Water Purification

[smokecheckem]

Been using steripen for years and never had a problem.

 

[bigngreen]

Wow, how have I not heard of the Steripen, I'll be packing one by spring bear!

 

[Wedgy]

We go thru a couple gallons a day, how do you wave a steripen in a bucket and get it close enough to all parts of the water to have the correct contact/exposure time to kill ? Possibly in a small container but no so much on a larger scale like gallon bladders and such.

 

[Len Backus]

We go thru a couple gallons a day, how do you wave a steripen in a bucket and get it close enough to all parts of the water to have the correct contact/exposure time to kill ? Possibly in a small container but no so much on a larger scale like gallon bladders and such.

With my Steripen, I treat water in a one liter drinking bottle and transfer to any larger container that is too big for the issue you mention.

 

[Elkeater]

Personally I use a Sawyer squeeze water filter.its the size of a roll of quarters and weighs almost nothing.

 

[cholt64]

have you thought about a steripen ? we used them for about 20 days last fall on a pack in hunt . seemed to work , nobody got sick .

I have a steripen and I've used it once. My wife is a PA and read about them on the CDC website which advises against them and she won't let me use them anymore. We recently bought an MSR Guardian which is the most robust water filter available from what I've seen. it's expensive, but it was a pretty important piece of kit on our last backpacking trip in Big Bend National Park. The only water we found was a disgusting scum filled puddle in a otherwise dry creek bed. If we weren't able to get water from that, it would have meant an eight mile hike out of the mountains and back every day.

 

[Beardeddeer91]

Another one for the Steripen. I have used the Sawyer mini filter but I like to carry a 1 liter Nalgene bottle and found the Steripen and the prefilter a great combo.

 

[carl1775]

I have a Katadyn hiker unit that I used first and then switched to MSR guardian. I like both and both have served well. I would like to offer the advice to add a "LifeStraw" to your pack, for back up. I know, weight and space, but considering the "rule of three," I always like to triple up on water purification, fire starting and blades. Super paranoid, I know, but better safe than sorry.

 

[scott63]

I've used the Pur Hiker for about 15 years, the Katadyn Hiker is identical. I had a friend that had the MSR with the side handle which somehow got broken in his pack, and it was useless. At least the style that pumps straight up and down can still be used if the palm press portion were to break.

The hiker will filter a lot of water quickly, I use 32oz gatorade bottles for water storage and you can fill one up very quickly.

A lot of quality items can be found on ebay that have very little use, many people get geared up and take a trip or two then sell off their gear at a fraction of the price.