My Steripen Adventure: Concerns and Vindication

Wow, indeed.

Phillip, I bought the Opti 8 months ago. I bought it on Ebay from a seller that had about 50 of them. It is possible that he got a deal on a bad batch and passed the "deal" onto me. I would love to have one that I can count on, really. The Journey was a present, so I had no recourse. The adventurer I bought on BPL new in the box and it was the first that failed me and I figured it was my problem and not the seller's. I don't even have an alternate method yet, I may just have to bring all three and hope one of them might work ;)

WOW! Sorry if you haven't figured this out yet but never buy anything electronic or the like off ebay! They always sell shoddy usually outdated products that most stores wouldn't even sell anymore. That's how they sell it so cheap, they sell the old version that nobody wants anymore. At least that's been my experience with ebay.
EDIT: I've even had this problem with things I bought off amazon. If you get a cheap price, there's usually a reason why. Most of the time I just pay up for the product because I've learned the cheap ones are old or defective. This even applies to stuff like clothing or other gear too. It's probably last years model or something.

I also wouldn't buy anything but the steripen adventurer opti. The reasoning for this is because it is the most recent version (I think) and it has been updated the most. It should be the safest one to go with.

If you did decide you wanted another that would be the advice I would give. That and buy it from REI or some other reputable dealer so that you can return it if necessary.

I got Opti about a year ago

Run about 40 pints without problem

When I uses rechargeable batteries they failed very quickly, but then when I switched to non-rechargeables it was okay

Of course, that switch is really difficult to activate, but at least it doesn't come on accidentally

@Kat P.

You didn't mention what kind of batteries you were using in your Steripens when they failed. I'd be very interested in knowing.

I originally used rechargable batteries in my Steripen when I first got it and it failed after only a couple of liters. I changed batteries and the same thing happened (failed after a couple of litres). Rather than return it for a refund, I tried top quality, disposable Lithium batteries in my Steripen and it has worked without issue for well over 3 years of use. I think the quality of the battery used can really create an issue for the Steripen.

I often see reports of failures very similar to mine (and yours) but the type of battery in use is never mentioned. I know you are supposed to be able to use rechargable batteries but I think the residual drain from leaving them in the Steripen and cold temps can make them drop their charge to a point that they no longer work.

> You didn't mention what kind of batteries you were using in your Steripens when they failed.
There are cheap rechargable Lithum batteries which simply do not have the current capacity to drive a Steripen. They will fail early. Always.

Using brand-name lithium primaries (ie not rechargable) has always given good results. They are the ones which are not cheap – guess why?

The high current drain while not in use was fixed after the first generation of Adventurers, but removing the batteries between trips is always smart.

Cheers

The only time I've had the batteries fail in my Steripen was with the ones which shipped with the unit – on their second outing. I did some research and bought a pair of high quality rechargeables from Lighthound. I charge them immediately before each trip (Li-ions last longest when stored with a partial charge) and they've never let me down. I still carry an unused pair of Eveready primaries as backup, and ClO2 tablet in case the unit breaks.

I never used the rechargeable batteries. I bought the expensive brand name ones.
Like other posters pointed out, I most likely bought older, faulty batches.

The only failure I had with fairly new batteries was when i must have had a slight oxidation on the battery contacts.
I took the batteries out rubbed the tips with my shirt and they worked fine after that.

These kind of issues do happen. I have had as many problems with other methods of treatment, filters and chemical are no more reliable.

The big advantage with the Steripen is the weight reduction and convenience when compared with the other methods.

One thing I like about the Steripen, is I treat only drinking water – 2 or 3 pints of water a day.

The rest of my water I treat by heating it, to make soup, oatmeal, coffee,…

I haven't experienced any battery failure with the Steripen. I was referring to a bad batch of Steripens, not batteries.
In general, oxidation on batteries is something pretty easy to spot.

My faith in them has been tested of late as well. I always use Energizer batteries. Same brand that it came with. My first Adventurer was great and gave me a number of years of trouble free service. I was saddened to realize that I had jettisoned it out of a pack pocket after taking a tumble off trail in the Trinity Alps.
Bough a replacement. Never got a low battery signal like you are suppose to. Would sometimes work and then sometimes not. Turned out that the electrical contact to the lamp were faulty. I had no more light and a sizzling noise came out of the unit. Not good. Was given a replacement. This one the lamp has a different color to it, more yellow than blue. It also seems to have a two stage start to the lamp. It turns on, but takes a couple of seconds to get to full brightness.
So two out of three have issues for me. Not good odds. Have some Aqua-Mira handy.
Too bad the Camelbak version is built in rechargeable battery only. I like trail commodities, like food and batteries, firestarting aids.

