Steripen in yucky water?

[Revolutionist_Rob]

I just had a very kind friend buy me a Steripen (normal one not the adventurer). It seems like a great tool, and I've read *mostly* good things about it. But I have some concerns... Specifically I backpack and canoe mostly in the Adirondacks. Many of the lakes and ponds I am in have that lovely brown tint to them from all the tannens in the water. I was curious if anyone knew how well a steripen worked in such water that isnt crystal clear. Also I was curious if the battery life advertised is fairly accurate or not, It claims 4 rechargeblae aa nimh's will go for about 50 nalgenes (32oz). That sound about fair for people who've used a steripen? Any other comments on them would be appreciated as well....

[Chache]

I just had a very kind friend buy me a Steripen (normal one not the adventurer). It seems like a great tool, and I've read *mostly* good things about it. But I have some concerns... Specifically I backpack and canoe mostly in the Adirondacks. Many of the lakes and ponds I am in have that lovely brown tint to them from all the tannens in the water. I was curious if anyone knew how well a steripen worked in such water that isnt crystal clear. Also I was curious if the battery life advertised is fairly accurate or not, It claims 4 rechargeblae aa nimh's will go for about 50 nalgenes (32oz). That sound about fair for people who've used a steripen? Any other comments on them would be appreciated as well....

It won't work well at all.

[iamscottym]

Expect 1/2 at best of the advertised battery life, and more like 1/4 if it's cold or if you've been carrying the nimh's charged for a week (they lose their charge quickly). Lithiums fair much better, but be ready to fork over some cash for them. They're around $3 each (AA), and they're not rechargeable.

[Revolutionist_Rob]

Im planning on nimh's for 5 or 6 day trips, 4 nimhs should last for 2L a day, 10L a week or so shouldnt it? thats 20 uses on its chart and it says they should last more then double that... Are you speaking from a hearsay point or from a personal experiance point?

[iamscottym]

I have one. Because of the length of your trip, you'll lose a lot of charge due to self discharge. Are you're sure your water useage is accurate? If so, you'll be okay with 1 set of nimh AA's (2500mAh+ cells). I get 2 days use out of a set of batteries, probably around 10-12L (two people). If I were you, I'd just use lithiums. The cost isn't that bad, unless you're out there for weeks at a time.

I really like the steripen, I just wish it got better battery life, and was a little lighter. For short solo trips (< week), use lithiums and am quite happy with it. However, as I move to lighter and lighter gear, I keep shaking my head at my steripen. One of these days I'm going to take the bulb and circuitry out and mount it into a nalgene cap to use on the widemouth nalgene bags. I'll also switch to new batteries- either rechargeable li-ion (which don't self discharge like nimh's, and better than regular lithiums), or lipo (1/2 the weight of lithium ion).

[Chache]

Ultra-Violet (UV) aka Steri-Pen. A light emitted at 254 nanometers through a quartz sleeve for a specific amount of time. The light disrupts the DNA sequence of the organism so it cannot reproduce and thus dies off.
a. Pros: Forms no harmful byproducts, water quality from a taste and sight perspective remains unchanged, fast rate (in about a minute).
b. Cons: Certain compounds in the water can absorb the light, making it less effective; dependent on batteries and the unit not breaking down, turbid water can prevent organism destruction by hiding in the shade of the particles, costly ($150), limited life span on the bulb, not sure if it can be replaced (but the bulb life span on other UV systems is very high), does not inactivate certain virus strains.
c. Giardia and Crypto: Effective against Giardia and Crypto.