jcurphy, I've been using a steripen adventure for awhile now and I haven't had any problems yet. The main thing with it is the water can't be too turbid (muddy or cloudy) a way around this is to prefilter it through a bandanna or I use a Katadyn combi filter which has a replaceable silver impregnated ceramic element and a refillable, activated carbon cartridge so I can clean up the water from bigger viruses and organic compounds (pesticides) and then I follow behind it with a steripan for viruses. I don't mind the two items as a combo, the UV treatment has been working well and I think in the future it may replace some types of chemical treatments. I tried the taste of a friends miox and didn't care for the taste and didn't care to carry along gator aid to mask the taste plus didn't like the dwell time either. The steripen is compact and I can drink the water now, not hours later. If you do get one, don't buy the solar recharger, it's a waste of money; but a portable solar panel, it will charge it significantly faster.

There is a rival between the steripen folks and the miox folks like GMC VS Ford. both are great products it's just preference to me. A good advantage for Miox is good for large treatment of water which I like but it takes awhile for the process to work and the taste gets better with time as it dissipates from the water if stirred and aerated.

http://www.katadyn.us/brands-products/ka...combi-plus.html
http://www.hydro-photon.com/steripen_products.html#traveler