Reviews > Water Treatment > Ultraviolet > CrazyCap > Test Report by Nancy Griffith

CRAZY CAP BOTTLE
TEST SERIES BY NANCY GRIFFITH
LONG-TERM REPORT
July 28, 2020

CLICK HERE TO SKIP TO THE FIELD REPORT
CLICK HERE TO SKIP TO THE LONG-TERM REPORT

TESTER INFORMATION

My outdoor experience began in high school with a co-ed scout group which made a 10-day canoe voyage through the Quebec wilds. I've been backpacking since college in Pennsylvania. I have hiked 1/4 of the Appalachian Trail and 2/3 of the Pacific Crest Trail. My typical trip is in the Sierra Nevada from a few days to a few weeks long. My base weight is lightweight at 15 lb (6.8 kg) while still using a tent, stove and quilt. Longer mileage summer trips are now stoveless.

INITIAL REPORT

PRODUCT INFORMATION & SPECIFICATIONS

The entire contents

Manufacturer: Microlyscs
Year of Manufacture: 2019
Manufacturer's Website: http://www.thecrazycap.com
MSRP: $69 US

Listed Weight: Not Listed
Measured Weights:
Cap only: 2.2 oz (61 g)
Bottle only: 9.1 oz (259 g)
Charger only: 1.1 oz (30 g)

Color Tested: Cyan
Other Colors Available: Teakwood, Marble, Sapphire, Onyx, Blush, White

Made in China

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

Cap while sterilizing

The Microlyscs CrazyCap is a UV LED water sterilizer that comes as a cap only or with a sturdy 17 oz (0.5 L) bottle. The cap also fits other cola-style water bottles. There are two sterilization modes: normal and crazy which are activated with a touch sensor on the cap. Double-tapping on the cap activates the normal mode while it takes five taps for the crazy mode. Per the website, normal mode is a 60 second cycle while the crazy mode is 120 seconds. Normal mode is recommended for tap water or public fountains while crazy mode is recommended for streams and ponds. When the mode is activated, the ring on top of the cap turns blue. Once the sterilization cycle ends, the ring turns green. The cap also cycles on every 4 hours for a quick 20 second cycle to keep your bottle clean and germ-free.

Deep UV kills microbes and pathogens along with the typical bacteria, viruses and mold. It does not remove particulate or chemicals like chlorine or fluoride. The wavelength the CrazyCap uses is 278 nm which is outside of the visible wavelength of 400-700 nm.

The cap itself is rechargeable and the UV LEDs are designed to last 500,000 water treatments. This is equivalent to 100,000 L in normal mode or 50,000 L in crazy mode. The charger is a portless USB which takes 2 hours to charge the cap. One charge is expected to last 30 days if left only in the self-cleaning mode or 7 days if used for 5 normal treatments per day during that time. I didn't see any listed battery life if using only the crazy mode like for backpacking. The battery life can be checked at any time with a single tap on the sensor. Green indicates more than 50% left. Orange indicates 25 - 49%. Red indicates less than 25% battery charge remaining. The cap can also be used by itself to sterilize non-porous items like a laptop keyboard, cell phone, toothbrush or even an airline tray.

The bottle is insulated double-walled stainless steel which is designed to keep water cold for 24 hours or hot up to 12 hours. It is BPA-free, food grade and FDA certified.

5% of Microlyscs profits go to water.org to give safe water access to millions of people worldwide.

INITIAL IMPRESSIONS & TRYING IT OUT

The CrazyCap came in a tube package with everything inside. Upon opening, the set seemed very much as advertised on the website. Included was the bottle and CrazyCap along with a charger, two spare O-ring seals, some alcohol disinfectant packets and a small instruction manual. There is also a cloth storage bag to fit all of it inside.

The manual has the basic information to get the CrazyCap working, but the website is very interesting with a load of other information about the company, their commitment to providing clean water globally along with water testing reports and details on how the CrazyCap works. I found it all to be fascinating for such a simple concept.

I love that the bottle supports elimination of single-use plastic water bottles. I carry a water bottle in my carry-on luggage for filling in airports. I'm excited to switch to carrying the CrazyCap so that I can also do a little extra sterilization just in case.

Charging the cap

Orange charge indicator

I looked over the instructions and started with charging the cap. The charger was surprisingly small and lightweight. It slips right onto the cap for a snug but not tight fit. I then plugged in the USB and the cap started pulsing an orange ring. It turned green indicating a full charge after 40 minutes.

