Steripen freedom and solar charger

[pap11y]

Hi Guys,

A mate on bushcraftOZ wrote an article about the steripen. I love the idea and I especially like the idea of drinking water without ruining the taste with tablets or drinking it warm.

I ended up buying the steripen freedom. Its rechargable by usb. I have a solar charger that I have created a cigarette attachment for for my led light and soon my Garmin rino GPS.

All of my devices are fine for a few days but if I was considering a 2-3 week outing the GPS would have to be used sparingly..

First up the steripen...



The idea is you put it in the water and it automatically turns on for 45 seconds. You just stir until the end of the cycle. One cycle treats about 450ml. Repeat twice for 1 litre..

http://www.steripen.com/

Steripen charging



The solar charger was a gamble, but one that payed off. It has a battery and I can fully charge it before heading out. I can charge mobile phones and an array of electronic devices. I made a car lighter adapter for it so I can plug in any existing car charging plugs I already had. I'll be able to charge my GPS with this as well once I get a car charger for it.

To finish off the combination I got a pelican 1060 case to house them and protect the gear.



I don't think it will block/lessen the sunlight and it will definitely protect.

I have the charger and all cables and steripen housed in the pelican case now tied on top of my alice pack.

Its heavier than I'd prefer with everything together but it does mean I can use my light, steripen and gps indefinitely assuming no faults and sun being around..

I love this combo and can wait to put it to the test but I will always have my backups i.e topo map, compass, candles and lifestraw



I hope you find this info helpful..

[Woodsorrel]

Hi Pap11y!

Thanks for posting! Can you tell us approximately how much the steripen, solar charger, and pelican box weighs?

Thanks!

- Woodsorrel

[injun51]

Cool. What name brand of solar charger is that??? I have a goal zero but was looking for something a little more compact.

[Jean]

I experienced a drop off in solar performance thru an otter box, it may not be the same polycarbonate, but you should test it. Additionally, the charger got hot in the otter box, real hot. That may also have contributed to poorer performance.

Trying to get tnthe nirvana of battery and charger cable commonality is a major factor in my electronic purchases.

[pap11y]

The steripen is 75g
The charger is 450g
The pelican box is 470g

So weight for all would be around 1kg -1.2 kg.. 2.2 pounds

The charger is a chinese one off ebay and has no brand name...

Thanks Jean for the heads up. The box isn't water proof and I did consider giving it ventilation. The otter box does have a matt finish rather than the clearer pelican (I did consider it). I guess I'll find out soon enough

When I am hiking in the battery will be charged so it shouldn't need to generate too much heat (I have no idea about this though).

I'm excited to be able to use my GPS without limit as I was always sparing with its use in case of emergency...

[HeadyBrew]

Interesting. I have a solar charger on my Xmas list, will see if Santa sees fit to provide. I have not heard great things about the actual solar charging capabilities of most brands but I really wanted it for the being able to charge it like a battery at home before hitting the trail and using it to charge my phone on longer trips. I like the protective box idea but can see how it might get very hot, and temp extremes (hot or cold) can be very bad for the health of most rechargeable batteries. Maybe some vent holes in the black bottom of the case so it's still protected and less likely to let moisture/dirt in when on your pack? Thanks!

[pap11y]

Interesting. I have a solar charger on my Xmas list, will see if Santa sees fit to provide. I have not heard great things about the actual solar charging capabilities of most brands but I really wanted it for the being able to charge it like a battery at home before hitting the trail and using it to charge my phone on longer trips. I like the protective box idea but can see how it might get very hot, and temp extremes (hot or cold) can be very bad for the health of most rechargeable batteries. Maybe some vent holes in the black bottom of the case so it's still protected and less likely to let moisture/dirt in when on your pack? Thanks!

I will have to deal with temps from 0 degrees Celsius to about 40.

I am not so worried about the cold but the heat could be a factor. I think I'll put breathing holes and if I am at risk of getting wet put everything in a snaplock inside the case.

Like anything the idea of this may be overshadowed by its practicality in the real world. I guess I'll soon know

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and contributions. Like most things bush related its a learning exercise for me.

[Ryo]

Test the Steripen before you leave home.

MY wife and I bought two (Adventure Model) for several months of living in a small village in Uganda. One of them worked day in, day out, perfectly, and the other did not work even once. I had only tested one ahead of time (the one that worked) - lesson learnt.

Also, if you are colorblind (like me, and many men) carry the instructions with you so you can understand all the combinations of blinking indicator lights, because you won't be able to count on the whole red/green thing!

[BEAST1210]

I'v had the adventurer model for years, solid performer. I bought the newer freedom USB for the reasons the OP mentioned but It failed my testing, and was taken back, and I got the newer Opti just like the adventurer but with an optical sensor. I use rechargable CR123 16850 li-ion batteries, I recharge them on my goal 0. My .02

[kyak]

I have the Steripen adventurer opti!!! Works awesome and has a built in mini led flashlight too. It uses cr123 batteries which I have millions of and my flashlights use the cr123 as well.