steripen fail

[10-K]

You're not allowed to confess to drinking untreated water.

You are way too sensible, trustworthy, consistent, and reliable an individual to so blatantly lead unsuspecting novices into wildly irresponsible disregard for basic and proven backcountry water treatment protocols.

Shame on you.

I figured quoting someone with as sterling a reputation as Bearpaw would absolve me of any sins I might be committing.

[Bearpaw]

This is me too. I've been carrying the same 10-12 Micro Pur tablets for about 2 years now.

I did drink water out of a beaver pond in Maine by accident (I was downstream from it) and thought I was figured I was probably going to die but I didn't even get sick.

You're not allowed to confess to drinking untreated water.

You are way too sensible, trustworthy, consistent, and reliable an individual to so blatantly lead unsuspecting novices into wildly irresponsible disregard for basic and proven backcountry water treatment protocols.

Shame on you.

I figured quoting someone with as sterling a reputation as Bearpaw would absolve me of any sins I might be committing.

Nice try, but those who know me know I'm pretty doggone hiker trashy.

Of course Skids is being tongue in cheek, but you'll notice he wasn't at all shocked that I could be so irresponsible as to cut into the water treatment industry's profit margin. He knows me!

[weary]

Boiling won't touch Cryptosporidium .It must be filtered out unless the chemicals will kill it.....

In the statement, EPA and CDC note: “Although data are not sufficient for [us] to recommend that all severely immunocompromised persons take extra precautions with regard to their drinking water, individuals who wish to take extra measures to avoid waterborne cryptosporidiosis can bring their drinking water to a rolling boil for one minute. Boiling water is the most effective approach for killing Cryptosporidium

[weary]

Cryptosporidium can be deadly for folks with impaired immune systems, but it tends to have either no impact, or less than serious impact, on people in good health.
Here's what the Mayo Clinic says:

"There's no commonly advised specific treatment for cryptosporidiosis, and recovery usually depends on the health of your immune system. Most healthy people recover within two weeks without medical attention.

"If you have a compromised immune system, the illness can last and lead to significant malnutrition and wasting. The goal of treatment is to alleviate symptoms and improve your immune response. Cryptosporidium treatment options include:

"Anti-parasitic drugs. Medications such as nitazoxanide (Alinia) can help alleviate diarrhea by attacking the metabolic processes of the cryptosporidium organisms. Azithromycin (Zithromax) may be given along with one of these medications in people with compromised immune systems. Anti-motility agents. These medications slow down the movements of your intestines and increase fluid absorption to relieve diarrhea and restore normal stools. Anti-motility drugs include loperamide and its derivatives (Imodium A-D, others). Talk with your doctor before taking any of these medications. Fluid replacement. You'll need oral or intravenous replacement of fluids and electrolytes — minerals such as sodium, potassium and calcium that maintain the balance of fluids in your body — lost to persistent diarrhea. These precautions will help keep your body hydrated and functioning properly. Anti-retroviral therapies. If you have HIV/AIDS, highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) can reduce the viral load in your body and boost your immune response. Restoring your immune system to a certain level may completely resolve symptoms of cryptosporidiosis."

[Trailbender]

Boiling won't touch Cryptosporidium .It must be filtered out unless the chemicals will kill it..BUT... "chemicals?" We get enough of that in our bodies already without adding it to our water

Boiling is effective on everything. Obviously it won't get out heavy metals or chemical contaminants, but organisms will die.

[Bucho]

Given that all the problems with the Steripen are with the sensors and
control circuitry, I've considered taking the thing apart and stripping it
down to UV bulb, switches and battery. Has anyone tried doing this?

I was certainly banging my head against the wall that a absolutely useless component was causing my steripen not to work. I'd love to see a tutorial on how to bypass the water sensor.

[beakerman]

Boiling won't touch Cryptosporidium .It must be filtered out unless the chemicals will kill it..BUT... "chemicals?" We get enough of that in our bodies already without adding it to our water

There are about 3 things that don't survive boiling...crypto isn't one of them and those three things are foind in hot spring systems so unless you are in Yellowstone boiling is virtually fail safe. It sucks because of the time and fuel though.

[Trailbender]

There are about 3 things that don't survive boiling...crypto isn't one of them and those three things are foind in hot spring systems so unless you are in Yellowstone boiling is virtually fail safe. It sucks because of the time and fuel though.

The extremophile bacteria? They also live in thermal vents at the bottom of the ocean. If you gotta boil water though, build a fire.

[Bearpaw]

There are about 3 things that don't survive boiling...crypto isn't one of them and those three things are foind in hot spring systems so unless you are in Yellowstone boiling is virtually fail safe. It sucks because of the time and fuel though.

The extremophile bacteria? They also live in thermal vents at the bottom of the ocean. If you gotta boil water though, build a fire.

Yeah, they used to be classified within the bacteria (Monera) Kindgom because they are single-celled prokaryotes. About 5 years ago, they were reclassifed to form their own kingdom of life, the Archaea Kingdom. There are also some that live in acidic conditions and some that live in areas where swamp gas precludes other living creatures.

[Trailbender]

I personally use bleach. I did it my whole thru with no issues. I did not treat only if I saw the water coming directly out of the rock. All the people that I saw with steripens only reinforced my view that they are finicky garbage. You don't want complicated gear when you are in the woods.

[WILLIAM HAYES]

I have used a steripen for thre years no problems with it but I have always made sure that the sensor was dry when I capped it I also carry back up micro pur just in case

[Spokes]

Cryptosporidium can be deadly for folks with impaired immune systems, .......

I just not sure anyone with an impaired immune system being able to complete a thru hike. Of course the ATC's probably got a special patch for that.

[Bucho]

My girlfriend called Hydro-photon back when we couldn't find a filter that we wanted in Erwin. They sent us a replacement and it was defective immediantly out of the box. This one randomly turns off while treating water. At first it wasn't too bad, it would take 2 or 3 tries to get a liter but I figured that was about the best I could hope for out of a steripen. But it's gotten to the point that if it only takes 6 tries I'm lucky. So I've picked up a sawyer 3-way filter and I'm really happy with it so far. Good riddens steripen.

[samgriffin4]

Try bleach. It's A) really cheap and B) theoretically effective.

[turtle fast]

I disagree with bleach as their are too many variables for the quality/purity of the stuff and its ineffectiveness on many waterborne cooties, Aqua Mira is a better solution if you are going that chemical route. I have got used to carrying a First Need Purifier and Aqua Mira or chlorine dioxide tablets and either filtered or used the chlorine dioxide dependent on water sources.

[Moose2001]

Try bleach. It's A) really cheap and B) theoretically effective.

Bleach is not effective in killing either Cryptosporidium or Giardia. Here's a good link to what the CDC says about back country water treatment. http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drin...treatment.html

Here's the short version if you don't want to follow the link

■Disinfection with iodine or chlorine is not effective in killing Cryptosporidium;
■Disinfection with iodine or chlorine has a low to moderate effectiveness in killing Giardia;
■Disinfection with iodine or chlorine has a high effectiveness in killing bacteria

[House of Payne]

I can see it now. I start out my thru in 14' with the steripen as my primary and in 30 days or less I end up mailing it home.

[q-tip]

I used the Opti for 600 miles after replacement of the Adventurer. Working pretty well still.

[Bucho]

Figured I should probably update to say that we finished the AT last October and the sawyer 3 way is still going strong.