
Imported.
Item 811240
ONLINE ONLY!
This item's hot - and it's only available online.
| Specification |
| |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best use |
| |||||||||||
| Filter type | ||||||||||||
| Filter medium | ||||||||||||
| Removes/Destroys | ||||||||||||
| Pump force | ||||||||||||
| Pump strokes per liter | ||||||||||||
| Output | ||||||||||||
| Housing material | ||||||||||||
| Field cleanable | ||||||||||||
| Dimensions | ||||||||||||
| Weight |
Reviewed by 2 customers
Sort by
Displaying reviews 1-2
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about SteriPEN Sidewinder Water Purifier:
This would definitely make my list of the five coolest gadgets I own. I live in California, where earthquake preparedness is a big deal. This gizmo is perfect for making sure that my family has safe drinking water in an emergency. Since it works using a hand crank, it doesn't matter of the power is out, and I don't have to worry about periodically checking and replacing its batteries.
DjPhibes's review seems off base to me. Steripen has other products (the little pen-sized ones that the company gets its name from) that are meant for backpacking use. So, yes, the bulk and weight of this model are utterly inappropriate for backpacking -- that's not its intended application. I didn't find the cranking to be particularly physically onerous, and I'm a pretty small, wimpy guy. It's true that it's loud, but I don't really think that would be my main concern in an emergency situation.
They advertise it for "camping and emergency use," but I don't think I would want to use this for car camping. It would be more convenient to use the battery-operated pen-sized models for that.
For third-world travel, I can only see this being useful if you're going to spend months at a time in an extremely remote area where batteries are hard to get.
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about SteriPEN Sidewinder Water Purifier:
My friend recently purchased the sidewinder with the intent of having a reliable and effective water treatment for our winter backpacking trips where traditional filters would likely freeze and crack and batteries may be unreliable. On the first trip out we were very disappointed with it and relieved that I brought a chemical treatment as a backup. Ignoring the bulk and weight which make it ill-fitted to backpacking and the whine of the gear noises, the unit was simply unusable for the sheer difficulty of cranking it. We eventually decided to split the 90 seconds of cranking time between the two of us as the gearing made it very difficult to keep up the needed cranking pace without wearing out your arm, even for fit and able people. After two days of dealing with the sidewinder I opted to use chemicals instead, despite prior reluctance. If it were re-geared this might be a viable option but as it is I would not recommend relying on this method of water treatment.
Displaying reviews 1-2
How are we doing? Give us feedback on this page.
REI Anniversary Sale May 17–27. Plus, members SAVE 20% on 1 full-price item with coupon code ANNV13. Details