Planning on doing some backcountry hiking this year? You may finally be able to leave the iodine tablets at home. A new gadget called the SteriPen Journey LCD ($129.95) uses UV rays to disinfect the water and make it safe to drink.

Not much bigger than a writing utensil, the SteriPen is easily stashed into your backpack. Though UV pens have been available before, the SteriPen Journey LCD has a screen that counts down the seconds for you and flashes a smiley face when it's done. Because it can take up to a minute and a half of stirring for 32 ounces of water, having a timer that lets you know you've done the job right is important.

Drinking water will still need to be filtered, and the SteriPen won't work in water that isn't clear. But it's an efficient addition to the high-tech hikers backpack this spring. Another, less expensive UV pen called mUV ($49) is in limited production, but hasn't been fully released yet. The SteriPen Journey will be available in stores in April.