EEVblog #1251 - LifeSaber Kickstarter - Jack of all Trades, Master of None

[Tek_TDS220]

The claim that this device can sterilize water as shown in the video is crazy. Nearly all water in the US in streams and lakes (and I guess the rest of the world) is contaminated with giardia, which can cause serious illness.  People are likely to get sick and sue this company.   Yes, UV sterilization of water is commonly used, but that doesn't mean the LifeSaber is going to work sufficiently well. 

Short wavelength light is required (UV-C which is <280 nm).  UV LED's for this wavelength are very expensive and have poor efficiency.  What does the LifeSaber use, and what is the power output?  Real UV sterilizers use mercury lamps made from quartz.  Even UV lamps don't work well when the water is turbid.

Finally, when you sterilize water, you need to sterilize all of it.  It only takes a few giardia parasites to cause sickness.  This is going to be tough to do in an open container.  That's why filters work well, because you are only exposed to water that has passed through the filter.  Commercial UV sterilizers are also flow systems. 

[rjp]

Hand cranking has to be done at 120rpm??? 

the need for several teenage boys to be part of the camping trip is mentioned briefly in the small print.

[maginnovision]

They probably have a gearbox you can attach to your generator to crank it for you.

[Fungus]

They probably have a gearbox you can attach to your generator to crank it for you.

Stretch goal: A solar powered auto-cranker to automate the process.

(and it only weighs 1200 grams)

[jogri]

Quartz ideally. Devices do have some protection:  https://www.mec.ca/en/product/5024-196/Adventurer-Opti-Water-Purifier

Those devices just use a thick glas shroud, together with a sturdy plastic cap for transportation. The problem with the Lifesaber is that it won't sit tight on a bottle (the Steripens do, you just jam them into the opening of the bottle [the front is shaped conical] and shake the bottle). With the Lifesaber, you have to stirr the water with a 40cm long stick that has the uv light sitting at the end. That's a rather long lever should you manage to jam the light bulb, chances are that the glas shroud will just break.

[artag]

You're missing the point with the handwarmer extension.
You don't have to charge it up at great personal energy cost before warming yourself
You get warmed up by rotating the generator handle at high speed. No electrical heater is necessary.

[tszaboo]

Dave, can you please remove the loud thumping noises from future videos, because it was very annoying to watch. Thank you!

Timestamp?

21:12 - 21:25 there is like 4 of them. But I hear them all over the video.

[thm_w]

The claim that this device can sterilize water as shown in the video is crazy. Nearly all water in the US in streams and lakes (and I guess the rest of the world) is contaminated with giardia, which can cause serious illness.  People are likely to get sick and sue this company.   Yes, UV sterilization of water is commonly used, but that doesn't mean the LifeSaber is going to work sufficiently well. 

Short wavelength light is required (UV-C which is <280 nm).  UV LED's for this wavelength are very expensive and have poor efficiency.  What does the LifeSaber use, and what is the power output?  Real UV sterilizers use mercury lamps made from quartz.  Even UV lamps don't work well when the water is turbid.

Finally, when you sterilize water, you need to sterilize all of it.  It only takes a few giardia parasites to cause sickness.  This is going to be tough to do in an open container.  That's why filters work well, because you are only exposed to water that has passed through the filter.  Commercial UV sterilizers are also flow systems.

Did you read my post? Or see the device Dave found in the video?

Those devices just use a thick glas shroud, together with a sturdy plastic cap for transportation. The problem with the Lifesaber is that it won't sit tight on a bottle (the Steripens do, you just jam them into the opening of the bottle [the front is shaped conical] and shake the bottle). With the Lifesaber, you have to stirr the water with a 40cm long stick that has the uv light sitting at the end. That's a rather long lever should you manage to jam the light bulb, chances are that the glas shroud will just break.

Ah good point, as we've sort of covered already, at this stage its probably more of a "the technology exists so its probably do-able but we haven't actually thought of how to implement it properly yet".
I would be surprised if there aren't some patents as well that would make life difficult.

[Jan Audio]

I cant wait for the latest products to get a EEVblog review.

They should get a EEVblog approval stamp ( like the nintendo seal of quality ), before investing in these things.
Dont they know EEVblog exists ?, it really would saved them all the invested money.
I think they know ( to late now ).

[jnz]

FWIW... Lifestraw kinda sucks compared to the Sawyer. I own a couple LS but won't buy again.

You can drink out of lifestraw by placing your head down into the water. You can do the same with Sawyer, but also fill a bottle. Not to mention the much smaller filter size on the Sawyer and it's almost 1/2 the size. It's a clear win.

Illustrated by this picture. https://www.primalsurvivor.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/1-sawyer-mini-uses-1024x724.jpg