Next, I removed a thin plastic protectant shield from the working end of the cap, filled my bottle with water, screwed the cap on, tapped twice and timed 60 seconds of pulsing blue light which then turned to solid green flash at the end of the cycle. I repeated the sterilization in crazy mode by tapping five times and timing 2-1/2 minutes of pulsing blue light before turning to solid green. Note that this is 1/2 minute longer than the website stated. I ran another crazy mode just to double-check the time. I see that the included instructions note 2.5 minutes so maybe the website is just out-of-date. Then I drank some water and found the size and rim of the bottle to be comfortable on my lips and mouth.

I like the idea of using the cap to sterilize hard surfaces, so I used it on the kitchen sponge (not a hard surface, but what the heck), my cell phone and my laptop keyboard. I plan to use it on airplane trays too.

The color of the bottle is beautiful. I liked so many of the available options particularly the wood and marble versions, but I went with a bright color that I know would be easy to see in the outdoors.

READING THE INSTRUCTIONS

There is a one-year warranty on defects in materials and workmanship.

Instructions provided for use of the cap are straight-forward.
1) Fully charge the CrazyCap before using
2) Fill bottle with water
3) Screw on CrazyCap finger-tight
4) Tap to activate either normal or crazy mode
5) Drink upon completion of purification cycle

The alcohol wipes are intended for cleaning off the bottle mouth since the UV sterilization cannot reach this area. It isn't clear why the UV cap can't be used to sterilize the bottle mouth though. Maybe I'd use the wipes just to save battery life.

Do not look directly into the UV light!

The CrazyCap cannot be put in the dishwasher!

SUMMARY

The Microlyscs CrazyCap is a simple yet powerful tool to provide UV sterilization of water in a variety of situations including backpacking and traveling.

Initial Likes:
Simple Concept
Easy to Use
Gorgeous Bottle
Rechargeable
Color-coded light indicates status

Initial Concerns:
Will battery and charging life be sufficient for backpacking trips?
Can I fit the cap onto a lighter bottle for backpacking?
Will I have to filter water anyway to remove silt/debris in streams and ponds?

LONG-TERM REPORT

LONG-TERM TEST LOCATIONS AND CONDITIONS

I used the CrazyCap Bottle nearly every day during the past several months. I used it for two backpacking trips, multiple overnight camping trips, fifteen morning runs, thirteen hikes, nine mountain bike rides and also for pickleball, tennis, softball, kayaking, fishing, working in the yard and just to have water in the car or office.

Cherry Creek

Backpacking:
Emigrant Wilderness, Sierra Nevada, California: 3-day fishing trip from base camp; 15 mi (24 km); 5,960 to 7,380 ft (1,817 to 2,249 m) elevation; 30 to 74 F (-1 to 23 C); varied conditions from full sun to dark clouds and cold winds

Redfish & Alpine Lakes, Sawtooth Range, Idaho: 4 days; 27 mi (43 km); 6,547 to 8,337 ft (1,996 to 2,541 m) elevation; 40 to 75 F (4 to 24 C); varied conditions from full sun to light sprinkles

Car Camping:
Silver Lake, Sierra Nevada, California: 3-day fishing trip including kayaking and hiking; 7,200 ft (2,200 m) elevation; 49 to 80 F (9 to 27 C); varied conditions from full sun to sprinkles with major thunderstorms nearby

White Pocket, Vermillion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona: overnight; 4 mi (6.4 km); 5,646 to 5.732 ft (1,721 to 1,747 m) elevation; 52 to 76 F (11 to 24 C); clear skies

Kanab, Utah: overnight; mountain biking and hiking; 4,970 to 5,250 ft (1,515 to 1,600 m) elevation; 52 to 76 F (11 to 24 C); clear skies

PERFORMANCE IN THE FIELD

Mountain biking Utah

I really enjoyed using the CrazyCap Bottle for keeping me hydrated nearly every day of the test period. I like the shape of the bottle. It fits in my hand, my pack pockets and my car console easily and comfortably. The metal bottle lip is comfortable on my mouth even when the water inside is ice-cold.

