Who’s tried a Steripen?

[DereckO]

Classic or Ultra is what has worked great for me. Last year on a sheep hunt we relied on it when all we could find is an old cattle tank. Didn't help the flavor but it did kill the nasty micros. I've never gotten sick using a steripen.

 

[mb6355]

They are OK, but there are many ways they can go bad and you wouldnt know until it was too late.

I prefer a Sawyer Mini, or even a sawyer squeeze. No batteries to worry about, can be used in line with hydration packs, good for 100,000 and 1 million gallons, respectively, can be used as a gravity feed filter at a camp for high volume stuff, and they weigh 1.5-3oz.

Ive used and tested nearly every backpacking filter out there (been backpacking for 20+ years), and the Sawyer stuff always comes out on top.

The sawyer bags are great, too. Makes it quick, easy, and they weigh next to nothing.

Will the Sawyer filters work if they freeze and are thawed out? I sometimes hunt the later part of rifle season and temps are well below freezing most nights, almost all of our water freezes. Usually keep one water bottle in the sleeping bag so I have something to drink in the morning.

 

[Litehiker]

BTW, giving a Steripen Adventure to my 14 year old grandson for Christmas.

Eric B.

 

[Yotekiller]

If filters freeze they no longer work. If there is a possibility of freezing I use a steripen classic and a gsi microlite 1000 vacuum insulated water bottle.

 

[Mram10us]

I'm having a hard time seeing how a steripen could freeze but maybe the batteries could die due to the cold.

 

[Tulsa Reiner]

Just found out about these. Look pretty cool, the Meateater guys use them. Purifies by infrared light I believe. Doesn't filter, just makes it safe to drink. Anyone used one?

I have a good friend who has used them on multiple sheep hunts. He swears by them.
Warnings: you need a water bottle with wide enough neck for the pen to fit into. And it doesn't work in cloudy water, which should not be a problem in mountain stream water.
I bought one to take on my first sheep hunt in the Yukon.

 

[Tulsa Reiner]

I've used them . they seem to work ok . 5 of us were back in Idaho . we were always able to find running water . we just got our water upstream from the mules . nobody got sick .

Jimbires, and everyone else: finding water "upstream from the mules" is not reassuring. What you need to worry about is Giardia from beaver upstream, and any mountain stream may be flowing from a beaver pond. One experience with Giardiasis (the intestinal illness caused by Giardia),if you survive it, and you will be very paranoid about drinking even the clearest mountain water.

 

[alcesgigas]

Jimbires, and everyone else: finding water "upstream from the mules" is not reassuring. What you need to worry about is Giardia from beaver upstream, and any mountain stream may be flowing from a beaver pond. One experience with Giardiasis (the intestinal illness caused by Giardia),if you survive it, and you will be very paranoid about drinking even the clearest mountain water.

And maybe worse. My wife and I picked up Giardiasis a couple weeks before the wedding; we were both sick through the ceremony and for two weeks after. The wife suffered more and for the following two years she got--what we came to call the Ghost of Giardia--the last two weeks of September. However, it wasn't Giardia; it was psychosomatic.

So, when the Steripen became available I got one. I think that was in the early years of this century. If I can't carry water I can carry the Steripen and I do. I prefer using a transparent container that allows my hand inside--and therefore the entire cased Steripen--to physically scrub its interior. It also makes it easy to tie the fabric filter I have to use to get out as much silt as possible to allow the UV to permeate effectively. We haven't had a recurrence nor do we ever... Who would?

 

[jimbires]

Jimbires, and everyone else: finding water "upstream from the mules" is not reassuring. What you need to worry about is Giardia from beaver upstream, and any mountain stream may be flowing from a beaver pond. One experience with Giardiasis (the intestinal illness caused by Giardia),if you survive it, and you will be very paranoid about drinking even the clearest mountain water.

I guess I wasn't clear . we got our water upstream from the mules , AND used a steripen .

 

[Tulsa Reiner]

I guess I wasn't clear . we got our water upstream from the mules , AND used a steripen .

Very good. Anyway, your miscommunication prompted some educational discussion that might help some hunters.

 

[Litehiker]

I had to camp near a beaver dam in Nevada's Ruby Mountains and take water from that stream so I used both a Steripen and Katadyn chlorine dioxide tablets. Never got sick.

Eric B.

 

[alcesgigas]

Guess I'm forgetting more often these days. One of the most significant carriers of the Giardiasis bacilli are birds. That was the delivery boy for us. We used our cabins roof to collect water which then went through a carbon filter (to rid the coffee of the wood smoke taste) and then into a 35 gallon container and from there to the water system I built. Birds get everywhere, go every where, and make deposits everywhere. Giardia sis is out there and I suspect that there's far more carriers--and information--than we'll ever know.

Afterthought: Peculiar about the disliked flavoring because my favorite scotch is single malt Islay... Particularly due its smoky taste!