I purchased my first bottle of Polar Pure in preparation for a week-long backpacking trip with my youngest son in Michigan's Upper Peninsula at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. In the past I had used a combination of iodine tablets and physical filtering. Polar Pure was so simple to use, mixed easily, produced reliable results, and included appropriate safeguards against stray crystals getting into your water. The iodine taste was minimal and easily masked with the use of powdered drink flavoring. I don't plan to use anything but Polar Pure for future trips.

First of all a note regarding the reviews I have seen complaining of an empty bottle: The bottle is not empty, old, expired, or anything else. That tiny bit of Iodine in the base will last longer than you can keep track of / not break the bottle. Honest. For usage, read and follow the directions on the bottle.

I have used this product for several years now, including extensively for international travel (latin america, middle east) and it has worked superbly. I am still on the original container, which is showing no sign of depletion. By contrast in the same time I would have gone through several bottles of pills, which also spoil in air.

There are a few tricks for usage:
1) If you do not care for the taste of iodine it is possible to convert the iodine in your water to iodide by adding a small amount of vitamin C (lemon works well) to the treated water AFTER letting it sit for the required treatment time. Iodide is colorless and tasteless, unlike its brown chemical cousin. This should only be done after allowing water treatment to occur however, since it will render the iodine ineffective for treatment

2) If concerned about viruses you can use a reduced dose of iodine after a filter. This is quite effective

3) Keep the bottle somewhere warm (outside of a pack in the sun works well) This will increase solubility and thus the amount of water you can treat at a time.

Anyway, I hope this is helpful, and happy travels!

Backpacking with a group of experienced back country people, this became the most popular item in camp. It's so much easier than pumping and has almost no iodine taste at all. I wish the cap had measurement lines so you could tell 1.2 capfulls from 1.5 and I wish you didn't have to bring the water up to 68 degrees to ensure all crypto was killed, but that's really minor compared to the convenience of use and safety it affords when the water source is uncertain.

My bottle of Polar Pure came without any tamper protection (the lid sealed somehow) so how do I know it wasn't tampered with? Is this normal or does the company send them out this way?

How can I be sure I'm not being poisoned instead of protected?

Also, many people are confused when they get the bottle of Polar Pure and see the tiny amount inside.

I found this on the Polar Pure website:

"Question: I received my bottle of Polar Pure and was surprised to find out how very few crystals are actually in the bottle. Is this normal?
Yes this is normal. Each bottle of Polar Pure contains approximately 1 teaspoon of iodine crystals. While this looks like a small amount, it is capable of treating up to 2000 quarts/liters of water. The average backpacker will have a bottle of Polar Pure for many years before the iodine has been depleted. As long as you can see iodine crystals in the bottom of your Polar Pure bottle, it is safe and effective to use."

Even if this is the greatest product in the world I'm still wondering why it isn't tamper-proof.

This stuff is awesome. The taste is negligible (much less than a pill iodine treatment). It works as directed (i never got sick). Boyscouts use it in Philmont, NM. I believe, over a hundred thousand scouts come through each year, and it works fine for them (this is where i heard about it).

I Definitely would recommend this to a friend. & Even bought one for a friend. :-)

I don't understand why there are still pill iodine treatments out there. $8 for 15 or 30 or even 50 pills is a rip off compared to Polar Pure.