Is this a steripen in a bottle? Looks cool to me.

[Jon Leibowitz]

Just came across this. Maybe not UL but one less thing to carry if it actually works as advertised!

 

[Jon Leibowitz]

Btw, it weighs 13 oz.

[Rex Sanders]

Good news – someone’s finally got a UV-C LED working for water purification. Seems lower output than a Steripen – takes 60 seconds to clean 18 ounces of water in a stainless steel container that probably reflects photons well. OTOH, they claim pretty amazing battery life from relatively small rechargeables. “Digital water purification” is pure hype, though.

Post Kickstarter web site: https://www.clearlyquartz.com

13 oz is too heavy for backpacking – waiting for the mylar coated PET version, if any.

I hope Katadyn/Steripen is working on one now.

— Rex

[Bob Moulder]

One with a little hand-cranked generator would be interesting… no batteries.

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

The extra weight is due to the double wall for insulation and external packaging.  The UV light would not clean anything around the lip.  I thought that it would be better if they just made a lid compatible with a Klean Kanteen bottle.  My 2 cents

[J-L]

Would the UV light have to be submerged in water for this to work? I don’t see any mention of sensors that must be submerged in water like what the Steripen has. I wonder if the lid can be used by itself – that would lighten it up.

I always assumed Steripen was the leader in handheld UV water treatment. I’m surprised to see they are not the first to use a UVC-LED

[James Marco]

Steripen was purchased by Katadyn. The resulting stagnation in research really shows.

 

[Rex Sanders]

13 oz weight for Quartz system 18 ounce (volume) insulated stainless steel bottle and a large, bug-zapping cap including batteries.

12.2 oz weight for similar design Kleen Kanteen 20 ounce (volume) insulated stainless steel bottle and (smaller) plain plastic cap.

Moving the Quartz cap to a lighter bottle could work quite well for backpacking – but it probably has proprietary threads.

— Rex

[J-L]

After some delays, these bottles have started shipping to Kickstarter backers.

Their website says: “Eradicates up to 99.9999% of bacteria and 99.99% of viruses in Adventure Mode”.

REI says of the Steripen: “Ultraviolet (UV-C) light rays safely sterilize clear water by destroying 99.99% of protozoa (including Giardia and Cryptosporidia), bacteria and even viruses”.

The LARQ bottle, however, only shows testing data against E. coli (link is to a PDF document): https://www.livelarq.com/content/LARQ%20Efficacy%20Data%20E.coli%20-%20Harrens%20Lab%202018.pdf

Not sure how that translates to effectiveness against other organisms in the water? I was hoping that maybe the cap could be used by itself, but LARQ indicates part of the effectiveness is due to the reflectivity of their stainless steel bottle.

I like my Steripen Classic 3 much more than a filter, but it’s kind of heavy when spare batteries are added in. Steripen has once again made no advances in their technology this year, and has re-introduced their rechargeable version as a “new” version.

[Jenny A]

Camelbak’s All Clear UV system has been around for several years, though it might not still be in production.  (Thank goodness it’s unisex!)   https://www.amazon.com/Camelbak-Unisex-Clear-Purifier-Bottle/dp/B07C9XFXJP

I started a through-hike of the CT with one of these, and ultimately ditched it because it was just too heavy.  Doubt I will ever use it again but it was a good idea at the time.

[Rex Sanders]

Steripen didn’t have a monopoly on using UV to sterilize water. What’s new with Larq is the use of LEDs instead of glass tubes to generate ultraviolet rays. LEDs should be much more rugged, longer-lived, and less power-hungry than glass tubes.

https://www.livelarq.com

Larq’s heavy stainless-steel bottle obviously doesn’t target lightweight backpackers.

Most of their marketing seems aimed at people who worry about stuff growing in their daily water bottles – a MUCH larger market, so I can’t blame them.

However, I am concerned that they don’t mention passing EPA water purifier standards. You’d think that could be a major marketing point.

— Rex

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