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Steripen users advise
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May 13, 2011 at 6:59 am #1736098
I think most of us have a local store, but it works as a web-shop as well:
Pretty good outfit.
May 13, 2011 at 8:19 am #1736121one more thing to love about BPL; 2 good tips in one thread!
While I wouldn't be so bold as to put words in Doug Ide's mouth ( ye gads! ) he did say an advantage to making a scoop out of the 2L platy was that it sat nicely on its base. Looks to me like cutting the thing off around the "P" for pus or couple inches above the 1L mark would be about right and you could always trim it down.
One obvious problem with platy jars and the small opening is getting the water into the jar. A scoop can allow more precision in collecting clear water. In the east there generally tends to be a lot more tilth and tillage in the near proximity to the water as opposed to water flowing over solid rock or stream having a clean gravelly bottom; and this can be a problem anywhere. Doug's scoop should weigh less than 1/2 oz.
The news about the steripen freedom is interesting. In my experience when some really neat/useful/ state-of-the art item of gear goes on sale it's often because it's about to be "taken out" by the next better product.
The new freedom + the multi-use scoop should be @ 3.3 oz
May 13, 2011 at 8:34 pm #1736385"one more thing to love about BPL; 2 good tips in one thread!"
Ya, and none of them ever from me :)
One day there will be a thread for workflow in relational database applications, then I'll get to be the smart one.
Thanks for all the input everyone.
"In my experience when some really neat/useful/ state-of-the art item of gear goes on sale it's often because it's about to be "taken out" by the next better product.
"Cola, that's usually the case. I generally rely on the "new version" so I can get the perfectly good old one at a deep discount. Though that Steripen Freedom at 2.x OZ and it's lithium battery sounds like a pretty good deal. I'll hold out unless I get a good offer on gear swap.
May 13, 2011 at 10:37 pm #1736420Cola, I've seen very little about the Freedom and that was from the Winter vendor shows. Do you have new info and if so would you share a link to your info please? Thanks.
May 14, 2011 at 5:08 am #1736450I could be wrong, but I've heard:
*Lithium battery (don't know if it's replaceable but the bulb is still rated to last 8000 treatments)
*USB charger
*30L per charge
*Only does 0.5 L treatments at a time
*2.6 ounces, 5.1" long
*$130, out this summerMay 14, 2011 at 2:49 pm #1736591Specs per Billy Goat are basically correct. The battery is not replaceable. The price of $130 seems a bit high to me, but we won't know until it is officially released.
Cheers
May 14, 2011 at 5:51 pm #1736646Warren I was just passing on info from earlier in this thread plus links supplied on this thread to web postings usually generated by the aforementioned winter trade shows. Like Schultzy or whatever his name was in Hogan's Heros " I know nussink…nussink !
I was however going to offer to hold the bets on how much the over and under would be on the added price for the one ounce drop plus extra features but now Billy has ruined that chance for a friendly wager with the hard facts. Dontcha just love modern marketing!
How much is an ounce worth anyway? And 1/2 liter at a time?
May 15, 2011 at 4:39 pm #1736934Ya, those specs are basically what I'd read and Roger is just confirming them. I wanted to wait for the Freedom, but got the Opti and will be happy with that. One thing I don't like, 30 liters before the battery has to be recharged. Probably a few others don't like that either. If a person uses 4-5 liters a day and two people use it on a trip, that's only good for three or four days. At least the Opti is supposed to do 50 liters before a new set of batteries is needed. Maybe that extra ounce isn't so bad after all. We shall see.
May 15, 2011 at 5:26 pm #1736958Yes agreed the REI sale is looking better all the time!
Jun 5, 2011 at 9:14 am #1745148Looking at REI site there are many bad reviews for the SteriPen Journey. Only 2 Star rating on a fairly large sample set of 21 reviews. Similar complaints also from a couple of MEC reviewers. So looks like I will go for the Adventurer Opti or wait it out a bit longer til these Journey bugs are resolved.
Interesting side note: I was in MEC and reading the box for one of these, bizarrely it says "not a sterilizer". Maybe they should change the name to NotSteriPen ???
Jun 5, 2011 at 9:32 am #1745152My new SP Journey seems OK, though per reviews, they do seem to be hit or miss. They are finicky and require a patient touch. I got mine from REI just in case it needs to go back…
Richard, the Steripen does not kill or remove anything–it does not "sterilize" by definition–hence the reason they say it is "not a sterilizer."
Jun 5, 2011 at 11:03 am #1745187I have a Steripen Journey. When it's working, it's great. It can be finicky though. Definitely carry a backup means of water purification. The battery compartment is poorly designed. The user interface is poorly designed. The rubber stopper with a 500 ml water bottle are brilliant. For me, it's worth carrying.
> FYI: the Steripen does not kill or remove anything–it does not "sterilize"
> by definition–hence the reason they say it is "not a sterilizer."As a microbiologist, I have no problem calling it a sterilizer.
Jun 5, 2011 at 6:17 pm #1745306Who's that rock n' roll star
In your avatar?Jun 5, 2011 at 7:00 pm #1745319"Who's that rock n' roll star
In your avatar?"If that doesn't scare the children I don't know what will…….
