I bought and used my Steripen for hiking and backpacking and have been quite happy with it. I''m a big stickler regarding weight and the Steripen made the most sense looking at other option. But, the battery life is terrible.
I live part of the year in the states and part of the year in New Zealand. I came down to Christchurch just after this last earthquake and brought my Steripen down with me knowing ahead of time that the city was instructing everyone to boil all water. I thought that the Steripen would be just the ticket. And it was until the batteries died. I thought it strange since the batteries were new and I only got 15-20 uses (liters) out of them. I went out and bought another set and yet again, I only got 15 uses! The company states 100 uses on one set of batteries. Uh, no....
In the US,the batteries are $7 so, that equates to around $0.50 per use. Not bad. Well, here in NZ, the CR123 batteries are $12 (USD) each! Since the Journey Steripen takes two, that''s $1.60 per use!! That''s only slightly less than what bottled water goes for. And, as you can imagine, it doesn''t take long to go thru water when it''s needed for drinking and rinsing off the dishes. So, is sat on the shelf as it was more cost effective to boil water or go get well water from a neighbor down the street. Thankfully, the boil order has since been lifted.
So, I''ll continue to use it for hiking since I rarely need to purify more than 15 liters on a trip. But, I did want to write a review to make you aware of the incredibly low battery life and the cost of batteries if you decide to travel with this outside of the US. And, know that the CR123 batteries can''t be tossed in the trash. They need to properly disposed of. So, depending on where you''re traveling, you may have to lug dead batteries around until you return to the US or other developed country.
I bought two of these, and they include the CR123 batteries, but even though there was a plastic strip to keep the batteries disconnected, the batteries were run down on both of them. The display would function, but the light would only turn on for 1 or 2 seconds then indicate the batteries were dead. I measured them with a meter and they were low. I put in fresh batteries and they worked fine.
Except for the dud battery issue, I''m happy with the bottle, filter, and sterilizer. It''s a good package deal. I can''t tell you if the Steripen kills bacteria and viruses or not, you''ll have to trust test reports for that.
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We used the SteriPen on a trip to China where they continually tell you not to drink the tap water. The hotels provide you with some bottled water but it is never enough. So the SteriPen allowed us to have all of the water that we wanted. I would definitely recommend it. Now we have passed it on to our son-in-law who is an active Boy Scout leader.
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I purchased the steripen with the filter and nalgene bottle for backcountry hiking, mainly in Tennessee and Georgia. It has worked perfectly. I don''t know how many times I have used it but am still on the original batteries. It is simple to use and has never failed. I use a big zip platypus 3 liter bladder to collect water and transfer it to the nalgene and then treat the water in the nalgene with the steripen. I have only had one occasion to use the filter. During a recent drought, the only water I could find was in a lake. The water was fairly clear but still had some particles. The filter worked great. I have never had any ill effects from the treated water and I like the fact that the water is ready to drink in 90 seconds. I do carry some tablets as a back up but have never had to use them. You can''t tell from the picture but the carrying case has a velcro strap on the back. I use this to strap the steripen to a loop on my backpack strap so it is easy to get to and won''t get crushed in the back of my pack.
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Took Steripen journey on trip in backcountry after testing at home. Failed on original batteries, then failed with 2nd set. Only cleaned 1 liter. Gave frown face for batteries although batteries were full charge before and checked again when I returned home. Used Katadyn ceramic as backup. Would not rely on this alone, technology can fail. My unit was likely a lemon, but I returned it. No confidence. I am sure it is a time saver if it worked properly.
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I''ve been wanting something for H20 out on the trail. I picked this up because it was on sale and I trusted that Runner''s World wouldn''t push something that was crap. The time that I''ve spent on this is gone and will never come back to me. It seems fine, at first, but the belt is 100% elastic. I''m fairly skinny, so I made the belt as tight as I could, filled up the water bottle and ran about 15 feet before I started laughing. This thing would swing from just about the back of my knees to up well past the small of my back. There is no way I would ever consider taking this thing running! Biking?....maybe so, although I wouldn''t. Running?...not a chance.
