Gear Review: Steripen Adventurer Opti

> ... the screw got mislaid ...

> ... the screw ... does not work to open or close it ...

> ... it broke while I was attempting to register the item ...

I think the correct semmantic form of those statements should be:

... I mislaid the screw ...

... I could not operate the screw to open or close it ...

... I broke the item while attempting to register it ...

Have you ever considered that something as dangerous as backpacking may just not be a suitable pastime for you ;)

I had a Steripen and returned it to REI after two trips. It only worked sometimes. Altitude, cold, and bright sunlight threw the sensors off and the unit would shut off during treatment.

Used this device for the first time while hiking the AT from Vermont to NH. It worked OK most of the time, only had a couple of false startes. However, it only lasted for 50 liters as covered in the instructions. No where does it say it will do 100 liters except in BACKPACKER. This should be corrected in your review of the item.

regards to steve; little droplets should not introduce enough proto or bacteria that your body could not zap on its own. ever swim in a lake? "droplets" all over your lips, in your mouth and up a your snaaz eventually getting to your tum tum and you survived, miracle! tip: if you use a steri pen and are worried about sediment place a bandanna over mouth of container then dip into water.

Personally, I think Adam is whining.

I just used the Steripen during a thru-hike of RMNP via the Continental Divide Trail, and had no problems whatsoever. It is to one's advantage to somehow purify the bottle's rim, though. Espeekay's idea makes sense. I chose to use two containers: a bottle for gathering/filtering the water, and a mug for drinking the purified water.

this item is JUNK. How much did Steripen pay your magazine for it's editor's choice award ? As a result of your BUNK recommendation , I bought this poorly made CHINESE junk. I tried to register the product with Hydrophoton Inc. the website called for a serial # which was "supposed to be" located in the battery compartment. It wasn't. Upon attempting to re-assemble the item, the tightening screw got mislaid somehow. the screw opener/closer does not work to open it or close it completely. In other words it broke while I was attempting to register the item. TOTAL JUNK. If you want to waste $ and time then go right ahead. I personally live 30+ miles from the R.E.I.where I purchased it, which makes the return process a true hassle. There's also the time that was wasted dealing with this. Totally junk. I will not heed any more of your editor's choice award items again. I've lost faith in your company as an advocate in Backpacking, since it seems obvious that you're more interested in the advert$ and not so concerned for the customer or the end user. 0 stars out of 5. total junk

I always pour out a little water to clean the lip of the container. If you tip it a bit while bringing the container top barely in contact, it will wash the threads with the sterilized water. I found the steripen very handy hiking the JMT. Never carried that much water. At every creek I would I would fill my water bottle with a liter or so, run the steripen and drink. Took under 2 minutes each time, much faster than pulling out a filter. I did have one time that there were tiny brine shrimp in the water, zapped it and they were still swimming. Put a piece of nylon stocking over the mouth of the container to filter out the extra protein snacks.

If you dip a container into a stream to fill it and then zap it, doesn't that leave droplets of water above the waterline untreated??

Correct UV light is microorganism birth control.

Technically, the UV light does not KILL the microorganisms, it disrupts their DNA which prevents them from reproducing once introduced to your system which is enough to make it harmless to the body.