Customer Reviews

BACTRACK Breathalyzer (Polished Black)

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

At first I was skeptical, but after learning how to use it, I don't go out without it. The key is you must wait 15 or so minutes AFTER your last drink, or it will give you inconsistent results. Too soon after and the alcohol won't be in your lungs, or there may be a drop right on your tongue which sends the reading too low or high. This is in the instruction booklet which I'm surprised I actually opened.

Anyway - this has become a great conversation point at bars. I've had plenty of people come up to me and ask to try it. It turns into a nice social item for getting to know people who you would have never met before. It also keeps me in check as I get close to leaving any bar. This isnt the cure to DUI's or dangerous drivers, but it certainly helps.

I bought this a few weeks ago, stuck it in my car and forgot about it. Some friends and I went out to celebrate their anniversary and I thought for sure that when we left the restaurant that we were able to drive home. We all decided to give the bactrack a try and sure enough, we were all around 0.09 which is above the legal limit. We took a cab instead and saw a DWI checkpoint going on a few miles from the restaurant. This baby probably saved us from a DWI and possibly saved our lives. I'll never leave home without it! The Bactrack is perfect for any drinker. I decided to buy them one for their anniversary as well.

I got my first one about 2 weeks ago... Put batteries in it, blew, 0.00%. Had a beer, waited 20min, blew, 0.03%. blew again, 0.03%. Looks Good! Turned it off, and went to bed.

Woke up the next morning, blew for kicks, "Err". Hmm, tried again, "Err". and again, and again, and... Got a replacement quickly from Amazon's awesome customer service.

_The very same thing happened_. Worked the first night, turned it off, and nothing but "Err" ever since.

This one's going back, and I will not buy another.

Great little product. Easy to use, big bright indicator lights tell you when to breath into it and large crips LCD digits display the result telling you with accuracy if you're too drunk to drive.

It's actually fun at the bars as well. We were guessing where each of us would register on the device and made a drunk game out of it.

Although more difficult to breath into (coordination) without an object to place lips over, the item works as promised. I use it to determine whether someone has been drinking and not so much the level of alcohol content. I only care whether alcohol is present and this gadget is portable and precise.

If you follow the instructions, and use common sense, this thing can be quite accurate, and at the very least, it gives you an idea of how intoxicated you are. For example, I am an average size person, and I drank 3 drinks over 40 minutes. One hour after the first drink, I tried the BACtrack and it read .05, which makes perfect sense. Just make sure you are smart with using it, because it makes sense when it is less accurate. FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS! It says you should wait 20 minutes before ingesting any liquid, smoke, or food. I think you can get away with 10 minutes though. It will be less accurate if five people use it in a two-minute period... doesn't this make sense? So, if you want it to be accurate, wait the 10-20 minutes, and blow into it according to the directions (you "breathe" into it, rather than blowing the air into it). The nature of breathalysers, at least non-professional grade ones like this, is that they are only rated for accuracy at low levels of intoxication (.02, .04, etc). However, they can still be quite accurate, but tend to be less accurate at higher levels. For example, blowing a .22 might tell you that you are actually somewhere between .16-.24. This is something you have to expect if you don't want to drop hundreds on a professional one. Even still, blowing a .22 tells you that either way, you're definitely above .08 and shouldn't drive. This thing was a good purchase. I used the money gathered from recycling at my fraternity to buy one of these. It's a great and fun thing to have in a house with 45 fraternity brothers who want to drive to places.

The Bactrack Breathalyzer is easy to use, more suitable to use by multiple users (as it has no mouthpiece), and is accurate WHEN USED PROPERLY! The problem with it is the same as it would be with any breathalyzer. You HAVE to wait 20 minutes after eating or drinking anything for an accurate reading. Mouth Alcohol could be a factor in any reading if taken too soon after drinking. However (purchased AFTER the fact), it will NOT pay your DUI ticket, so do NOT use as THE definitive factor in drinking and driving. It gives you an "idea." Per our lawyer, the better idea is, if you have had more than 2 drinks, hand your keys to someone who has had less than 2! Also, ask yourself, "Not IF but WHEN you get caught, can you pay the price?" Trust me, the price is hefty!

Easy to use (even while drunk) and everyone wants to use it. Works as advertised and seems to be very accurate. I like that you don't have to touch your lips to it. Highly recommended!

I'm surprised at the positive reviews of this item. Did anyone actually test it out or do any benchmarking? Apparently not unless I somehow got a defective one. It is most definitely not accurate and is inconsistent between readings.

I followed the directions exactly as described and compared the readings on the device to my estimated BAC based on an online calculator. It registered 0.06 or less the entire time, even after 8 drinks and feeling pretty tipsy. A few times it registered 0.00 or 0.01. I'm a bigger guy (200 lbs), but after 8 drinks, even after a few hours, there is NO WAY I should be able to drive. The estimation based on the online calculator told me I should be at 0.106 after 4 hours. In addition to reading low, I tried several readings in a row one right after the other for a comparison and they were almost ALWAYS different by around 0.01 or 0.02. Not only that, if you blow into it within a minute or two after taking a sip of a strong drink, it reads high because of all the alcohol on your breath. In the instructions it tells you to wait 20 minutes and now I know why. Accurate breathalyzers use deep lung samples to calculate BAC, this one does not.

Bottom line, this thing is crap and I would never trust it to determine whether or not you are safe to drive. You'd end up thinking you were OK to drive since it reads low and be MORE LIKELY to get into your car and kill someone.

People love drinking in Louisiana and unfortunately, they love driving too. I've used this to educate friends about their choices.. and it's a lot of fun too. We end up using it at bars to see who's the drunkest..but also, who is sober enough to drive. If nobody is..we just wait around and kick it until they are.

Everyone loves this thing.. I'm very happy i got it.