steri pen & other water treatments
BIRDIEBL8
Posts: 155 Member
I'm eyeing a steri pen as a way to sterilize water on my longer hikes. Does anyone else use one - why or why not. Thanks for any info or advice!
0
Replies
-
I heard they work pretty good, but I prefer filtering my water only because I don't like floaties in my water.
I use a Sawyer water filter. Fits right in the palm of my hand, can screw on to water bottle or it comes with a bag. 99.999999% guaranteed to filter out any organisms that might make you sick. I bought it at REI. But I did notice recently that now Walmart has it on line.
I have no complaints I've been using it for a couple of years.0 -
Thanks Hikergirl01- I'm getting to go for 3 days and it's the only thing I have left to buy.0
-
I've used a filter and still do at times, but I have a steri pen. It works great. I used it in Nepal where the water didn't need to be filtered but I certainly didn't want to drink it. As I recall the steri pen also kills viruses.0
-
I looked into the steri pen. My gut instinct and experience withe electronics tells me not to rely on something that runs on batteries for an essential function.
I use a Sawyer inline water filter. I attached it to the drinking tube of my Platypus bladder. It only weights about 3 ounces. And, I don't have to stand around treating water. I simply fill my Platy bladder and keep on walking. It's easy peasy!0 -
The steripen is great if you know you won't have to filter water -- it's super light and compact, reasonably priced, and lasts a long time. There are a couple different kinds of SteriPen to choose from, but for hiking the Adventurer is probably the best one. If you are doing thru-hiking for long periods of time they make one with a rechargable battery for like $50 more, but the Adventurer will last for up to 100 treatments before you need to replace the battery. It does kill both viruses and bacteria.
My fiance and I use the Steripen for short hikes and climbing day trips, but anything more than that we use an MSR pump filter. Last September we were doing a couple days hike and considered taking the Steripen and I'm glad we didn't -- we ran out of water and only could find a small, muddy puddle. The MSR pumped a half liter like a champ from it. If we had the Steripen, we'd have been out of luck.0 -
Also, just wanted to add that if you do use the SteriPen, it's encouraged that you gently stir the wand in the water rather than just hold it still. It kills the bacteria and other microbes, but it doesn't remove them from the water. If there are some larger particles in there, they could block the light. Moving the wand may help the UV light to move around the particles to make sure it didn't miss anything hiding behind them.0
-
Thanks everyone! Doing my first overnighter ( of the year)for mother's day weekend & it is in a pretty remote area. Water & waterfalls every where just need to be able to use it!0
-
I looked into the steri pen. My gut instinct and experience withe electronics tells me not to rely on something that runs on batteries for an essential function.
I use a Sawyer inline water filter. I attached it to the drinking tube of my Platypus bladder. It only weights about 3 ounces. And, I don't have to stand around treating water. I simply fill my Platy bladder and keep on walking. It's easy peasy!
This is what I do, too. Works great.0
