“About half the folks I've talked to (hiking groups total in the hundreds) who have tried them returned them and got filters due to failure.”

This is extremely ironic. Over the past 2 years, I’ve met several people out in the backcountry with steripens. ALL of them love them. In my questioning NONE had a bonafide failure (changing batteries is not a failure).

The only hiccups I’ve seen is when someone pushed the button AFTER the steripen is inserted in the water.


There are always downsides to any water purification technique. We know there are several backountry Squeeze failures out there. So I always suggest letting people try both methods. I’ve used filters the longest. But since I’ve been in these here Rockies, steripens have been the fastest and easiest.

Plus with most filters (except First Need) you’ll never know if nasty’s are coming through (because of a broken cartridge). With the steripen you can at least see the byproduct of UVC light.

I shouldn’t say ‘never’. The filter cartridge can be checked by sending it off to some EPA-registered university.

Another steripen bonus is NO MAINTENANCE. NO PRIMING. All filters require religious maintenance to make sure they work the day you want them to.

Filter and steripen tip of the day: Use CLEAR bags-- not DARK bags-- for dirty water. Then you can see if you accidentally picked up gunk.

Steripens are very reliable. No bias here But I should likewise say First Need is also very reliable.

-Barry
-The mountains were made for Tevas