I've travelled for months using a Steripen, and boiling water as the backup I had to rely on. My interest in alternatives is part of the ongoing search to reduce weight.
I assume that people are using twigs/coarse grass/dung to boil water. Assuming you pass step one (ie you can light a fire) all the required equipment is probably being carried. I like to travel fast and light so It is inconvenient for me to find the time to boil water. I drink more hot water than I'd prefer and end up transferring water that is too hot to plastic containers so I can boil some more. (My cooking kit is a mug and spoon, and I carry water in a 1.5l orange juice container - all easily replaceable in remote areas.)
I settled on a Steripen classic for multi month trips in remote areas because it will run on rechargeable batteries and I don't enjoy boiling water. Water can be treated and used quickly and the batteries have enough charge for most trips so quantity is essentially unlimited. Treating water is a chore for more than two in a party. For turbid water you are probably back to boiled water and it won't take out chemicals like an activated carbon filter. Relying on a piece of technology with a glass tube which you can't replace is a big risk. Mine has never failed but I know of trips where it has. The weight is largely offset by the need to carry less water. I'd be more open now to carrying a lighter weight Steripen with a supply of cell batteries. It is well suited to my style of travel but I'd like to lose the weight.
SODIS (using the UV light of the sun to treat water in a pet bottle) is a simple idea but it is not suitable for my type of travel.
jimmeyer176 wrote:No bleach for me...been there done that ... Cheers
The idea of a small plastic eyedropper with chemical appeals to me. I don't like the idea of ingesting chemical much but we are immersed in them and for trips I'm prepared to put up with it. What's the experience with the bleach and chlorine dioxide?