SteriPEN Journey Water Purifier

Comments about SteriPEN Journey Water Purifier:

I was very happy to be able to buy this product. Costly, yes.... but I don't like the waste and expense of plastic bottled water when I travel, and bottled water is impractical in backpacking situations. So I bought the SteriPen journey before going to Peru for 3 weeks in May 2008. Right away I noticed the battery case did not close well -- it has a cheap rubber gasket that comes loose easily and the batteries actually don't fit well. But it did seem to work.... until I got to Peru. Ater a few uses the product just stopped working and there was nothing I could do about it. Endless fiddling with batteries, case, etc. availed me nothing. Fortunately my guide boiled water daily but SteriPen would have been handy nonetheless.

Recommendation to Hydro-Photon: Redesign the battery compartment, then take a trip to China and hire some proper quality control staff.

Comments about SteriPEN Journey Water Purifier:

The batteries that came with it went dead after a few uses (during a hike). The on-off switch was totally unreliable. At times it worked with one touch, at other times I had to push it and hold it to get the unit to come on, other times it would not turn on no matter what I did (even with new batteries).

Comments about SteriPEN Journey Water Purifier:

I recently thru-hiked the Colorado Trail, a 500 mile route through the Rockies from Denver to Durango. The vast majority of the trail is above 10,000 feet, with frequent climbs to 13,000 and over. My average camp elevation was about 10,500 feet, highest was 12,500, and lowest was 6,000. Temps ranged from 80F near Denver & Durango, down to below freezing, probably 25-30F, at some spots. Average temperature was probably 40-45 at night and 60-65 during the day. This trip took me a solid 34 days of hiking to finish. It was a great test of all my equipment, and I thought I would share this knowledge here for the benefit of those considering the same equipment.

The Steri-pen Journey is a great idea, but it's not quite ready for the demands of the field. There are too many inconsistencies with it's operation and is not rugged enough for practical backcountry use.

Don't get my wrong, I loved it all 500 miles of the trip. It purified water really fast, and ultimately got quite a bit of use per change of batteries. This is the next best thing to drinking water straight from the source. The water is still ice cold and delicious after the 90 seconds it takes to sterilize a full liter.

There are a couple major drawbacks though. First, the box advertises 50 liters per set of non-rechargeable lithium batteries. Even taking out the batteries after every use and keeping them from getting too cold at night, I managed to get at most 35 liters per set. This is still a lot of water, but the discrepancy from the advertised amount is too large to ignore. Another annoyance was that the included batteries were dead.

Second, the construction is rather cheap. Specifically, the battery compartment. The little rubber o-ring that fits along the rim (presumably to keep water out) is tiny, falls out almost every time I open the battery case, and eventually just snapped in half after a couple weeks. There is very little protection from water damage, and if this pen takes a dive, it will probably have a lot of water inside that battery compartment. This means if you drop this water purifier into the water you want to purify, you better grab it fast or you're out of luck. This seems silly for a device that is designed to be in and around water. Finally, the screw that holds the battery case onto the unit is incredibly tedious to open and close, which if you don't want to drain your batteries, you will need to do before and after every time you use it.

Third and lastly, the operation of the Steri-pen was inconsistent. Occasionally the pen would refuse to operate, even though the batteries were completely full. Sometimes i had to tilt the pen and a certain angle as I dipped it into the water to get it to work. And the most frustrating: After purifying a bottle of water, if I waited more than a minute before dipping it into the next bottle, it wouldn't turn on until I unscrewed the battery case and then screwed it back on. These issues made no logical sense to me.

So until this company builds a more consistent, durable product, I would have a hard time depending on it for such a critical task of providing clean drinking water. I can't imagine it would take more than a few tweeks to nail it.

Comments about SteriPEN Journey Water Purifier:

If you are taking this product into the backcountry you should carry salt with you. I took this pen to Canada where the water came primaryly from glaciers and snow melt. If there is not enough salt in the water ( electrolytes ) the pen will not turn on or will turn off prematurely. A pinch of salt solved this problem, after that it worked consistantly. I would be reluctant to reccomend this product though once I got it to work I liked it for its ease of use and light weight.

Comments about SteriPEN Journey Water Purifier:

In September, 2008 we had nine people who hiked Mt. Kilimanjaro. We bought the Steri Pen at difference stores (not only REI stores). We tested the units at home and on numerous hiking trips (average temp 38-88 degree F.). The testing showed the unit performed 40-80% of the time). One the first day of our Mt. Kili trip only two units functioned at all (temp was 40 F at night). The second night, all unit malfunctioned. None of us could get the unit to work even when we hiked down from the summit.

Comments about SteriPEN Journey Water Purifier:

I had previously stayed at a 5star hotel where the tap water was unfit for human consumption. Discovery of the Steripen was encouraging the early reviews were not. Discussions with the manufacturer revealed that exceptionally pure water did not provide sufficient electrical conductivity for the steripen to operate. This problem no longer exists because the product has been redesigned. I have used the steripen for sometime now and it has worked without fail but one must follow the instructions. Switch it on before you put it in the water it will not work,if the contacts are not dry when switched on. In extreme cold the batteries become unreliable if they are not kept warm as is the case with all bstteries. My only gripe is the difficulty of securing the battery cover which is designed to provide a waterproof fit and to this you have to concentrate fitting the cover correctly. Everything else worked fine

Service and delivery comments:

Delivery was excellent a day ahead of schedule and well packed

Comments about SteriPEN Journey Water Purifier:

I took the SteriPen Journey on a 12 day trek in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California. The SteriPen worked great up until about 8000 ft. Once I was above 8000 ft. I began to have troubles with the SteriPen. I changed the batteries and that did not fix the problem. I was able to get it working after maybe 20 attempts at each water purify. It would never complete an entire cycle above 8000 ft. Once I returned home, at an elevation of 4,500 ft, the SteriPen started working again with the original batteries from the trip. I e-mailed SteriPen in July 2008 and have yet to hear back from them. This pen may not work at higher elevations. It does, however, work flawlessly at lower elevations. It is perfect if you plan to stay at lower elevations.

Comments about SteriPEN Journey Water Purifier:

I hiked the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine and only used the Steripen as my water filtration. I never got ill from tainted water.

On cold days I would keep the spare batteries in my pocket where it was warm and change them out if the unit didn't work. But that was rare. I met a few people on the trail with Steripens that had problems. One was a faulty unit, the rest were do to user error.

If you buy this product I recommend reading all of the instructions and not just look at the pictures.

One down side. If the water has any particles in it you'll need the Pre-Filter, or just use a handkerchief like I did.

Comments about SteriPEN Journey Water Purifier:

I regularly travel around the world to developing countries. I've used the SteriPEN twice now in India and never had a problem - regularly drinking tap water after using it. Of course the water still tastes bad but it's nothing that a little Emergen-C can't fix.

I like the fact that the SteriPEN Journey is small enough to tuck away in my day bag and that it has a digital timer on it. Though not totally necessary, it's kinda cool. It's super lightweight and fits comfortably in my hand.

I've never had a problem with batteries dying or the cap falling off. I do keep it in the little carrying case so that, I'm sure, is helpful.

The only "negative" I can think of is that it's not as small as the Traveler but I can live with it in the slightly larger size.

Comments about SteriPEN Journey Water Purifier:

I like the concept behind this product, so I bought one and took it kayaking to the Queen Charlotte Islands, it quite after 4 liters. Returned it for another one and took it to Africa, it quite after 2 uses.

This product left me high and dry twice! Stay with your hand pump and don't wast your time buying one of these unreliable products.