CrazyCap 2 – a UV LED alternative to the Steripen UV purifier

Way back when I bought a pound of food-grade iodine crystals, determined to make my own Polar Pure. No DEA agents came knocking at my door, but I corroded a lot of plastic bottles and metal anywhere near that jar for many years. Finally got rid of it.

If you live someplace with less draconian policies around food-grade iodine crystals, try making your own. It’s basically a saturated solution of iodine in water, and the PP iodine crystal quantity was small enough to not poison you if accidentally swallowed.

My memory is fuzzy on design, dose, water temperature (important for dose), and usage. If you are serious, contact someone who has a PP bottle for the parameters.

But a glass bottle and iodine-gas impermeable cap are essential.

— Rex

I used to have a Polar Pure bottle lying in a corner on a shelf in my garage…….or maybe it was thrown out. Haven’t seen it in a while.

Also Iodine sublimates so most of it just turns to gas directly from solid crystals over time.

A cool thing to do is to very gradually heat a tiny amount of iodine crystals (in a non reactive container, glass test tube works well) over a low flame – the crystals turn to purple fumes. Don’t breathe the fumes – wear a mask and protect your eyes! And only ever do this in a well ventilated space.

Another thing you can do with iodine crystals is to dissolve a very few in concentrated ammonia. You end up with nitrogen tri-iodide. Look it up on the web.

CAUTION: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME! SERIOUSLY!

I never wrote this …