Aqua Tabs/Steripen

[huntaholic123]

I was curious how long a person can consecutively use Aqua Mira or MSR Aqua Tabs? A friend told me you can't use the tabs day after day due to the chemicals in them. Any truth to this? I was hoping to use the tabs in my bladder and a Steripen in my Nalgene bottle. Is this unrealistic for a 10 day backpack hunt? Also which steripens have any fellow Roksliders used? There are creeks and streams available in the area I will be hunting. Thanks for any input!

 

[kyburley]

I used tablets everyday of my recent 10 day hunt. I'm still here to talk about it! The water was so crystal clear and cold I probably would've been just fine without anything.

 

[ahlgringo]

I used just this system (except aquamira drops in my dromedary) for 14 days straight this elk season- No issues

 

[Stid2677]

The main ingredient is chlorine, same as used to purify city water.

Interesting study here for those that filter,, eye opening results for steripen users.


http://www.outsideonline.com/202136...k&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=facebookpost

 

[TJ]

The main ingredient is chlorine, same as used to purify city water.

Interesting study here for those that filter,, eye opening results for steripen users.


http://www.outsideonline.com/202136...k&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=facebookpost

Interesting results.

 

[airlocksniffer]

MSR labs pick a winner....MSR Guardian!!

Really, pretty interesting. Surprised about the Steripen. I'll stick with my Katadyn Hiker.

 

[neverquit]

I hate all of you.

I need tons of water while I'm out. If there's water around its nasty cow tanks that clog my msr micro works fast

 

[huntaholic123]

Interesting video. I had heard the Steripen was consistent and worked really good. I am going to try and pre filter with an industrial diesel bag and Steripen/MSR Aqua tabs my water. Interested to see how well that diesel bag works.

 

[KHNC]

Well crap, I guess my 70 bucks was wasted on the Steripen Adventurer. I did use it a couple of times in my Nalgene in NM and I didn't get sick. Guess I got lucky or I have a cast iron stomach.

 

[ahlgringo]

Interesting video. I had heard the Steripen was consistent and worked really good. I am going to try and pre filter with an industrial diesel bag and Steripen/MSR Aqua tabs my water. Interested to see how well that diesel bag works.

I used the diesel bag this year for the first time as well. Overall- works great, pretty light and definitely gets the sediment out. A bit cumbersome to fill bottles or dromedary. I only used it when the water was not coming directly from a clean looking seep. As for the steri-pen- take what you want from that video. I have never had any trouble with it.

I do not envision myself going back to a filter type device for a long time- way too easy to use the tabs/aquamira or steripen.

 

[moxford]

The Steripen test was bogus.

Why?

Because Steripen/UV DOES NOT HAVE TO KILL STUFF. It can still be alive when you're done. Read that again. Yes, you can drink it with the bacteria/viruses still alive.

However.

For a bacteria/virus to harm you it has to replicate. It has to reproduce into a quantity large enough to make you sick.

Steripen/UV DOES NOT HAVE TO KILL STUFF ... but it DOES cause the bacteria/virus that doesn't die to become unable to reproduce.

So, you UV the water, you put it on a plate and you count. Those bacteria/viruses are still there. Total failure, right?

But you incubate those over time, give all of the cultures time to grow and then you'll see the difference ... the UV'd dish will come out much cleaner than a standard filter because they cannot replicate.

And, really, is it a surprise that they did the test in MSR's lab and then picked an MSR filter? There are other 0.004 micron water purifiers available on the market so the Guardian isn't breaking any new ground.

I'm not knocking the MSR Guardian (I may save up and buy one myself) but definitely do your research before you listen to mainstream marketing from sketchy sources.

 

[dangerousD]

The Steripen test was bogus.

Why?

Because Steripen/UV DOES NOT HAVE TO KILL STUFF. It can still be alive when you're done. Read that again. Yes, you can drink it with the bacteria/viruses still alive.

However.

For a bacteria/virus to harm you it has to replicate. It has to reproduce into a quantity large enough to make you sick.

Steripen/UV DOES NOT HAVE TO KILL STUFF ... but it DOES cause the bacteria/virus that doesn't die to become unable to reproduce.

