urbansurvivalist,

“When using filters, only treated water comes in contact with the water container.”

Not so. Treated water that is only filtered is not purified water. Filtering only removes the big chunks. Water is filtered before purification by either chemical or other means for best results.

“When using chemical treatment, shaking up the bottle with loosened threads exposes all relevant areas to the chemical, and those areas are in contact with the chemical for just as long as the rest of the water, so they should be treated as effectively.”

Again I disagree. If you read the directions for any of the chemical treatment methods, The chemicals effectiveness is related to the turbidity of the water, the temperature of the water, and the type and amount of biological contaminants. This time can be anywhere between thirty minutes to four hours. Without knowing the pathogens involved, your best bet would be to wait the full amount time suggested by each manufacturer. In warm weather the small amounts of semi treated water on the threads can easily evaporate before effectively treating the contaminants on the threads. If the water has not been filtered before hand, the big chunks can harbor pathogens that will last longer than four hours therefore the threads and the main contents are still contaminated.

“When using boiling water, decontamination is unnecessary, since the bottle is never exposed to untreated water(and even if it is, boiling water could be used to sterilize the whole container)”.

Any container that is clean and kept separate from the exterior contaminated container can be used to drink from. A straw is available in most restaurant or tubing which should be a part of all survival kits. Drying a container’s exterior, especially one without threads such as a cup or class is rather easy. Pathogens do not live long in dry air. That killing process can be accelerated by wiping with a small alcohol pad.

A standard mouth bottle or canteen does not need the prefilter and if you decant from the treating container to a clean container, any size container can be used. I use a wide mouth nalgene because I have lots of them and they are easier to fill without spilling on the exterior threads.

If you follow the instructions, it is not necessary to use their prefilter but all chemical and photo purification methods should be filtered as previously explained. There is no sense of false security if you understand and follow the instructions.

If you do a search on “SteriPen” on the forums, you will see some tests results performed by paramedicpete. You might also do a search on “toxins” on the forum for more information on water purification.

You cannot start a fire in all environments especially during some types of disasters. I carry at least three types of water purification methods, boiling being one of them. But a reliable and fast system is the SteiPEN.