Steri-Pen With Solar Charger (Pro or Joe)

When it comes to purifying your drinking water everyone wants to make sure that they have the job done right. There are many bacteria and viruses that live in the environment. Even if they are not dangerous to us we don’t know how our bodies will react. Also if you are somewhere in the world that you have not been your immune system has not been exposed to foreign strains of bacteria and viruses in there water. There is many water born disease that can turn you’re backpacking trip into a nightmare. There are many types of purifier’s on the market; plus multiple brands of particle filters. With this said there are several ways you can go by killing all the organic living materials with in the water and one way is called the Steri-Pen.  It uses UV rays to kill all of the living microscopic creatures in your water. The one that I have tested has a solar panel charging case that could be relied on in the back country without the constant changing of batteries.

DURABILITY :( B) This product is the Adventurer Opti. It uses UV rays produced in the pen to kill any life with in the water. With the direct focus of the UV light the fungi, bacteria, and viruses stand no chance. This product is nice to have if you can spend the money on it and is very convenient to pack on long trips. It eliminates the extra batteries that might need to be taken and stands up very well to the harsh river environments. It also worked well in the mountains and I didn’t notice any change in the performance due to altitude. I was also very impressed with the little amount of time it takes to cleanse the water. It performs much, much faster that purifying tablets usually sterilizing in a couple of minutes. It was very dependable when it was time to cook, get a drink, or just purifying some water for cleaning cuts and scrapes For this it receives a Tough Gear Durability grade of a (B).

AFFORDABILITY :( C) With many of these products on the market the companies are competing for your business. This is the benefit of a supply and demand market and you can often find good deals from different brands. But remember to do your research on the product before you commit to buy. This product is one of much better quality and will last you a long time. It is worth investing in if your trips into the backcountry are long where every ounce of weight counts. Also it will save you fuel from boiling water every time you cook. Very good but again it is on the upper side of the price range at $140.00. Therefore it receives a Tough Gear Affordability Grade of (C).

PACK ABILITY :( A)  With its ability to clip on the outside of the backpack and charge while you hike it takes up virtually no space. It is well worth its weight in Gold! Therefore it receives a Tough Gear Pack ability grade of an (A).

DEPENDABILITY: (B) The steri-pen is dependable everywhere that the water is clean and clear. But if you are hiking anywhere that is downstream of a city, farm or almost any modern day infrastructure then you will most likely want to filter your water to get out the inorganic material such as fertilizers, oil run off and other contaminants. Also with-out filtering out the dirt particles and inorganic material the steri-pen will not be as effective. This is because instead of being spread throughout the UV light particles reflect off the inorganic particles and do not make it all the way through the amount of water and thus not killing all of the living organic material.

In conclusion the Steri-Pen is extremely efficient in killing viruses and bacteria. You can almost always count on it to get the job done in a pristine back country environment. But because of the steri-pens inability to perform with cloudy water and not being able to clean the inorganic material it receives an overall Tough Gear Grade of a (B-).

Here is a link to the product
http://www.rei.com/product/807755