SteriPen Classic Safe Water System

Took my SteriPEN for 8 days in the Smoky Mountains. It worked every time and must have done the job because there were no ill effects. Do use lithium batteries however.

For anyone having problems I found this at http://www.backpackgeartest.org/reviews/Water%20Treatment/Ultraviolet/SteriPen/Owner%20Review%20by%20John%20Heubi/

I was able to determine that the extended outdoor use seemed to create too much humidity within the unit and caused this malfunction. The malfunction occurred with a much greater frequency during periods of extremely high humidity and periods of extended rain. I was able to "fool" the unit when I got a red light by waiting for the indicator light to stop blinking and then placing the unit in the water, just as if I were purifying the water. Then I would pull it out of the water, just as if I had completed the purification, then push the button again. The SteriPEN would then work just fine for any number of uses. I am certain that this would not even be an issue to anyone using the SteriPEN for weekend or week long treks. The problem also goes away after the unit is in a controlled environment (inside) for approximately 1-3 days to get a chance to get completely dried out.

I would love to be able to recommend the steripen because when it works, it works great. What I can''t figure out is why it works perfectly at home, but is very sporadic on the trail. On a recent weeklong backpacking trip in Utah three of us had these along and all experienced the same problem. It would only work correctly about 25% of the time meaning that the light would successfully stay on for the required amount of time. The other 75% of the time we would all get the red failure light. I can assure you this was not operator error. It would often take three or four tries of having the light on in order to get it to work. Other times it would go straight to error and we had to give up.

If you disregard this review and take it into the backcountry I strongly suggest that you bring either chlorine or iodine tablets as a back-up.

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I spent Memorial Day hiking in the San Gorgonio Wilderness with my wife and a friend. It''s always beautiful there but this trip took a turn for the worse when I found that my water filter had cracked. This happened in a dry year when water flow in all the creeks was pretty low. Happily, some friends shared their steripen with us and I was amazed at how quickly we were able to purify water with the UV light. It takes about 45 seconds per quart. They had purchased the full system: steripen, pre-filter, and Nalgene bottle. It weighed considerably less than my filter even with batteries--under a pound. I''m sold and am purchasing my own. You can get the steripen and prefilter (good for removing particulates) separately, which I will since I have many Nalgene bottles, but if you are looking for a good all in one purification system, this is it.

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I brought my SteriPEN into the Himalayas during a month-long trek. It failed, for no reason, on the fourth day of my ever using it and never worked again. I tried new batteries, drying it, I tried it over and over. I found this product to be completely unreliable and quick to fail. I have since spoken with other trekkers in Nepal who had the same experience with it. The product is a good idea but should be taken off the market until a more reliable product can be produced. It is a waste of money.

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you have to press the button first, wait for the green light, then immerse the light tube into the water. Great for traveling to another country where the water condition is unknown.. and yah.. NIMH battery is a must or else you will be running through the alkaline batteries like there is no tomorrow... too bad they didn''t provide it.