Gear Review: SteriPEN Adventurer Handheld Water Purifier

With iodine tablets, people unscrew the lid a little and turn the nalgene upside down to get some iodine on the threads of the bottle. How does the SteriPEN deal with the threads? It's my understanding that UV gets absorbed by polycarbonate, so if the SteriPEN is inside the nalgene, microbes on the threads wouldn't see high UV doses.

Hmm.

I've just returned from a around the world trip using the SteriPEN Classic. The SteriPEN worked great with the Energizer Lithium Disposables batteries. The SteriPEN did not work so well with Alkaline batteries. I was only able to get 10 liters of water purified using some Slovenian Alkaline batteries. The Lithium batteries were hard to find and or very expensive outside of the USA. The SteriPEN is the most sensitive device that I own in regards to batteries. My Back Country Access avalanche transceiver being the 2nd most sensitive. For more information on batteries check out the SteriPEN web site.

steripen.com/batterytesting…

One last note: Whenever we had the opportunity we washed the inside and outside of our Nalgene bottles with soap and city purified water. The SteriPEN only purifies the water inside of the bottle.

Does the SteriPEN work in Sigg or Klean bottles?

Walter Macalma wrote:Does the SteriPEN work in Sigg or Klean bottles?

If you look at the pen it has a little metal oval below the light. There is another on the other side of the pen too. These have to be submerged in the water for the light to stay on. You can hold the metal safety ovals and the light will turn on, but that would be a pain and probably wouldn't work properly. So if you want to use narrow mouthed bottles, the steripen probably wont work for you.
Another thing i found about the steripen is if you stir the water too harshly (making bubbles and such at the top of the water) the pen makes the water taste bad. As long as you keep a smooth 'whirlpool' like stir with minimal bubbles the water will taste fine. I believe the pre filter allows for a 'smooth' stir everytime, getting rid of this problem.

Kyle Douglass wrote:So if you want to use narrow mouthed bottles, the steripen probably wont work for you.

The newer version of the SteriPen (the one with the LCD) is round and has a rubber grommet around the base of the light which will seal in a Sigg/Nalgene smallmouth bottle. The instructions are to wedge the SteriPen in the mouth of the bottle and then turn the bottle upside down and stir.

Having said that, I have to give you my experience with the SteriPen. I bought one at REI and took it on a trip to Glacier Gorge. Before my trip I filtered tap water several times with the SteriPen to make sure I could do it correctly. I tried to filter water from Frozen Lake with it and it would not work, it would only give me the frowny face on the LCD. This usually indicates that the contacts were not in contact with the water, but I was sure that they were, even holding the pen still and not stirring. The water was very, very clear. I then tested the pen with my friend's water bottle that he hiked in - it worked. Back to the Frozen Lake water, no worky.

I exchanged it after the trip for a new one, then tried to filter water from Sky Pond with it. Again, it would not work correctly and kept frowning at me. I treated my friend's water with it again, it worked. Back to Sky Pond, it didn't work. At this point I was pretty upset and ended up drinking raw Sky Pond on our climb. I ended up taking it back to REI and getting a refund, I'll use that money to buy the MSR droplets from now on. At least they don't have a LCD display that will frown at me.

Mark - what do you think it was that made the pen not work in the alpine water? I'd love to know, and I'm sure the folks at steripen would too!

Mo. wrote:Mark - what do you think it was that made the pen not work in the alpine water? I'd love to know, and I'm sure the folks at steripen would too!

Well, it wasn't the altitude since I could filter water we carried with us successfully. It had to be either the water temperature (doubtful) or something in the water that maybe reduced the conductive nature of the water?? I really don't know. Whatever it was it was repeatable, though. Unless I got two defective pens that both worked on tap water but not alpine lake water.

As already mentioned in this post, the SteriPEN uses UV light to inactivate E. coli bacteria, virus, but has been found to be less effective on the larger protozoa (i.e. Giardia & Cryptosporidium). The intensity of the UV lamp needs to emit around 240-280 nm of UV radiation to effectively treat water. Treatment is not occurring if the lamp is not emitting in the noted range and can be further diminished if the water is turbid and/or the glass enclosing the lamp is dirty. Suspended matter in turbid waters will shield crypto/giardia oocycts by absorbing and/or reflecting the UV radiation. For this reason, I would personally use the SteriPEN in combination with chlorine dioxide tablet as secondary treatment to ensure all microorganisms have been inactivated. It is the only way to ensure all pathogens have been eliminated from the water. This is the principal used to treat surface water supplies in the US. It only takes one of these micoorganisms to ruin your day.

It worked pretty darned well but one time when I was using it I stuck it in a little too far and now it doesn't work. Cool product but a bit unreliable.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra…

some interesting reading on the various forms of UV radiation. Its actually effects on DNA and some other things I didnt realize about sunscreen and melanin production etc.

Mine worked great for all of two whole weeks of a 3+ month trip through S. America. Suddenly quit working; no apparent cause. Tried all the trouble-shooting ideas to no avail. Luckily I had Aqua Mira as a back-up. I have since heard similar accounts, for what its worth...

