Used this on a one week Trip around Mammoth mountain area. Had no trouble after testing at home, and reading directions.
Fun watching the rest of my camp pump all the water they used as I just "wanded" mine clean. Seems to be of a sturdy build. It has a lifetime warranty on it from Hydro Photon and from BC.com water proof and Light !.
Used by the military.. How could ya go wrong ?

I picked this up as a just-in-case gadget. I have now used it a bunch of times and it does it's job......at least I have had any intestinal problems from the fluids I've been drinking. Some reviews say there are loads of problems so maybe I've been lucky but I haven't had a single issue with mine. In my experience they do what they're suppose to and I'm happy with that. Just as a side note, I ended up returning this one because I decided to snag the model that came with the solar charger. I planned on carting around an extra set of battery's just in case.

I hate this product for one reason only. Terrible support! My SteriPen died on me during my last camping trip. It just flickers and wont complete a full cycle. Changed the batteries, etc. I left 7 voicemails and have sent 4 emails to SteriPEN support....and still NOTHING. The company SUCKS and I wll never buy another product from them again. The sales dept and support are in different buildings, so calling sales for help is USELESS. STAY AWAY

I was so frustrated with this thing when i first bought it, that I left it behind on one of my trekks and settled for using water purification tablets. 6 months later I pulled it out again and it didn't work, so i searched for the instruction manual and followed the simple instructions and it WORKED and hasn't stopped working since. Quick, safe, durable and reliable. Won't go anywhere without it now. This item is a close second to my Salomon shoes.

When it works it works beautifully...it is a bit temperamental in the process...Many times you could be following the process precisely and get a failed reading...very frustrating...however...better than any pump and the results are superior.

The SteriPen does exactly what it says it will do, but the circumstances for it to work thoroughly need to be very controlled. Because the pen only works in a certain amount of water, you can only deal with that amount of water effectively. Well, if you're like most hikers, the amount of water you carry varies and you don't carry extra containers just to measure out the exact amount of water you need and you don't want to be restricted by the size of the container you bring. The prefilter kit which you can purchase with it leaked for me from nearly every angle and was worthless. So, the SteriPen works and does exactly what it says it will do, but it's a little more effort then I'd like to give. Personally, tablets and liquid water treatment are lighter, more versatile, smaller, and if I get the itch to add another filter, I can grab something else like the Frontier filter which is still smaller and lighter then the SteriPen...and it gives me an extra sense of security.

Worked reliably, we used it after filtering the water, but most people just ran the water through a tshirt to get the gunk out before sterilizing. We drank water in a place known to have issues, and came out unscathed. The watertasted clean and good too,way better than using tablets.
The best advice we got was to leave the batteries out until we used it, and take them out when storing to save the battery life. We treated at least 30 nalgenes on our trip and extra water for some other campers, and the batteries were still going.
Good gear! Great for travel or wilderness. Cool technology!

Great for individuals looking to save space compared to a pump or not wanting the taste of chemical treatments. You're good to go with some coffee filters for the big chunks and this guy for the stuff you can't see. I wouldn't count on this for large groups, super long trips, or constant subzero temps, but I love mine and haven't ever had any problems. Great product!!!

One of the SteriPen technicians read my previous review and actually emailed me and the reason for it not working every time is because of the low mineral concentrations in the water that you are treating do not always activate the UV sensor. The activator is adjustable to make the sensor more sensitive if you are in low mineral concentration water which, since adjusting, it has worked every time. Nice going, SteriPen!

My buddy took this with him on the AT and every water source I went to, he went as well. So every time I'd pump, he'd Steripen and for every 5 times we'd filter water, he'd have to use my Hiker Pro 2 times because the Steripen just wouldn't work. He would follow the directions to a T, hell he's an engineer for Lockheed, he did it right. It just wouldn't work. So, I gave it a 3 out of 5 stars because for every 3 times out of 5, it worked.

A great product that provides sterile water in a portable package. I recently used this a primary water gathering tool on a weekend trip and it performed flawlessly. I used a clean bandanna as a filter and it worked very well. The convenience of the prefilter attachment that allows the classic and journey to connect to water bottle and requires you to only shake the bottle instead of stirring it would have come in handy but 1.5 minutes goes relatively quickly.

I bought one of these in 2008 for a climbing trip in Ecuador. It worked ok, but would often require more than one attempt before it purified the water. A bit of a pain, really. Then I put it away and just brought it on a trip to Bolivia. With new batteries in it the thing just decided to stop working. Luckily I had some tablets with me.
It is light. It is a great concept. Perhaps I got a bad one? Just wish it was more reliable. I'm glad Backcountry stands behind defective products!

My experience with this product and their customer service has been totally different. I would suggest to the reviewer who ran into trouble that they try going back to the retailer where they purchased it for support. In my experience most shops or web sites are glad to help and get you in touch with the right persons for assistance. Just my 2-cents.

Hydro Photon's SteriPENs are easy to use and fast. It takes a minute to purify 1 liter of water and then it's ready to drink! Can't beat that with filters or tablets. The Adventurer is easy to use, just be careful not to lift it too far up or it will turn off and you'll have to start over. My only complaint is that it will not fit into the narrow mouth of most Sigg water bottles. Other than that I love it!

This works as stated above, but I would caution the user to buy the extra filter for the top of your waterbottle. The steripen can kill whatever nasties are in your water, but if it is murky and has sediment you will end up drinking it. Highly recommended otherwise.