I have no idea how you guys are claiming it's "older batches".
Click sort by "newest first" and the first page of reviews are

Great Concept – weak on performance

Solid red light issues

Got Giardia

Won't travel without it!

I guess it works???

Useful Gadget

the pits

Awesome device!

Useful tool with problems

I've really tried to like this device

Those are all from October and November of 2011..

My experience has been similar to Kat's. I had a Journey LCD model fail after several trips. A few seconds after turning it on, the frowny face would appear and that was that. I was following the instructions to the letter and new batteries made no difference. I also had problems with the large o-ring sealing the battery compartment (not the small one around the screw).

I got a replacement for the Journey and I'm testing an Opti. I like the idea of the Steripen and I'm hoping for the best, but I'm not yet ready to fully trust it.

I wish the Steripen had fewer automatic sensors and safety interlocks as I suspect those are what cause many of the failures. Just give me something simple I can stick in the water, turn on, and count the appropriate number of seconds myself. Too bad they would never be allowed to bring that to market and even if they could would be sued as a result of user error.

So what are you going to use instead.

I agree with Ben F that the reviews are absolutely mixed. Which calls for caution (or maybe even avoidance for the risk adverse).

But I disagree with Ben F in his assertion that "a filter has a pretty darn close to zero chance of messing up". Not to be picking on you, but a statement like that just invites ridicule! Take the MSR Sweetwater filter — which I believe many of us would view as a quality, reliable filter made by a respected brand. But pretend you have no experience with this filter, and you read the REI reviews (sorted newest first). The first page alone (10 reviews) shows the following cons:

1. poor quality
2. flimsy bag
3. —
4. poor quality
5. poor quality
6. poor quality – prone to breakage
7. —
8. —
9. not functional, poor quality
10. —

Notice that I didn't use the MSR Hyperflow as my example, simply because that one already has a spotty reputation.

The faulty filtering here is actually the mental one that concluded Steripens as "doozy" and filters as "pretty darn close to zero chance of messing up".

Difficult to interpret reviews, for example

"got giardia" – did the person really get giardia or was it fecal contamination? did the person carelessly drink some untreated water?

"Great Concept – weak on performance", "Solid red light issues", "I guess it works???", "Useful Gadget",… – not specific enough to know if their problem is applicable to you

if there were 10,000 units sold, and 10 of them had problems so they wrote bad reviews, you would think it was a bad product, but statistically you shouldn't have to worry

some people may just like or not like the company and write a review based on that

etc.

I find that a very high percentage of web reviews are BS.
Many are written by people who aren't qualified to give a review, either they didn't really test the product properly or their ignorance and/or stubbornness was the problem.

Some people are just compelled to write bad reviews to be malicious.

Most people that have used the Steripen extensively continue to use them. That should tell you something. They may not trust it 100% , but no treatment system should be trusted 100%.

Ive had 3 pos steripens and one good one that went bad after three weeks of use.

One thing that I've learned from this is to really be gentle with Steripens. If every unit is tested before leaving the factory, that means many are getting damaged in transport and/or the circuitry scrambles after little use.

Something we'll never know, but I wonder how many of the lamp malfunctions were due to rough handling.

Cameron – what models and may I ask why you kept using them?

Both styles of adventurer, and a journey.

I like the concept.

Since no one mentioned it

Buying the older "Classic" is probably not a good idea – electrical contacts that detect that you're in water have been reported to fail

Th newer ones with the LED, like the "Opti", don't have this problem

I have the old style Adventurer — with metal contacts that will turn the UV unit on only when they detect water (a safety feature). The water needs to have some conductivity for this safety feature to work. For example, my Adventurer will NOT operate in pristine, distilled water. Luckily, this is never a problem with tap water coming out of third (or even first) world countries!

This thread made me think of other products I've consistently heard people have issues with and I realized that I haven't met anyone that has purchased a new Steripen or a new Range Rover that hasn't had it in for repairs in the first 6 months. True story. :)

Besides a reputation for failure (from users I've encountered), the OP's experience outlines that if you do in fact have a faulty Steripen, you may not know it, which could possibly be more dangerous than knowingly choosing and drinking untreated water sources …. at least you have a chance to choose a cleaner source if you are knowingly drinking untreated water. If you are using a Steripen, you may not be as choosy in your sources, which could go against you if you are in fact using a broken Steripen.