Re: [Philmont]: Polar Pure - some observations

The report from the field on MicroPur...

Back from our Autumn Adventure trip last week and catching up.

As mentioned in the message below, our crew was field testing the MicroPur
tablets last week. We were issued 100 tablets (not enough by themselves),
also carried Polar Pure, carried water from Base Camp for our first trail
camp, were supplied with water from Base at Head of Dean, and only boiled
our cooking water.

The tablets come in strips of ten, and each tablet will treat a liter. The
strips are perforated so they can easily be separated into five pairs of
tablets. However, it is not possible to separate the pair into individual
tablets unless you cut the strip. It also is not possible to get the tablet
out of the package without cutting with a knife or scissors - in that
regard, the packaging is VERY user unfriendly. A "blister pack" where the
tablet could be popped out would be much more convenient.

The treatment procedure is very similar to Polar Pure - drop one tablet into
a liter of water, give it a minute or so to dissolve, shake the bottle, and
bleed the threads. Let sit for 30 minutes out of the sunlight and it is
good to go.

Initially, there is a strong chlorine odor and taste. However, if you wait
longer than the minimum 30 minutes, the odor and taste is not as strong.

The thing that really surprised me was the warnings on the packaging, which
follows:

PRECAUTIONARY STATEMENTS
DANGER. Corrosive. Causes irreversible eye damage and skin burns. Harmful
if absorbed through skin. Harmful if swallowed. Do not get in eyes, on
skin, or on clothes. Wear protective eyewear (safety glasses), protective
clothing and rubber gloves. Wash thoroughly with soap and water after
handling. Remove contaminated clothing and wash clothing before reuse.

Obviously, we did not have or use safety glasses, protective clothing, or
rubber gloves. I would think that the difficulty in getting a tablet out of
the packaging increases the chances of contact, compared to an easier to pop
out blister package.

In contrast, the warnings on the Polar Pure bottle are less strident, and
pertain only to contact with the crystals (which could only happen if the
bottle breaks).

We were told that the cost (to Philmont) is about $0.12 a tablet, more that
Polar Pure but less than the prices on the webpage links from a couple weeks
ago.

We were also told that Philmont would be field testing the MIOX product this
fall.

- Al Thomson

-----Original Message-----
From: Alan and/or Brenda Thomson [mailto:abthomson@comcast.net]
Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2004 9:50 PM
To: Philmont List
Subject: Re: [Philmont]: Polar Pure - some observations

Jim Moss writes....

This is the link to the website for the Katadyn Micropur MP1 Drinking Water
Tablets which you will be using next year at Philmont instead of Polar Pure.

Comment...

Was on the telephone with Ryan King at Philmont this afternoon going over a
couple last minute details on our Autumn Adventure trek next week. He told
me our crew will be using the Micropur tablets rather than Polar Pure.

So, a report from the field will be forthcoming...

- Al Thomson, Troop 236, Schooley's Mountain, NJ
2004 Autumn Adventure
2003 726P2 (short trek)
2002 Autumn Adventure
2001 703E11 (Trek 21)
2000 Autumn Adventure
1999 703K2 (Trek 9, now 4)

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Received on Wed Sep 29 20:14:35 2004