SteriPEN Freedom Offers Water Purification with USB Style
As avid outdoorsman we personally have used Steripens to help ensure that we did not get sick when drinking water of unknown purity. In fact, we usually tuck one into our luggage compartment when we travel abroad. While a SteriPen may not help with actual containment, they do kill all the wee beasties in the water (in under a minute via UV radiation) which can ruin a vacation faster than a hurricane. The latest Steripen promises to be just as effective as other models, but does not require you to replace the batteries. Instead of using your typical disposable batteries, the new SteriPen Freedom uses rechargeable and in an interesting twist uses a standard USB cable to charge them. Yes, for the first time ever you can plug in your SteriPen Freedom to your laptop. Unfortunately, while it can indeed charge via your laptop, the new SteriPen Freedom does not have any abilities to tell how much charge is left in its on-board batteries. We personally would love to be able to plug it in and have it pop a small window and inform us battery life and/or the remaining life of the UV lamp which the company claims can last up to 8000 treatments. With that being said, with a relatively reasonable price ($120), we can see not only ourselves but many technology savvy outdoorsmen picking one up to give as "stocking stuffers" for the upcoming Christmas holidays.
