I have a Steripen Classic. For it I have a 1 quart (946 mL) Powerade bottle, but I'm considering getting a Nalgene bottle which is advertized as 1 quart, but shows measurements up to 1 liter. Which of these would be best? Part of my reason for asking is the size of the mouth of the bottle (avoiding touching the side of the mouth with an untreated water container), but I realize that there may be other things to consider, such as the measurements on the side of the Nalgene.

I have a SteriPen and I use a wide mouth Nalgene bottle simply because it is easier to perform the stirring motion you need to get good mixing of the water in the bottle to make sure all of the water in the bottle is well exposed. Man that’s a long sentence. I could have probably written that better!

I've communicated many times with Steripen tech support and the steripen handles a liter or a quart, and in fact, the steripen works just great even with a 1.9 oz Ziploc twist n Loc Container plastic quart container -- which has the advantage of much less weight and is 100% easy to clean out. Makes a great shake/drink container too (with the lid). I checked with Steripen about the okayness of such and it was okayed by Aaron in their tech support and I used it with a steripen for 23 days on the JMT this last summer. Just make sure the container is leak proof -- some of the ZipLock containers are not. You have to fill it up with some water, put lid on, and shake it to see if it is leakproof.

Here is what Steripen's support told me about this container (06/30/2009):

"The container shape of the Ziploc twist n Loc Container will not be a detriment to the effectiveness of the SteriPEN. When using your SteriPEN Adventurer, remember that you must agitate the water for effective treatment. To ensure the container shape does not adversely effect the treatment, simple stir the lamp of the SteriPEN Adventurer through the whole container.

My only concern with this container is solarization. Do you know what material is used to manufacture this container and its thickness? Certain plastics will yellow and become brittle when exposed to UV radiation. The container may crack after extensive use with the SteriPEN. This is the same as when you leave it outside in the sun for extended periods."

Links about container:
http://www.ziploc.com/?p=b7
(you want the medium size)

Edited by marti124 on 01/07/2010 12:55:23 MST.

Roleigh, was the twist n loc the only water container you carried on the JMT? Or did you purify in the twist n loc and then pour into a platy, or other container for transport/stored water?

I had two 2-liter platypus containers plus a 900 ml titanium coffee mug/pot. I used the 1 qt container for shaking and mixing sport drinks, sterilizing via steripen.