HEALTH & SAFETY: CAMELBAK ALL CLEAR UV PURIFIER

Picked up the CAMELBAK ALL CLEAR UV PURIFIER recently from the local Mountain Equipment Co-op, here in Vancouver BC. Cost me $110 CDN plus taxes for the kit.

The concept is simple, subject water to UV light and disrupt the viruses, bacteria & protozoan cysts reproductive cycle, thus making them unable to grow in your gut and make you sick. Same treatment our local municipal water treatment plant uses, but in a carry anywhere format.

This purifier will not remove heavy metals, particulates, chemicals, solvents, oils, bad tastes/smells etc...one needs to use other filtration methods (pump filters, carbon, etc) to deal with those.

To use, one simply fills the bottle with water from a water source, be it a puddle, stream, pool, whatever. The water HAS to be prefiltered (clear) for the unit to effectively work. Screw the UV filter unit cap on, and press and hold the blue button for two seconds. The UV light will come on and start its process for 60 seconds. There is a countdown timer on the LCD screen, and at the end of the 60 second cycle the UV light turns off and a check mark appears in the LCD display, indicating the water is good to go. DURING the purifying process you HAVE to shake the bottle back and forth to ensure all the water in the bottle gets exposed to the UV wavelengths. Once this is complete, unscrew the purifier cap, and screw on the regular bottle cap. The UV cap also fits on Nalgene wide mouth bottles, but Camelbak recommends only using the included bottle.

PHOTOS HERE: CAMELBAK ALL CLEAR UV PURIFIER

YOUTUBE LINK: CAMELBACK ALL CLEAR UV PURIFIER IN USE

POSITIVES:  The unit is a nice sized package, easy to carry in a shoulder bag, backpack or similar carry device. It works when used as directed, i never got sick even though the waters I tested it on were very suspect. A single charge from a USB port on a computer will last about 80 treatment cycles, or 60000 ml (approx 60 Liters) of clear water. You can charge it from a portable USB battery pack as well, but don't expect a FULL charge as the charging cycle takes 5 hours. Easy to use, the instructions are printed right on the bottle, as well as in the manual. The UV purifier head is well built, rugged, and very water/impact resistant.

NEGATIVES: No prefilter cap is included in the kit. WHY? Camelbak sells one separately, but I feel they should just include it in the kit. Most people will not know how to fashion a field expedient prefilter, so why not just include one?  The USB cable charged lithium ion battery is not replaceable, for that matter neither is the UV light element. Once either of these craps out, you are basically left with a $110 water bottle. I would like to see Camelbak redesign the unit, and allowing the use of CR123 lithium batteries, and having a replaceable UV lamp. As well, I would like to see a prefilter that will remove chemicals, sediments, smells/tastes etc. Its a bit pricey considering these negatives....

OK, now that we have described what the ALL CLEAR does, costs, etc, its time for an honest uncensored and unbiased review. I purchased this unit with my own money, it was not given to me by CamelBak. I have field tested it both in the city and in the woods, using it more than 50 times.

Bottom line, do not think that the Camelbak ALL CLEAR is a be all end all only filter/purifier that you need.....its not. HOWEVER, pair it with a good pump style filter, like the KATADYN or MSR units, and you have a good system for ensuring you don't get sick from the water you drink. This unit would be an IDEAL travel companion for hotels and tours where the supplied drinking water may be suspect...

I give the CamelBak ALL CLEAR UV PURIFIER a BUSH LAB rating of 8/10

HEALTH & SAFETY: MSR MIOX PURIFIER PEN

The MSR MIOX PURIFIER PEN  is a portable water treatment device designed for everyone, from Military, Tactical, First Responders, and recreational outdoors types and preppers.

The design behind the pen is based on the massive ( Mixed Oxidants aka MIOX) generators in large urban water treatment plants. Electricity is passed thru thousands of gallons of salt water, which in turn creates the MIOX (Hypochlorite) on demand. The MIOX is then added in very specified dosage levels to the drinking water, rendering viruses, bacteria, Gardia & Cryptosporidium INACTIVE. 

The MSR MIOX PURIFIER pen is a pocket sized version of the municipal MIOX generators. SPECS can be found here: LINK 

To use the MSR MIOX PURIFIER PEN, one simply fills a bottle, canteen, water bladder etc with up to 4 liters of water. Its best to filter the floaties out with a bandanna so your not swilling mud crud & insects when you drink. Next, you unscrew the very top cap of the MIOX and fill it with the included rock salt chunks. Next you fill it with water, replace the cap and shake the whole unit for about a minute to make a brine solution. This solution then automatically fill the reaction chamber. Unscrew the  entire top cap this time and you will see a metal disc, surrounded by the brine solution. On the side of the unit is a button and 4 levels of dosage quantity : 1/2L, 1L, 2L & 4L < these indicate the quantity of water you plan to treat. Click the button the appropriate number of times depending on your quantity of water. The green light will come on, indicating that the MIOX process is starting. Back at the reaction chamber, you will notice it bubbling and a chlorine odor emanating from the chamber. Keep it level, or it will spill out. Once the process has completed the green light will flash, then go out. You are now ready to add the MIOX solution to your water. Shake the bottle, flask whatever to mix it and let it stand. Its best to let it stand for 30 minutes for maximum effectiveness against Cryptosporidium, HOWEVER if you need immediate hydration have at er.....there is included testing strips that you dunk in your treated water to check the effectiveness of the solution. There is a slight chlorine taste to the water but it dissipates quickly. You can also toss in a Vitamin C tablet to neutralize this taste, or use drink mixes.

My testing grounds included several local urban duck ponds, puddles, slow and fast moving creeks/rivers, lakes, and water trapped in tree hollows and bowl shaped rocks, as well as ground seeps. All suspect sources of water......I treated well over 190 liters of water before the first set of batteries died  out. On the second set of batteries I made multiple doses for a 55 gallon HDPE water drum at my buddies cabin. It was time consuming making all the doses but the water did come out his goat pond.....deadly water to drink untreated. We prefiltered it thru a bucket filled with folded towels to remove gunk and sediment. There was a carbon filter at the spigot to remove nasty tastes.

PHOTOS HERE: MSR MIOX PURIFIER PEN

POSITIVES:  - Tiny, ultralight design, easy to use, works when used as directed, can be used by anyone (children should be trained though), batteries last a long time and work in ANY temps due to their Lithium construction, inexpensive to buy, maintain and use. Treats both clear & murky water, any temp. A lifesaver in a Survival Vest or pocket survival kit, truck, care, plane, tank, backpack, etc. Ideal for primary or secondary treatment (after say filtering thru a sediment/carbon filter). SUREFIRE CR123 lithium batts came stock (and you should always use the Surefire brand batteries, they are the best for reliability). O-ring sealed unit, waterproof. Portable on demand supply of MIOX, no need to carry chlorine that can weaken with age or damage your pack/gear if it spills. 

NEGATIVES: - my ONE beef with the MSR MIOX PURIFIER PEN is the battery compartment......the battery NEG contact strip is printed foil circuit strip........when replacing the batteries you have to move this flimsy strip aside to eject the spent CR123 batteries......the strip, IMHO, is too flimsy for extended field use, HOWEVER i have seen no issues on the web regarding this. I think it may be a problem for a user that is constantly treating water and going thru a ton of CR123 batteries.

overall, the MSR MIOX PURIFIER PEN gets a BUSH LAB rating of 9/10. I would have given it a full 10 except for the above mentioned battery strip issue.