I bought the Steripen Journey for a car-to-car Direct Exum in a day climb up the Grand Teton last weekend. Fast and light was a necessity and since there were several water sources along the way, it seemed a sensible alternative to carrying the several liters of water necessary for such a long and serious pursuit (7,000 ft elevation gain, 15 miles of hiking, six pitches of 5.6-5.7 roped climbing and another 1,500 ft of 5.5 climbing which we soloed unroped, and then the descent).

The unit seemed to work when we tested it at home but when we NEEDED it, at 4:15 am and 4.1 miles in at 9,000 ft., the light would quit after a few seconds and the battery failure icons would show. We tried warming the batteries (it was mid 40's Fahrenheit, not even cold), removing them and cleaning the contacts, replacing them, warming them more... no use. Fortunately I brought iodine as a backup and had to use it or we would have had to bail on a climb we have planned for weeks and were in the middle of. Later in the day when the weather warmed up even further, the Steripen STILL wouldn't work. We continued on and summited the Grand Teton and made it back to our car at 9:30pm, 19.5 hours car-to-car, thanks to bringing the iodine.

After returning home I tested it and it worked at 84 degrees ambient temperature, but when I put it in a 40 degree refrigerator for 5 minutes, it failed again. I measured the voltage on the brand new, stock 3 volt batteries (Energizer Lithium photo batteries) at 2.87 volts each, only 4% below their max voltage so that was not the problem. I further spent a half hour with Hydro-Photon's Tech Support Engineer today who had me measure the voltage at the probes which was 3.25 volts (apparently perfect). It is still unclear what is wrong with the unit but the fact remains that if failed during its first use in the field.

I purchased a Steripen a couple years ago. Nice when it works. The first one was defective so I sent it back and received a replacement. I have found it to work intermittently and like others have mentioned..cold temperatures don't always agree with this gadget. UV is an excellent way to kill organics in water, but trusting your health and hydration to this thing in critical situations is not recommended. Chlorine dioxide, iodine and filters (not my favorite) are more robust, reliable and get the job done. My Steripen sits in a box and that is the best place for it as far as I am concerned.

The cdc has a good review of water purification science. Some questions remain unanswered. I boil or use combo of filtration plus chlorine. cdc.gov/healthywater/drinki…

I removed some bad words about the company in my previous post... though they were all true I just had a subsequent telephone conversation with Aaron Cox from Steripen and he agreed to test a new unit out for me, using a refrigerator at cold temperatures to make sure it will work down to freezing prior to shipping it. He's also replacing the batteries so that they're new and including coupons for additional batteries as well as a mailer for me to send the old one back if and when I am satisfied that the replacement unit will work appropriately. I don't think I asked too much of Hydro-Photon to go through this trouble, but I would like to say that I am also impressed with Aaron's concern for making me a happy customer and doing the right thing.

Momoface wrote:Mark - what do you think it was that made the pen not work in the alpine water? I'd love to know, and I'm sure the folks at steripen would too!

Apparently some snow melt doesn't have enough minerals so adding a pinch of salt or electrolyte (Gatoraide) to the water takes care of this. That wasn't the problem with mine though.

Following is an emailed response from SteriPEN. I am now extremely satisfied with SteriPEN’s customer service. I couldn’t ask for more. I hope to have good luck with the replacement unit, and I am optimistic:

Hello Michael,
I have taken a new SteriPEN Journey from a retail package and performed the following tests:
Placed your Journey, with batteries installed, in our lunch freezer for 25 minutes. I removed your Journey and successfully completed a 1 Liter dose.
Placed just batteries, in a Ziploc baggie, in the freezer for 15 minutes. I removed the batteries and immediately placed them in your Journey. 1 liter dose complete with no frowny faces.
Placed your Journey and Ziploc baggie with batteries in freezer. I removed the batteries and Journey and immediately placed the batteries in your SteriPEN. Again, I was able to complete the 1 Liter dose with no problem.
This leads me to believe that you will not have the same problems with your new Journey as you did with your original.
Again, I am sorry for the troubles that you experienced due to the battery failure of your original Journey. This is unacceptable and we will do what it takes to rectify your situation and restore your confidence in the SteriPEN.

I have had your new Journey repackaged and shipped to your address via UPS 3 Day Select.
UPS will send the tracking number to your e-mail around 5PM tonight.

Thanks for the opportunity to try and rectify your problems.
Best Regards,
Aaron Cox
Customer Support
Hydro-Photon, Inc.
207-374-5848
www.steripen.com

Michael,

I wish the tests had included very cold water.

Dave Swink wrote:Michael, I wish the tests had included very cold water.

Dave, I tested the replacement unit out thoroughly in my refrigerator: it worked repeatedly with the unit at 40 degrees with near freezing water. At zero degrees the unit failed indicating battery failure.

Damn, my digital camera's batteries won't work at zero, so I can't expect the batteries to power this thing properly at that low a temp either.

It also worked flawlessly last weekend at Chasm Lake (nearly 12,000 ft.) with 33-35 degree ambient temperature and (I don't know what it measured but it was) cold water.

At this point I must say that I couldn't be more satisfied with the unit and with the service that, in the end, I received from SteriPEN.

Thread res but figured why start a new one.

So those who use the Steripen pre-filter, how do you rinse out or clean the pre-filter? If you swish it in the water source, then the rear end of the filter is now contaminated, no?