I recently visited a local army surplus store. Of course, they also had a buch of outdoorsey stuff that was not mil surplus. I noticed that they had packages of water purification tabs. The chemical name did not mention iodine, and I believe that it stated that it was chlorine purification. The package led me to believe that this was the same stuff given to soldiers. However, as I have never been in the military, I cannot verify this. What I thought was interesting what that is was under $9.00 for 30 tabs.

Does anybody know how this stuff might compare to MP-1 tabs? The price is certainly MUCH better. I was hoping that it might be the same chemical as MP-1, just with a generic name brand.

hey harrrkevc : the tablets i think your talking about have been showing up at surplus stores for a few years now ....they are repackaged into a deep flimsy plastic case with a yellow label....these are NOT mp-1 tabs...these are chlor-floc tabs made in south africa...the big differance is when you use the tabs is that you HAVE to skim the residue the tablet collects, on top of the water being treated.....not always a easy thing to do in the field.. i remember the directions ask for a cloth to strain the water from one container to the other....again a slow clumsy thing to do in the field ..when i was in the 10TH mtn.div. we had these tabs given to us along with the issue iodine tabs ....after looking at the instructions on the box i just used my iodine tabs......vince g 11b inf..

(sigh)
Thanks for the info. I guess that the price WAS a little too good to be true.

Right now, I keep PA tabs in the van, and "Cody Lundin" tincture of iodine for carry. Not the best, but it is cheap.