Jun 5, 2011 at 7:07 pm #1745322Mick Jagger in the '80 Olympics Cross Country – gold medal round!
Jun 5, 2011 at 7:13 pm #1745328"Mick Jagger in the '80 Olympics Cross Country – gold medal round!"
Ahhh, Gimme Shelter, eh?
"Oh, a storm is threat'ning
My very life today
If I don't get some shelter
Oh yeah, I'm gonna fade away"Jun 5, 2011 at 7:50 pm #1745343That's not Roger's new Avatar. That's a fashion statement!
–B.G.–
Jun 5, 2011 at 7:58 pm #1745345This is what ultimately leaves me a bit at a loss of how to evaluate the steripen. Most people praise the technology; but the reliability of said technology is at best a mixed bag. Until there is a better reliability track record, it's difficult for me to spend upwards of $100 on a device that could be nearly bullet proof but is as just as likely to experience significant issues.
Am I wrong in this perspective?
Dirk
Jun 5, 2011 at 8:02 pm #1745347"Am I wrong in this perspective?"
Yes. People have been using the Steripen for quite some time without issue. I have the Opti and it hasn't let me down yet. One of my hiking buddies has used his for over 2 years without issue.
Jun 5, 2011 at 8:11 pm #1745351Sometimes the problem with online reviews is you get a distorted picture of an item because you often get the handful of users that had an issue post something but you don't get all of the people that had no issue. I waited a long time before getting the Steripen Opti a couple of weeks ago on sale at REI. The hurdles I overcame before buying one were
1] I didn't want to trust a battery driven system for something as important as water. Easily solved, Micropur tablets or boiling are a solid backups.
2] A handful of generation 1 user reviews of the Steripen scared me away. See original point above. In addition, the Steripen has been out a while and we are into the second generation of the technology.
Jun 5, 2011 at 8:49 pm #1745370Dirk,
Although I can completely understand your perspective, I think you are indeed wrong. I use different SteriPens for three years. My first SteriPen was a Journey and worked great here in the Bay Area. But when I took it to the Sierra it seemingly stopped working. It was so frustrating to be away for a longer period of time and all of a sudden it didn't work. When that happened I thought I can't trust that technology and was ready to give up on it. But since the SteriPen worked again at home I got curious and researched the problem. I found that the Sierra water was "too clear" and the two metal contacts refused to acknowledge that they are indeed in water. That could easily be solved with a little pinch of salt to increase the conductivity of the sierra water. Once I understood and used this trick the SteriPen worked reliably. The problem was brought to the manufacturers attention and they increased the voltage between the metal contacts. My new model works now flawlessly in clear Sierra water without having to add anything.
I also use a SteriPen Classic for multi-week trips because it allows me to use re-chargeable AA batteries. Instead of the nice LCD display of the Journey it uses a red and a green LED. That too got me frustrated in the beginning. Why did the red LED go on? What did I do wrong? Why doesn't it work? And despite several tries I got the red LED over and over again and was stuck without being able to treat my water. In this case I had been too lazy to read the manual. Once I read it and understood that the contacts were not dry when I pressed the button, I just needed to wipe them dry with my bandana before using the SteriPen. Now it always works reliably. From time to time I get the red LED when I treat many bottles for a group. If I wouldn't know that I need to wipe the contacts dry, I would be stuck and become very frustrated. But with the knowledge I just wipe the contacts and keep treating.
OK, this was a long email. After several years of usage – including the described frustrating experiences – I believe the technology works. As with most techology the user should read (and understand) the manual and follow it to really get the most out of it.
Manfred
Jun 5, 2011 at 9:29 pm #1745379I use a Traveler Opti Mini with no problems. Steripens need good quality batteries and some models should be stored without the batteries to prevent power drain. I use a thin plastic strip to keep the battery from making contact with the cap so I can keep the batteries inside for storage– more to prevent forgetting or losing them.
It is an electronic device, so I carry some Micro Pur tablets as a backup. That gives redundant support and they are lighter than spare batteries. Stuff happens– I could drop it and break it. I have had batteries fail, but that was very much my own doing. I've used two different models and had no actual failure other than the dead batteries.
But why use it in the first place? I wanted a quick method for water purification. The water is pretty good in most of the areas I hike in, but I don't want to get sick either. I normally have access to lots of water sources, so I can hike with the Steripen and carry one liter rather than two and do quick refills. With chemicals I would normally refill when one liter was gone and drink from the other, giving plenty of time for the chemicals to work.
I have a filter too and I think that is good for groups, where the weight and the pumping can be shared. I carry tablets as a backup for the filter as well. Stuff happens :)
Jun 6, 2011 at 3:49 am #1745432Well, it was a hot day …
:-)Cheers
Jun 6, 2011 at 5:00 am #1745437The classic is a bit heaver than the other options, but I'm cheap. 4-AA lithium batteries means I get a lot more life out of my batteries than the CR type. Means a lot more trail miles per set of batteries.
AA are more common and can be had at remote convenience stores and gas stations near the trail.
Jun 6, 2011 at 5:20 am #1745441You can tell who's new around here if they haven't seen that avatar before.
I love my SteriPen. I did have one failure. Lamp became separated from the electronics. Made noise, no light. Warranty replaced. Back in business! Been using one for years, very reliable in my experience.
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