Steripen discontinuing the Freedom?

I thought the Freedom had been discontinued some time in 2014 (?).  IIFC there had been some issues with reliability or battery on that model.

FWIW, I had bought the original Classic when it came out, then the Adventurer Opti, which I replaced with the Ultra last year (used for the whole CT with no problems).

For new purcahses I would recommend either Opti or Classic3

cheers

@ Valerie. I see the Freedom available on the REI web site and at Backcountry.com although the Steripen web site lists the Freedom as discontinued.

That’s too bad, because the Steripen Freedom really fit my travel  needs!  I’ve arranged it such that all my electric gear (flashlight, camera, tablet, headphone, water treatment, etc.) are charged via USB — thus simplifying and lightening the need for different chargers/cords/batteries, etc.

But maybe I know the cause for discontinuation??    I purchased my first Steripen Freedom just last year.  My first trip to Sudan, Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia (3 months usage), it worked fine.  But my second trip to the Balkans later that year (also 3 months) — it was acting up after a month or so.  It wouldn’t hold much of a charge anymore!  I could get it to work after repeated charging, but it rarely worked on the first go anymore.

Suspecting perhaps I left the Steripen charged for too long (overnight, sometimes) — I kind of just assumed it was my fault.  I recently purchased a second one (because I liked it so much).  Haven’t used this one yet… but I will be leaving for southern Africa in about a month.

The Steripen Freedom might be replaced in June 2016 by the Steripen Realtree, according to Will Reitveld’s report from OR Winter 2016:

http://ultralightinsights.blogspot.com/2016/01/outdoor-retailer-winter-market-2016_14.html

“The RealTree will be Steripen’s smallest and lightest water purifier. It’s basically the Freedom without the integrated flashlight feature, making it a smidgeon lighter at 2.6 ounces. …”

A camouflaged Steripen? Maybe they’ll sell a lot more that way.

— Rex

“A camouflaged Steripen? Maybe they’ll sell a lot more that way.”

Indeed Rex. I opt for bright colors so I don’t walk away and leave things.

billy

Old thread, but updating for future info seekers.

I too, was surprised/dismayed to find the Freedom discontinued. I looked up the Realtree as suggested above, but found that it is just a camo version of the Pure+. One can seemingly not access this model directly from the website, but if you google it you can get to the product page. It appears to be the successor to the Freedom.

I wonder if the Pure+ updated its sensitivity. I ran into a problem several times where the Freedom wouldn’t activate; and the Classic 3 wouldn’t activate. I stuck my opti into the water and it activated; so I like my Opti! I wish they had a rechargeable Opti.

“Suspecting perhaps I left the Steripen charged for too long (overnight, sometimes) — I kind of just assumed it was my fault.”

The built in lithium charger doesn’t allow overcharging; can you imagine the bad press if the charger did allow that? Maybe Steripen uses 300-cycle lithium batteries. It sounds like you used it alot.

-Barry