Steripen Quantum UV Water Treatment System — Roger Caffin

[Roger Caffin]

Just some thoughts:
The first Steripen was the Adventurer.
The first batch of Adventurers had a problem with off-state current drain – it was much higher than planned. This was fixed.
The company also flirted with rechargeables, but gave up on them after a while.
Steripen do warn against using cheap Chinese batteries – and rightly so. Many complaints come from using such cheap batteries.
The Steripen has been massively abused in the field and in the lab – without failures. They claim they even tested them using a spud gun!
I have not heard of any significant number of failures for the latest couple of generations – like the Opti and the Classic 3.

Add to this: If you really do use up the life of the lamp in a Steripen, I believe the company may replace it for you. And, while I know of a number of people who returned their Steripen Adventurers in the early days, I believe the company replaced every one of them free. (To the best of my limited knowledge.)

So – I am not sure I would rate the probability of Steripen failure very highly. But many have reported field failures of filters.

My 2c. Ymmv.
Cheers

[Martin Farrent]

In addition to that thought, Roger:

Steripens cover exactly the same ground as tabs – just much, much faster. So the weight of your backup system would be negligible.

Filters cover slightly different needs.

[Roger Caffin]

I agree – it tends to be a personal choice.

I had a Katadyn ceramic filter fail on us once – the viral loading in the water was high. We were both out to it for 24 hours. And other filters have died on us far too fast over the years.
We drink rainwater at home, and prefer to skip the chemicals and their very long waits. And chemicals rarely stop protozoa.
Hence my preferences.

To be honest, these days we tend to be very careful about our water sources, and skip any treatment.

Cheers

[Martin Farrent]

Yeah, more or less the same here. A filter and tabs or a filter and the Steripen Pure+ are my ‘official’ policy. Both combos will catch anything.

But where I go, here in Europe, I’m either far too close to civilisation to trust the source (pollution) or on a summer trip down south, where natural water sources high up are scarce anyway (in summer) – and valleys tend to be populated. More often than not, I’ll therefore be relying on tap water anyway. In the Cevennes in August, I didn’t use my filter once. The only water I saw in total wilderness higher up was in my own water bottles. Of course, there was plenty down in the gorges… but there were also plenty of camping sites, villages and canoe hire stations. Roughly the same goes for many parts of the southern Alps… though the Pyrenees are a bit different with their far sparser population.

Big caveat here: I’m generally on a mountain bike – so my ‘close by’ would differ from a hiker’s concept of proximity.

[Roger Caffin]

Hi Martin

Europe – yeah. GR10, GR11, GR5, GR7, Via Alpina (x2), Alpine Passes, etc … We gave up carrying anything other than water bottles. We filled up at villages, Refuges and labeled springs.

Last few trips there, we might have seen one font labeled non-potable or equivalent. I asked, and apparently there has been a huge effort put in to make all sources drinkable. Civilised place.

Cheers

[James Marco]

Yeah, I never broke a Steripen despite dropping it many times, a few times on rocks.
Once figuring out the battery drain, I never had a failure in the field.

Far Heavier??? No. At 3.75oz for about 4-6 weeks of water, I do NOT consider it heavy, no heavier than filters. Even the Saywer Mini is only slightly lighter and only because they measure dry weight. Once saturated, it is around 3-4 ounces…the weight is nearly the same. And, you always have an empty bottle… and, they are known to leak a bit… and, they need to be covered at the end. And you have to work at it to get a decent flow rate. None are impossible chores, just annoying after using the Steripen.

In all cases, a prefilter is always recommended. Steripen or filters. A plugged or greatly impeded flow rate on a filter is bad. Frankly, a little cloudy water (I have made ice coffee and forgotten to zap it first, for example) is no real problem…just zap it twice.

But, as I say, most hikes are in the ADK’s. Most water is good, just by visual inspection. There are no farms, or very few. And, water is more of a problem than an asset… Wet feet can be more debilitating than a 24hour case of the craps.

I have been out with three people and have watched both my partners filters fail at different times (1 Saywer that was totally plugged, and another type that had an exceptionally fast flow rate after two days.) The Adventurer took up the slack fine for 3 more days…though water holes became a 10-15minute affair, not a one or two minute deal.

Anyway, it doesn’t really matter. As Roger says, I have experienced and heard about many filter failures. Never really had one with the Steripen. (Dead batteries does not really count, “piss poor planning…”) Filters almost always mean carrying extra water. Chemicals ALWAYS means carrying extra water. Boiling works on everything, but uses fuel.

[Martin Farrent]

@jamesmarco

I meant far heavier than tabs. For me, the filter is coming along anyway. So it’s a choice between the Steripen and tabs for additional virus protection.

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