So, you UV the water, you put it on a plate and you count. Those bacteria/viruses are still there. Total failure, right?

But you incubate those over time, give all of the cultures time to grow and then you'll see the difference ... the UV'd dish will come out much cleaner than a standard filter because they cannot replicate.

And, really, is it a surprise that they did the test in MSR's lab and then picked an MSR filter? There are other 0.004 micron water purifiers available on the market so the Guardian isn't breaking any new ground.

I'm not knocking the MSR Guardian (I may save up and buy one myself) but definitely do your research before you listen to mainstream marketing from sketchy sources.

Good post. Seems like I had read this same stuff somewhere before but forgot how the Steripen works. It's obvious that Steripen works or there would be a lot of sick folks out there and the company would likely go out of business. And never trust the "results" of a test done in the lab of the company with a competing product.

 

[Matt Cashell]

The Steripen test was bogus.

Why?

Because Steripen/UV DOES NOT HAVE TO KILL STUFF. It can still be alive when you're done. Read that again. Yes, you can drink it with the bacteria/viruses still alive.

However.

For a bacteria/virus to harm you it has to replicate. It has to reproduce into a quantity large enough to make you sick.

Steripen/UV DOES NOT HAVE TO KILL STUFF ... but it DOES cause the bacteria/virus that doesn't die to become unable to reproduce.
.

I laughed out loud during the video. You are so right. The steripen is NOT supposed to kill anything! It only "inactivates" the replicating DNA. So while it is weird to think you are drinking live organisms (or pseudo-live viruses), it is still perfectly safe. It seems pretty disingenuous for the MSR "scientists" not to go over how UV treatment actually works. In fact they really skipped over that part in the video.

 

[moxford]

Steripen's major selling point is the anti-virus capabilities. Therefore it is their (MSR's) largest competition. To just say "total failure" and move on means that anyone not paying attention or doesn't know how it actually works is a win for them.

 

[jmez]

Well anti virus capabilities in water purification are really only necessary in Third World Countries. So Steripen's major selling point is marketing hype as well.

 

[Bughalli]

Interesting...but only slightly. After watching a few more of their videos and seeing how well they don't really compare products, I don't give their opinions too much weight. The sleeping bag comparison they did (down vs synthetic) was worthless.

 

[live2huntelk]

The Steripen test was bogus.

Why?

Because Steripen/UV DOES NOT HAVE TO KILL STUFF. It can still be alive when you're done. Read that again. Yes, you can drink it with the bacteria/viruses still alive.

However.

For a bacteria/virus to harm you it has to replicate. It has to reproduce into a quantity large enough to make you sick.

Steripen/UV DOES NOT HAVE TO KILL STUFF ... but it DOES cause the bacteria/virus that doesn't die to become unable to reproduce.

So, you UV the water, you put it on a plate and you count. Those bacteria/viruses are still there. Total failure, right?

But you incubate those over time, give all of the cultures time to grow and then you'll see the difference ... the UV'd dish will come out much cleaner than a standard filter because they cannot replicate.

And, really, is it a surprise that they did the test in MSR's lab and then picked an MSR filter? There are other 0.004 micron water purifiers available on the market so the Guardian isn't breaking any new ground.

I'm not knocking the MSR Guardian (I may save up and buy one myself) but definitely do your research before you listen to mainstream marketing from sketchy sources.

Good discussion....Interesting in learning/reading more about how the Steripen works..... there are several University and third party lab studies done for the military.

http://www.steripen.com/micro-biological-testing/

some general info from Katadyn's website on microorganisms....

http://www.katadyn.com/fileadmin/us.../Downloads/Selection_Card_Bacteria_EN_Web.pdf

 

[Jazzdog]

I spent a year working a 30 on/30off rotation in India in a town called Kakinada. we were careful to only drink bottled water but still kept getting sick every hitch. eventually we found out that the majority or water bottles had been drained through a small hole of the bottom of the bottle, bottle was refilled and then the hole was sealed up with some kind of silicone. started using the steripen and it solved the problem for us. not another instance of stomach problems for the rest of the year. I've used it since then in remote parts of Mexico and in Nigeria, cameroon and Ghana.

I'm convinced it does exactly what it says it does.