks after drinking it, often lasting 2–6 weeks.
Why it matters in an outageIt survives for weeks in cold water, and household bleach doses are slow to kill it.
Blocked by the membrane: cysts are hundreds of times larger than its rated pores.
Where it comes fromHuman sewage. Norovirus is the most common cause of vomiting-and-diarrhoea outbreaks.
What it doesVomiting and diarrhoea within 12–48 hours. Hepatitis A affects the liver weeks later.
Why it matters in an outageThey are far smaller than bacteria, so a filter that stops everything above is not proof against them.
Not rated. Hollow-fibre straws are not certified for viruses. Where sewage may be in the water, add purification tablets or boil after filtering.
Virus · 0.02–0.1 µm · membrane rated 0.01 µm*
Why the straw
Why you need the Survival Straw
When the water stops, most households reach for bottles, a stove, or tablets. Here is what each one costs you when it counts.
Survival Straw
Bottled stockpile
Survival straw
Bottled water
From $12.99 per straw, 1,500 L rated, 365-day guarantee
About $1 per litre and 3,000 bottles to match one straw
Weighs 65 g and lives in a drawer or glovebox
36 litres for a family's three days weighs 36 kg and needs a cupboard
Works on any freshwater source you can reach
Fixed supply. When it is gone, it is gone
Nothing to rotate; no expiry in storage
Rotate every 6–12 months or it tastes of plastic
Survival Straw
Boiling
Survival straw
Boiling water
No fuel, no flame, no power. Drink on the spot
Needs a working stove, fuel and 10+ minutes per batch
Removes sediment and the cloudy look
Kills organisms but leaves mud and taste in the water
Safe to use indoors, anywhere
Camp stoves and butane indoors are a carbon-monoxide risk
Not rated for viruses; boiling still has a place for sewage-risk water
Kills viruses, so it is the right call when sewage is likely
Survival Straw
Purification tablets
Survival straw
Tablets
Instant, reusable, 1,500 L rated
One tablet per litre; a box treats 30–50 litres then it is empty
Takes out sediment and most of the taste
Leaves mud in the water and adds a chlorine taste
Not rated for viruses
Does handle viruses; pair tablets with the straw for sewage-risk water
Works for years on the shelf
Tablets expire, usually within 3–5 years
Plan Backup365Day money-backGuaranteeNo forms · no photos · no questions
At Plan Backup we only sell what we pack in our own kits, because one day it will be our families drinking through it too. We are not interested in a number on a box; we are interested in whether you can drink the water.
That is why the straw comes with our 365-Day Money-Back Guarantee. Use it for a year. Test it on a camping trip, keep it through a storm season, hand one to a relative. If it is not what we said it is, reply to your order email and we refund every cent. No forms, no photos, no questions.
Everything you need to know about the Survival Straw.
What does it actually remove?
A mesh pre-filter catches sediment and grit. The hollow-fibre membrane, rated 0.01 micron by the supplier, physically blocks bacteria and protozoa such as E. coli, Salmonella, Giardia and Cryptosporidium. An activated-carbon stage reduces chlorine, taste and odour.
Does it remove viruses?
It is not rated for viruses, and we will not pretend otherwise. Where sewage may be in the water, filter first and then add purification tablets or boil. For most household emergencies the risk is bacterial and protozoan, which is what this handles.
What about salt, chemicals or heavy metals?
No. It does not desalinate and it does not remove dissolved metals, fuel or pesticides. If the source smells of chemicals or is downstream of an industrial site, find another source.
How much water does one straw filter?
The supplier rates each membrane at 1,500 litres, roughly two years of one adult's drinking water at emergency rates. Muddy sources shorten that; back-flushing extends it.
How do I use it?
Three ways. Unscrew the cap and drink straight from the source. Screw it onto a standard 28 mm bottle and squeeze or sip. Or fill the pouch, connect it with the tube, hang it, and let gravity fill a container.
How do I know it is working?
Water should come through clear and without the pond taste. If flow slows, back-flush with the syringe. If flow stops and will not clear, the membrane has reached the end of its life.
What is in the box?
Each straw comes with a 1 L squeeze pouch, a back-flush syringe, an extension tube, a lanyard and the quick-start card. Five of everything in the 5-pack.
Does it need power, batteries or chemicals?
No. It is purely mechanical. Nothing to charge, nothing to replace, nothing to run out of.
Does it expire in storage?
Unused, no. Keep it dry and capped and it sits in a drawer or glovebox for years. Once used, back-flush, let it dry, and store capped.
Can it freeze?
A wet membrane can be damaged by freezing. Keep a used straw out of a freezing car in winter; an unused, dry one is fine.
How long will a 5-pack cover my household?
One straw per person covers each adult's drinking water for an extended outage. The spare goes in the car.
What is the guarantee?
365 days. Reply to your order email and we refund every cent. No forms, no photos, no questions.
How long does shipping take?
7 to 20 business days, tracked, everywhere we ship. 5-packs and larger ship free.
Are the guides really free?
With any 5-pack or 10-pack, both PDF guides are included at no charge and arrive by email straight after checkout.
5 accessory sets included
Family Security Pack
Your family backup, in one pack.
5 × Survival Straws
5 × pouch, syringe & extension tube sets
2 downloadable guidesThe Family Water Backup Plan + The Home & Go-Bag Checklist
LiveFort Bragg-class installations · FORTRESS directive
LiveFort Bragg-class installations · FORTRESS directive
GuidanceReady.gov · CDC household water advice
GuidanceReady.gov · CDC household water advice
LiveSupermarket water aisle · boil-water notice day one
LiveSupermarket water aisle · boil-water notice day one
Pouch, tube and back-flush syringe for gravity use and cleaning.
Pouch, tube and back-flush syringe for gravity use and cleaning.
Share with family
Giardia duodenalis
Cryptosporidium parvum
Escherichia coli O157:H7
Salmonella enterica
Vibrio cholerae
Norovirus · Hepatitis A · Rotavirus
Survival Straw
Bottled stockpile
Boiling
Purification tablets
Survival Straw
Bottled stockpile
Boiling
Purification tablets