I measured the number of UV sterilization cycles it took for the battery to cycle from green to orange to red to dead. The first test was over a two-month period. It took 10 crazy modes and 26 normal modes to completely drain the battery. To drain the battery to orange took 8 crazy modes and 8 normal modes. Then to drain to red took 2 crazy modes and 13 normal modes. Finally, in order to fully drain the battery after it had turned red took another 5 normal modes. So, if you consider a crazy mode to be 2 times a normal mode, then I saw 46 uses per charge.

The second time, I used all crazy modes and it took 60 cycles to drain the battery. It took 14 cycles to turn to orange, another 34 cycles to change to red and 12 more cycles to until completely dead. This was over a one-month period.

The third time over another month-long period, I saw 18 normal and 18 crazy cycles so far.

As a reminder, CrazyCap claims 7 days of 5 normal uses per day or 35 normal uses per charge. A reminder on the color code is that green indicates greater than 50% battery left while orange indicated 25-49% and red less than 25%.

Although the CrazyCap is supposed to activate every hour for 20 seconds to keep water sterile, I never saw any indication of this such as a light blinking. I'm quite sure that having this bottle around me for 4 months that I would have noticed it once or twice.

Early in the testing period, the COVID-19 pandemic hit making the UV sterilizer portion priceless. I used the cap extensively for sterilizing phones, laptops and car interiors. Of course, there is no way to tell if it killed anything, but it couldn't hurt! On one particular day, early in the pandemic, I shopped at a drug store. The clerk was clearly sick and during the transaction even touched my phone. With an elderly parent that I was about to visit, I was in a panic. I went to the parking lot, hand-sanitized and then spent many cycles UV sterilizing everything. It gave me some peace-of-mind that I wouldn't be carrying a virus into an elder facility.

Sawtooths Idaho

For sterilizing water, I only used the cap with the supplied water bottle, but I did find that it fit perfectly into the mouth opening of a Sobe or Vitamin Water bottle. The threads don't engage with the plastic water bottle though. But I think for longer backpacking trips in the future, I will leave the steel bottle at home and just carry the cap. I found the bottle size to be perfect for trips where water was prevalent. It allowed me to easily fill up along the trail. Longer water-less stretches of trail would require quite some time to UV sterilize large quantities of water at one time for long carries. I wouldn't plan to use this cap for those types of trips. All of the water that I encountered was clear so I didn't have to filter out any silt.

That said, I LOVE the double-wall stainless steel bottle! My routine was to fill it half-way with water and then fill with crushed ice. I had COLD water all day. Even on the Sawtooth backpacking trip which was a hot hike in, I still had ice in the bottle for dinner. Nice. One time, I filled the bottle with all crushed ice at 8am and still had a little ice two days later at noon or 52 hours later! After 26 hours, the bottle had half ice. I used the bottle mainly for plain water, but multiple times I added drink packets of tea, coffee or other fruit-flavored beverages. The clean-up was always easy even with the small-necked bottle. There was no residual flavors from the prior beverages contaminating my water the next time.

My main concern with the CrazyCap was its usefulness for backpacking. At only 17 oz (1/2 L) of sterilized water per cycle, one backpacking trip could add up to many cycles. It turned out that the rechargeable battery life was plenty for multi-day trips. I found this to be much more useful than other UV sterilization methods that require disposable batteries. I was always carrying extra batteries and not getting nearly the life that the Crazy Cap does.

Lastly, I love the color of the bottle and since it is unique in the forest, I had no problem finding it under any leaf litter or other forest debris. The bottle took a beating at times but I cannot find a single scratch in the finish. Amazing, really. The bottle did take a few drops and so there is one crease in the side-wall and one dent in the cap, but neither caused any functional problems. This is one tough bottle.

SUMMARY

The Microlyscs CrazyCap delivers! I was very pleased that such a simple product could provide sterile water even for longer backpacking trips and have the versatility of using the cap alone for sterilizing hard surfaces.

Great:
Extremely durable (both cap and bottle)
Better battery life than advertised
Battery status light
Gorgeous bottle color doubles as 'hard to lose'
Rechargeable - NO batteries to carry
Easy clean-up

Not-as-great:
Not as useful for sterilizing a lot of water at one time

This concludes my Long-Term Report and this test series. Thanks to Microlyscs and BackpackGearTest.org for the opportunity to try out this innovative product.

Reviews > Water Treatment > Ultraviolet > CrazyCap > Test Report by Nancy Griffith