Anyone ever use one?
Thoughts?

Just ordered one myself.
I have heard nothing but good things about them. And if you don't mind me tagging an extra question onto your query I would like to know if a steripen type device could also be used to disinfect a surface wound. I.E. holding it over a cut/abrasion to kill off bacteria/whatever and possibly prevent infection.

water still needs to be filtered some way just to remove the larger contaminates. it still doesnt address any heavy metals or dissolved chemicals in the water.  a good camping style filter with activated charcoal and a couple drops of bleach is your best bet.

I have one, only thing that will kill viruses... Water will need filtering if you don't like to drink suspended particles...
Steripens can be damaged if handled roughly. So treat them like they are your water source....
Great for travel and untrusted tap water.

They have a mechanism to protect them from overheating that won't allow them to be turned on unless immersed.

In any case, your best bet with the vast majority of wounds in the field is to irrigate with clean water. You can't disinfect it because the environment is not sterile. Your objective is to get as much of the foreign matter out as you can. Even if you were able to "disinfect" the wound, if you leave foreign matter in place it will do no good. Your body can take care of the infection most of the time if you irrigate out the foreign material. If you leave foreign material in the wound, no amount of disinfection will do much good, and may well cause tissue damage.

Personally, they look a little fragile to me and I am a bit dubious about depending on something that needs batteries in the field. OTOH, I don't think I have ever gone anywhere I could not bring enough potable water with me to suffice for my needs, or at least could not refill along the way.

You will probably still want some kind of filtration just to get the larger particulates out. And UV does not do much for any chemicals, especially inorganic ones, that might be in the water. It's at best a substitute for water disinfection tablets.

Bob is correct.  With large particles they will not be able to sufficiently penetrate algea, clay and other stuff to deactivate the bugs in the water.  It should only be done after filtration with as clean of water as you can get.  The wavelength of the UV light is temperature dependant so the bulb must be kept the at or near optimum operating temp for it to work.  Typically there is a buffer layer between the water and the bulb to keep the bulb isolated, but it's still a weakness.


They are my last chioce.  

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