Three or four years ago, an outfitter in mammoth told me that it was somehow either illegal or extrememly difficult to sell aqua mira in california.
I’ve checked campmor and REI and neither outfitter sells the drops. does anyone know what the story is here? I’ve found a site that sells it but I’m a little wary of buying something on the interent that I can’t get at a normal store.
stryker
I was told that aqua mira is being used to cook up meth so that’s why it’s not sold in a lot of stores. It is not illegal to purchase just hard to find now thanks to those damn scabby, toothless, tweekers.
Feral
Yeah, I couldn’t buy it in CA in '04, either. I was told it wasn’t approved by the state for purification. I found it in OR, but they sold it as a “taste enhancer” or something like that, again not approved.
I get it from Campmor.com, for a decent price, too. You can check at the McNett web site for other dealers.
Garlic
The outfitter in Big Bear sells it says he doesnt give a damn about it not being approved in Ca. it’s available in all other states. He said when I was there in May '07 that it was going to be approved in a few months. Let me call someone here… I just called Mammoth Mountainairing and they confirmed that they still don’t have it and it’s still not aproved here. Just order online and send in some Mail Drops. Also carry a filter So Cal’s water is pretty funky, and you dont want big particles in what your drinking or cow hair. Besides if it really is what people claim maybe you could have it in the morning instead of coffee:x
Guino
Has anyone tried just using a cheesecloth to filter out big stuff and a steripen to zap the bugs? Seems like this could be lighter than carrying a regular filter and potentially as or more effective?
Tree
If the water is really bad, it may not filter through a cheese cloth. You have got me thinking though that maybe I’ll bring some cheese cloth and try it out.
How much does a steripen with batteries weigh?
jalanjalan
I hear a coffee filter works well. I just use my bandanna for the big chunks.
The steripen looks superior to a filter, but I won’t carry either, personally. Put me in a room with a bowling ball and I’ll break it. Aquamira is reliable and simple enough even for me. And I’m not sure about battery life–the website shows an average of one set of batteries for 10 to 15 gallons.
Garlic
I wouldnt just plan on pre filtering all your water. One source in Oregon we used, we prefiltered through doubled up long under wear and socks, (Great Huh?) then Every few pump strokes had to clean my MSR miniworks EX. I heard from steripen users that they don’t kill stuff in the shadow of particulates in the water. None seemed to worried though. Aproduct called Polar Pure is cool too. It’s a bottle of Iodine crystals, seems like alchemy when you use it, but super simple no mixing, and can treat thousands of gallons of water, for just a few ounces of weight.
Guino
It works for me. The MSR or Sweet Water drops is somilar like bleach. When the water was looking gross, I was using iodine tablets, and add some crystal light, taste so good!
Stomp’er
I bought Aqua Mira direct off the company website, shipped easily to Florida. I just plan to include replacements in my drop boxes as I get low. They sell 1 oz and 2 oz versions, at the same prices Ive seen elsewhere online.
Slainte
hey guino, remember when the cows poo’d next to our water source in so cal- and then we were eating lunch and we had a show down with them! good times
Anyway aqua Mira’s good stuff but i wanna try the steripen this summer. The MSR Miox is pretty unreliable. There were a lot of times in southern cali i wished i had a filter due to chunkies and floaters but if you’re as thirsty and have as scarce water sources as we did last year as long as its treated it still tastes good. looks like it may be a fairly good year for water so far so happy trails everyone!
canyonman
I too am considering purchasing the Steripen. It would save me about 10 ounces compared with my Sweetwater filter, which I love, but am looking to save weight and space. I’m still researching Steripen and appreciate all the discussion on these forums as I am learning a lot; however, I would like to add what I know at this point as well. The way I see it, advantages would be less weight, less bulk, quick, and does not affect taste. Plus ultra-violet is a legitimate purification method. Disadvantages is that it’s not field maintainable, but you can always boil in a pinch until you can replace. Doesn’t work as reliably in cloudy water, but they do have a pre-filter, and treat longer if water is cloudy. Biggest disadvantage is that it does not leave a residual that keeps on working (like chemicals). Someone mentioned that if you get untreated water on the rim, you could do like chemical users do, loosen the rim and shake–but think about this. Without a residual that keeps on treating, this approach would only serve to re-contaminate the water you just treated with the Steripen. So cross-contamination with contaminated water on rim, etc. is something about which you still have to be careful. Personally, though, I’m thinking about trying it. Advantages seem to outweigh the disadvantages of it. Although I’m still researching it, my confidence is growing, and I’m seeing mostly good reports from hikers who’ve used it. Thanks for the exchange of information.
Chipmunk Whisperer