http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBxj6JqiY_E&feature=related

http://www.steripen.com/content16230

I saw this which is bulky but can be modified, it is a hand crank steripen water purifier called the sidewinder. I like the concept for those cloudy days with no sun for the solar cells and of course no batteries. I like the fact that it will fit on a guyot bottle but you would not be able to see the led indicators plus it's too big and bulky, I'm eying to see if I can modify it and use the circuitry to make it compact.

At what point do you just ditch the electronics and stick with tried-and-true methods such as mechanical filtration, chemical purification or good old boiling?

I'm intrigued by the steripen -- being a gadget person it appeals to me -- and came close to buying one on several occasions. But the big turn-off for me is UV sterilization does nothing to improve the clarity or taste of the water, and then I have concerns about dead batteries or just the random failure of electronic devices at inopportune moments (if you check the buyer reviews of Steripens, you'll seem my concerns are not unfounded).

I've used a Pur (now Katadyn) Hiker Pro water filter for over 15 years and never had it completely fail on me. Likewise my Sawyer Point Oh Two filter, which I use in my homemade dip-n-go water bottle (I liked the filter, but not Sawyer's bottle or cap). I recently purchased a First Need XL filter, and so far it's been equally reliable. I also carry chlorine dioxide tablets, but I've only used them to demonstrate to others how they work and taste.

Just my opinion based on what works best for me.

I wonder too, most hand cranked devices, even those advertising no battery, have an internal rechargeable battery, you have to have someplace to store the charge from the crank while the work is being done. Usually no battery means no end user replaceable battery.
They look like a decent company so hopefully theirs doesn't have an internal battery, but I've seen a lot of hand cranked things that do.

Well the reason why I like the steripen Mark is:

1.Filters are to big and bulky to carry plus weight and there are only a very few of those that are purifiers and general ecology is one. Steripen is a purifier killing over 99.9% of bacteria, viruses and protozoa and has been field proven. It has had it's quarks like most everything in early development and that most problems have been worked out. Even reviews of the general Ecology have had issues of excessive clogging up in the field. Pumps are mechanical with o-rings and moving parts which are prone for failure.

2.The tablets, whether it is microPur or what have you are small and effective but it takes 4 hours of waiting before you are truly are purified and you have to carry a lot of tablets for long stays (figure 4 tablets a day minimum).

3.Boiling water takes fuel, whether it is firewood, gas or what have you, then you have to let your water cool down before you drink it. You may need that firewood to keep you warm as well though you could boil while you warm up but I don't want to stop and boil water every time I get thirsty. Try that when you pass through a town in Mexico or south America.

4. Dip in go bottles take time for the water to fill the bottle through the filter, they offer small amounts of water per size and are limited to a smaller amount of gallons requiring changing out more frequent than pumps.

5. Miox is not a bad idea but leaves a chlorine taste in the mouth and requires you to carry salt and test strips.

6. UV (steripen and others) used by Nasa, weakness is bulb life but the steripen has a 2113 gallon (8000 liters) lamp life and is a very rugged lamp and I have drooped checked mine. The water has to be relatively clear which can be done with a banana or skim the water off the top. It takes 90 seconds and I have water that is purified and in a space of my pocket weighing in at 3.6 oz. I do carry micropur tablets as backups but haven't had to use them yet. It can be ran off of solar cells with no battery in the unit and now a handcrank with no sun.

In conclusion the best purifier I have found for my use is the steripen (which I have tablets, combi filter, desalinators, etc...)due to the size, weight, functionality,durability, and speed, because I am a very heavy water drinker and consume lots of water, this is a big time saver for me. Everyone has there way of doing things and what may be tried and true for you may not have worked very efficient with me or vice a versa. I like keeping it as simple as I can for what I need, my steripen has worked flawlessly in south america, asia and europe as well as north america and I haven't got sick yet, not in mexico, Philippines, costa rico, etc..

Good question Eugene, I'm not to sure, I know what you are saying though. I don't know why they made such a hugh product with the crank, they could have made this so much smaller, this is why I would like to see one and see how hard it would be to modify it down to a small space footprint and to see how much of a pain to keep winding on this thing.

The crank driven Steripen Sidewinder is a obvious marketing progression for Steripen, i.e. a product designed specifically for home emergency use. But the reality is that for home use it only really makes some limited sense for as a home emergency product. For $99 I would go for a Foker LPG Single Gas Stove Ring and a 15kg LPG gas cylinder and boil water using a high efficiency kettle such as the Simplex No 4 or even a Primus EtaPower Pot (at extra cost). Time to boil 1 litre of water would be around 3 minutes.

15kg of Butane will boil over 1000 ltrs (264 Gallons) of water. This setup would provide much more flexibility for not only for the sterilization of water, but for also for cooking and for washing and cleaning (dishes and personal hygiene).

At 5 Gallons of boiling hot water per person per day this would last a family of 4 for about 2 weeks emergency use. Of course if drinking water was the priority then 10 weeks emergency use is available.

The portable Steripens are very effective, they work, they are quick and lightweight to carry.

Cranking the Sidewinder handle for more than a couple of days use will soon become an extreme pain in the butt. Major arguments would soon start over who's turn it was to crank the sidewinder. Better to let the sun do the hard work.

Very good point, I have a couple of those hand cranks around the house and the amount of light for the cranking never seems worth it. I am definitely behind you in letting the sun do the work, investing into the portable 40 watt solar cell by far was the best investment I've made in quite awhile. It's like having a little power station where I go, except those really cloudy days. I definitely think this one isn't worth the effort to convert to portable due to the way it is set up using plastic bottles and very poor gear ratio to where you have to crank really fast and a long time with those results. I just stick with the cells.