Goodbye Aquamira!

[dotman]

Hell lose the tablets and just sprinkle some cope in your water, 5 min wait time and kills everything . Better add the jk.

I like the Iodine tablets for medical backup (not proven, just my reasoning) on cleaning wounds, if it is even able to do this.

 

[justin davis]

Justin, do you have a system for dealing with the 4 hour wait time?

I try to plan ahead. Designate a bottle and plan and pretreat water prior to needing it. If that makes since. You can drink the water in 30
Mins. It's just the 4 hours that requires for the Cryptosporidium.

 

[Rizzy]

You can also double the dose if you can stand the taste, but thinking ahead is the best option. Sometimes its a PIA in new areas where your unfamiliar with the water sources.

 

[Matt Cashell]

I try to plan ahead. Designate a bottle and plan and pretreat water prior to needing it. If that makes since. You can drink the water in 30
Mins. It's just the 4 hours that requires for the Cryptosporidium.

I did that for a while, but it didn't work out too well with my short attention span. One of the best features of the Steripen is the (almost) immediate gratification. I still have a little bit of PA in the pack as a back up.

 

[HellsCanyon]

Yea I tried this tactic Mike. I enjoyed it. But now my spleen or kidneys or something I think are failing. Lol

How hardcore are you? Enough to say it was worth losing the weight? Lol jk

Mike

 

[Aron Snyder]

Go over to the Live Hunt section and look through the photos of Marc Gutmans goat hunt.....

You'll see a photo that shows the note that Justin left on our window It sad something like " hey guys, I'm heading to the doctor so they can check my liver"!

How hardcore are you? Enough to say it was worth losing the weight? Lol jk

Mike

 

[tstowater]

We'll need photos of everyone's findings!

I could have sent photos from 2006. Once was enough for me, felt like shit (no pun intended) for about a month and several doses of antibiotics (screwed up my gut and immune system) until I found a homoepath to help. I have a backup supply of goodies at home all the time now. Still drink unfiltered in AK & BC from better water sources.

 

[Ronster]

Lots of talk about filters and tablets here, has anyone tried a steripen? Saw it advertised on OLN a while back and was thinking about getting one to try out. I think it was advertised as drinkable in 3-5 minutes or something like that and it killed crypto too, but Im not 100% sure.

 

[Aron Snyder]

Lots of talk about filters and tablets here, has anyone tried a steripen? Saw it advertised on OLN a while back and was thinking about getting one to try out. I think it was advertised as drinkable in 3-5 minutes or something like that and it killed crypto too, but Im not 100% sure.

I've used it a ton, but BB is going to best reply.

 

[Matt Cashell]

Lots of talk about filters and tablets here, has anyone tried a steripen? Saw it advertised on OLN a while back and was thinking about getting one to try out. I think it was advertised as drinkable in 3-5 minutes or something like that and it killed crypto too, but Im not 100% sure.

Ronster,

The Steripen is my favorite way to sterilize water in areas with lots of water. The water is drinkable immediately after sterilization, which takes 60 seconds for 1 quart. I still prefer a filter for large volume filtering in areas where water isn't readily available.

The advantages of the Steripen are:

1. It saves tons of weight, because you don't have to carry a lot of water.
2. It is fast and easy (60 second wait time).
3. It works on bacteria, viruses, and protozoa.
4. It does not affect taste in areas with good water.

The disadvantages:

1. It requires a battery.
2. The time advantages go away with large volumes of water.
3. Turbid water reduces effectiveness.
4. Will not affect the taste of bad tasting water.

 

[Rizzy]

I have a backup supply of goodies at home all the time now. Still drink unfiltered in AK & BC from better water sources.

So can you just take the antibiotics(?) before and during your trip and not have to mess with sterilizing your water?

 

[cmeier117]

I will have to try these out. I always seemed to spill the aquamira drops atleast once...

 

[fillthefreezer]

Lots of talk about filters and tablets here, has anyone tried a steripen? Saw it advertised on OLN a while back and was thinking about getting one to try out. I think it was advertised as drinkable in 3-5 minutes or something like that and it killed crypto too, but Im not 100% sure.

ive really been thinking about grabbing one of these for day hunting, especially since my area has virtually no areas without water all id need is a liter. i think it would also be slick for winter trips where im worried about my filter freezing. and again, pack just 1 liter

 

[Matt Cashell]

FTF, the Steripen is awesome for freezing temps.

 

[MattB]

One thing to consider: the 15-30 minute wait times quoted are generally for room temp clear water, but if it is colder or more turbid the wait times increase. I don't think the chemicals are more than 4 hours effective onn crypto. My sense is folks just look at the 15/30 as gospal and do not take into account the increase wait times for sub-optimal conditions or that the 15/30 is for killing some bugs, but not all.

 

[TEmbry]

The additives taste too gross to me and an infection scares me just enough to always carry my filter anyway. It's heavy, probably unnecessary... But I won't get sick and it produces the best tasting water of all the options.

 

[Becca]

The Sawyer inline just seems like an easy insurance policy to me, and no wait at all...just dip and drink. Sure you can probably go unfiltered with no issues most of the time, but giardia can be difficult and costly to treat. After watching my sister struggle for nearly a year and losing 35 lbs after contracting a water born illness (shigella I believe) while studying in South America, it just seems like a no brainer to me. We have a steripen for use in subzero temps, but typically use the sawyer in-line with our platypus big zip bladders.

So can you just take the antibiotics(?) before and during your trip and not have to mess with sterilizing your water?

To my knowledge this would not work very well, if at all...the use of "prophylactic antibiotics" is controversial at best, and would be unlikely to prevent future infection from contaminated water. Different antibiotics/antivirals treat different types of bugs, and you wouldnt know which type you needed until it was too late. Antibiotics themselves can cause a long list of GI issues, as they kill off the good bacteria in your gut, and often cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea all by themselves. Couple this with the issue of increasing antibiotic resistance from overuse of antibiotic therapy and I think that's enough reasons to just prevent catching water borne illnesses in the first place.

 

[les welch]

What Becca said.

Sawyer with Aqua backup for me.

 

[Scottiem]

Justin, do you have a system for dealing with the 4 hour wait time?

I try to plan ahead. Designate a bottle and plan and pretreat water prior to needing it. If that makes since. You can drink the water in 30
Mins. It's just the 4 hours that requires for the Cryptosporidium.

I agree. I've been using these the past 3 seasons and I only wait 30 mins to drink. Tastes great and they're cheap. I buy them at Walmart.

 

[tstowater]

So can you just take the antibiotics(?) before and during your trip and not have to mess with sterilizing your water?

I won't do the antibiotics again. I have a stock of herbals and homeopaths that take care of the giardia issues. I do think about the water everytime I take a drink of it out of a unfiltered water source. Kind of questioned the advisability of drinking it last year when we were rinsing the blood out of the Dall sheep hides down stream from where you are getting water. No problems that time. I wouldn't be so inclinded to drink it elsewhere. YK's pictures wouldn't have been so tempting, but I'm not the experienced Alaskan he is.