I drink a lot of water on trips. On sore spot with me was getting water midday. I have always hated having to break out a pump or gravity filter. And personally, I'm not a guy who dips in the lake........a lot of folk do but I'm not one of them.

So I tried on of the squeeze bottles with the filter in them. Big, clunky and not particularly good at getting a lot of water in you in a short amount of time. Not happy.

Then I read PK's Trip Report about using a steripen for his water needs. I have always been instantly dismissive of them in the past and never even gave them any consideration. My curiosity was piqued so I read some reviews. Evidently they hold some promise. While it will not replace my Platypus "clean stream" gravity filter (although it could in a pinch) as my primary drinking water it just might fit the bill for drinking water throughout the day. Coming in at 3.6 ounces and 90 seconds later I have a nalgene bottle ready to slam down it might just be the ticket.

So how many steripen users are out there and what is your verdict?

I will be purchasing a Steri-Pen this weekend. REI has them on sale through Labor Day.

I've been a long time First Need Water Purifier user and have touted its benefits numerous times and I standby all that I have said about it being the absolute safest filter available, ease of use and the best benefit of all is that it improves the taste of the water.
However, in the interest of saving both weight and time and having my hydration needs met most immediately I've become a "middle of the lake" drinker on my solo trips. There have been times though when I find myself thirsty and on water that I don't fully trust. For those times I have resorted to iodine tablets and that works ok but I really like what the Steri-Pen offers in those situations.

My group had a steri-pen on our most recent trip. The guy that owned it was a nut about it (he's sort of a germ-a-phobe) and doesn't drink even the purest of water up there. Anyway, its pretty nice. It does a 32 oz. Nalgene in 90 seconds, which is pretty impressive.  The only problem I saw with it was battery life. I think part of the problem was that it was being put away "wet" and the contacts that make it work were actually working while inside the case. If not, the battery life is pretty low (think about 15-20 sterilizations.) For a solo thats no big deal, but for a group of 4 that was not cutting it. The batteries it used were like camera batteries, but newer models may feature AA or AAA power.   Also, watch the following   (You need to Login or Register;  :)    His little theme song made us all laugh for a week every time we used it!   

The above link appears to have a few extra characters in it which produces a link error.

You might try this one instead:

  (You need to Login or Register

dd

(just trying to get more "sing along" support)  ;D

As MT mentioned, I used a Steripen Adventurer for the first time this summer.  It cost me $60 as I recall.  It uses two CR123 Li batteries that cost about $2 each.  I was able to sterilize about fifty 32oz nalgenes before changing out the batteries.  Took about 75 seconds each time.  The only problem I encountered was sometimes the device turned off during the purification because I'd get the sensor too close to the top or inadvertently let it out of the water.  Once I got used to swirling it around, no problems.  To dry after using, I'd wipe off any water on my sleeve or pant leg before storing.  Was concerned about storing it wet, so a couple times I'd leave it out to dry out real well.  For a solo trip, it worked wonderfully.  Wouldn't want to rely on it as the only purification means for a group trip though.

Thanks DD!

while it would seem to work fine for a solo tripper, it seems like too much hassle to me for even a group of two - you can only do one liter at a time (or 1/2 liter) which would be convenient while travelling, but not so good for a base camp of several people.  I suspect the light intensity goes down quickly as the volume goes up till it becomes innefective, or takes too much time to work. 

so for 3 gallons say, you'd have to do 12 one quart cycles (as seems to be the case via thier user manual) --

which may or may not bother you, but I'd just as soon just pump the 3 gallons and get it done (or use gravity filter)

someone asked about batteries - the "classic" does use  4 AA

I have one of the older steri-pens (classic) that uses AA batteries.  It works very well, but I also use micro-pur quite a bit.  Much easier than iodine and not as much of a bad taste.  But the bottom line is that the steripen is very good for smaller quantities of water.  I always bring along micro-pur as a backup, and prefer bleach for larger quantites of water in camp. 

Now that the verdict is in, group trips with one water treatment of choice option per canoe works rather well. It allows basecamps and long daytrip type flexibility. One filter or whatever wouldn't cut it for group trips IMO. A variety of tools offers advantages. Redundancy on the important ones lessens all the I told you sos when times get challenging.

db wrote on Sep 18^th, 2011 at 6:01am:

A variety of tools offers advantages. Redundancy on the important ones lessens all the I told you sos when times get challenging.

