32oz Snapple Iced Tea Bottle

Looks good. Since the demise of the large mouth soda (and AquaFina) bottles, I've had to search out all those types of iced tea, etc. bottles as a wide-mouth 1L replacement. There are quite a few good bottles with wide-mouths and rigid construction out there!

You are my hero. I haven't began to look yet but that's exactly what I was planning to look for!

Is the opening wide enough for the steripen Opti?

If you take any 2 liter soda bottle, make a mark where 1 liter is, and cut off the bottle a ways above the mark, then

it weighs about 1/2 ounce, you can treat 1 liter, you get good access to stir with Steripen so you will maximize its effectiveness

but it doesn't double as a water bottle to store your water

this container is a little easier to scoop up water to pour into your water bottle

You can do the same with a 4 liter soda bottle and mark where 2 liters is and treat 2 liters at a time, maybe 3/4 ounce

Here is how someone did it for an opti using some thin foam glued on the top and cut out

"If you take any 2 liter soda bottle, make a mark where 1 liter is, and cut off the bottle a ways above the mark, then

it weighs about 1/2 ounce, you can treat 1 liter, you get good access to stir with Steripen so you will maximize its effectiveness

but it doesn't double as a water bottle to store your water

this container is a little easier to scoop up water to pour into your water bottle"

This is my preferred method when going cold food. If I am carrying a stove, like Roger C. I use my pot to scoop and treat. With either method, if you want a funnel to pour into your water bottles without spilling, cut off a small mouth bottle just below the shoulder and use the mouth/shoulder section for a funnel. It will weigh ~ 1/4 oz.

Craig:

Does the foam form enough of a barrier to allow swirling of the bottle upside down while treating with a Steripen Adventurer? If yes, that's fantastic! But if not, then I wonder if the UV permeates through adequately??

Hey Ben,

According the the inventor it does hold water inverted.

Here is the post about it. It's halfway down the page.

I do something different for mine.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=31851

I do this with the 1.5L water bottles, and the cut water bottle stores my caldera cone.

Steve

Craig:

Thanks for the reply. Do you (or anyone else here) know what the white foamy material is and where to get them?

I would love to use a drink bottle instead of Nalgenes, but does anyone know if you can safely drop either iodine tablets or katadyn chlorine dioxide tablets (I use the latter sometimes in place of a filter for dayhikes) in them to purify water? Or will it eat through the plastic or somehow react with it rendering it unsafe for drinking?

I have a very similar Gatorade bottle setup for my Steripen. I use a 1L bottle with the slot cut and no foam. The 1L bottle is optimal for treating with a Steripen. I swirl the water while treating, but don't turn upside down. The caps are surprisingly thick and strong for creating the slot. This helps make a slot that fits tightly with the Steripen.

Works for me.

"Thanks for the reply. Do you (or anyone else here) know what the white foamy material is and where to get them?"

Ben, I'm not sure if you need/want food grade, but you can find the craft foam, that looks just like that, at Jo Anne's or Michael's for probably less than a dollar.

It looks like food grade foam sheets are around $10 – $20.

Jennifer, I am the one who originally posted those pictures. The white foam is just some simple CCF foam I had laying around. Its 1/8" and I got a sheet of it from Seattle fabrics.

I defiantly is not food grade, not need. Only the "dry" part of the SteriPen touches the foam.
Joann's and Michael's should have it

Thanks, Jennifer and Tad.

I am always terrified to go to craft shops like Joann's and Michael's. I don't know why exactly, but folks there make Wal Mart shoppers look petite.

Ben,

I would think that using anything rubbery like a bike tire or silicone oven mitt etc. would work.

Cut the whole top out of the cap leaving enough rim to glue a piece of bike tire to it and cut a hole in the rubber big enough for the tube and sensor to fit through.

That way it will streatch around the sides more as you push it in for a seal.

Use gorilla glue or super glue.

Have a second cap for water storage.

Lots of other possibilities along those lines.

Looks like I found a new widemouth bottle.

Craig, I think you need something a little thicker then rubber tubing to get a dripless seal. I found the out on a few prototypes before I came up with the above foam.

I carry the "hole" cap with my steripen, they are always together.

Does anyone know if the cap from a Gatorade bottle fits on the Snapple bottle. It would save me making a new cap if it does.

Tried these last year, and I'm very satisfied. Note that orange caps from Gatorade bottles fit perfectly, but are a lot easier to find when dropped–especially at dusk! I also leave a shred of the label on to avoid having to remove that sticky stuff.

Thanks Simon, now I need to find someone to drink the stuff so I can get the bottle (don't like it).

So I got a 20oz Snapple and found that the top was bigger than the Gatoraid bottle.

Weight is 1.1oz on postal scale.

Both the 32oz & 20oz Snapples use the same lid.

Makes a better pee bottle.

So I finally got my new Steripen back (this one works!) and had found a Snapple bottle to test it on. I discovered that if the bottle is filled to the very tippy top, the Opti will work easily and has enough room to lightly agitate the water. I put some black pepper in the water so I could really see if the water was moving enough. Still not as much as a Nalgene, but I think this will work without an extra cap.

Travis I tried that also but found it too troublesome, my SteriPen would "short out" and turn off to often so I went with the modified cap. Keep testing maybe it will work for you. Keep us posted.

Travis:

You run the risk of 'baddies' sinking toward the bottom and out of harm's way if you don't agitate the water enough. You should add the piece of foam to allow you to agitate the bottle upside down, so 'baddies' can sink downward to the Steripen for truly effective zaps.

If in doubt, call up the Steripen guys and ask them.