[pct-l] waterproof pack; cheap CR123 cells; chlorine dioxiede tabs

[Dan Africk]

I always use a waterproof compression dry sack for my sleeping bag, another
one for my clothes, and small stuff sacks and/or zip-lock freezer bags for
anything else I want to keep dry. Granite gear makes some nice ultralight
compression dry sacks, which are less than 2.5oz for a medium. I bring a
pack cover also, because I figure a wet pack adds far more weight than the
pack cover, and pack covers are very easy to slip on and off. I'm thinking
of getting a packa (www.thepacka.com), which is a combination pack cover and
rain jacket, but that depends on whether I end up buying a smaller pack or
not(my current pack is too big).

For anyone who uses CR123 lithium cells, for either a steripen or something
else, you can find them dirt cheap online. I use them for my headlamp and
flashlight, and they are $1 a piece or less at
www.batteryjunction.com/tpen-tcr123a-.html . There's no reason to buy these
in stores when you can order them this cheap, and put them in your resupply
boxes. Another nice thing is that you can order them as units of 2 or 3
cells stacked and shrink-wrapped together, so you can load them into your
device more easily, without taking the shrink wrap off. This also makes them
easier to organize, harder to lose, and since the cells in each set are
produce in the same lot, they are more closely matched and in theory should
perform better.

I have used the katadyne mp-1 tablets, which are chlorine dioxide just like
aquamira. I like them and they are very easy to use, but way too expensive
to use on a regular basis(I use them as a backup to filters). As someone
mentioned, the 4 hour treatment time is only there for technical
bureaucratic reasons. Chlorine dioxide kills all bacterial and viruses in 15
minutes, in any conditions. It kills cryptosporidium and giardia in 30
minutes in most water conditions, it's only in very cold, very dirty water
that 4 hours are required to kill crypto and giardia. It is my understanding
that chlorine dioxide is more effective than iodine, especially at killing
crypto and giardia. There is some info on this subject here, with the info
on chlorine dioxide about 1/3 down the page:
www.equipped.org/watrfood.htm#Katadyn