Yep!  I usually pack 2 water options.  Filter & chemical (Pristine).  There's always boil, but it's a pita and in summer it sucks to drink hot & flat water.

I decided to take a steri-pen for day use when needed, and utilize a base camp for my evening fill-ups.  I like the handiness of the steripen.  I saw the same problem as PineKnot will shut off it pull it to far out of water.  But other then that it worked peachy!  The + for the base camp is the filter has a charcoal filter system in it, so the taste is second to none.  Also filters out the "big" stuff.  So although the Steripens work to give you safe water, they do not filter out any particulates.  I also have a Hiker Pro which works well (but I hate pumping) and I recently purchased a Platypus Clean Stream to replace the base camp.  The base camp has to darn many problems with filter plugging.  So bottom line for me is Steripen for day use when needed. A base camp filter for evening fill, and that ussually got me through much of the day.  I carry two 1 liter Nalgene's with me during the day.  fyi those weigh 6 lbs full of H2O, including the Nalgene.
SunCatcher

Quote:

I carry two 1 liter Nalgene's with me during the day.  fyi those weigh 6 lbs full of H2O, including the Nalgene.

That's something to consider IF weight is a big concern? I'd say 2 liters is about the minimum fluid you should be taking in a day. As the temp rises, I've easily consumed a gallon or more. Using your figures, 4 liters is going to add about 12 lbs to your load. Not a big deal if your just paddling, but might be on a long hard portage.
I carry 2 of those 1 liter folding bottles and to supplement them I have a water bottle with a built in filter. I save the 2 liter bottles for portages and use the filter water bottle in open lakes that cuts down on clogging.
I don't like to stop and filter water so for solo trips this works well.

Let us know how the Clean Stream works? I'm thinking of getting a base camp filter but don't want to baby it or work on it after a long day paddling.

I just picked up a Steripen, however my (Classic) unit came with a screw-on top for a Nalgene bottle.  The screw-on top as a rubberized hole in the middle that the Steripen probe fits into so snugly that you can turn the Nalgene bottle upside down.  This should eliminate "contact" problems for the electrical connectors.  In addition, a screen filter can be screwed into the hole in the Nalgene bottle top, thus providing the means for filtering out some of the particulate matter.

I haven't tried this out in the field yet, but this looks to be a nice improvement for the Steripen option.  (BTW: the new Nalgene bottle top can be left in place on the bottle and the Nalgene cap screwed on the top of that.  And the screen filter can be reversed and inserted in the new top for storage purposes.)

dd

DD
help me out.......what is meant by "contact" problems for the electrical connections? And.......why would the specially designed nalgene be better than just say an ordinary bottle? I was under the impression I just stuck the pen into a bottle and swished it around. I am missing something.....

I too want the steripen as my daily solution while traveling.

ST, I have commented before on the superiority of the clean stream especially with a smaller group. For sure if your solo. It is just a better system IMO. I like the base camp for 4 or more people though (when it is finally done you have 2 gallons). I have used both on trips so I'm not just whistling Dixie FWIW.

mastertangler wrote on Oct 18^th, 2011 at 4:25pm:

DD help me out.......what is meant by "contact" problems for the electrical connections? And.......why would the specially designed nalgene be better than just say an ordinary bottle? I was under the impression I just stuck the pen into a bottle and swished it around. I am missing something.....

When you submerge the ultraviolet wand on the end of the steripen, it will not activate unless the two electrical contacts at the base of the wand are also submerged.  So, if you don't submerge the wand deep enough or you inadvertently lift it while swirling it around in the water, the unit will not come on (or will turn off).

With the new cap, since you can invert the bottle, there is no way that water will not submerge the two electrical contacts.  But so long as you are careful to keep the wand submerged, any container sufficiently deep to submerge the wand and contacts will work.

dd

BTW:  The directions indicate that you should use either Nimh or Lithium batteries.  My paddling partner has had one of these for a few years and tried it with standard AA's.  It wouldn't come on at all.