Steripen is the only portable
water purifier that uses
ultraviolet light to destroy water-
borne microbes. It's available for
less than $150.00 at Amazon.com.
[ Photo: Steripen.com ]

I got a copy of Forbes FYI the other day. This magazine often talks about really expensive lifestyle products that I can't afford. One thing that stood out for me in the September 2005 issue was the Steripen. This is a $150 gadget that uses UV light to kill things like E. coli, giardia, and cryptosporidium. It operates on four AA batteries and purifies a 32-ounce bottle of water in 90 seconds.

Back in the mid-1990's I traveled to places like Brazil and rural China where the water infrastructure was iffy. A device like the Steripen would have been useful because it would have meant that I could have traveled with an empty Nalgene bottle instead of having to hunt around for places to buy bottled water every day before I left the town I was staying in.

In these exotic countries, there are a few towns that are well known for hosting young European and American tourists who travel with backpacks. These towns will have all the bottled water you could want, in most cases. The issue is what to do when your in a town that won't be the hot town for backpack travelers until next year.

I think this would be a useful item to carry on a camping or backpacking trip in a First World country as well. It's easier to bring a big supply of clean water with you when the trip begins, but you can always run out when you're on the move. I'd pack a Steripen with a fresh set of batteries just in case of emergency.

This is clearly a nice-to-have item in the sense that I'd want to have a good flashlight, Swiss Army knife, and GPS before I invested in a Steripen, but I'd definitely want to have one with me on an outdoor vacation, just in case.