Customer Reviews

Charcoal Companion Amazing Bug Zapper

5 star:		(154)
4 star:		(55)
3 star:		(25)
2 star:		(17)
1 star:		(45)

 

 

In the summer time, the place I live is infested with black widows everywhere. They balloon into the house, build webs around the bulkhead, doors, etc. We're talking infestation folks. Last thing I need is a guest to sit too close to a widow tending a missed eggsack and deliver a bite.

I grew frustrated using my stove lighter, rubber bands, and Formula 409 was totally useless Against widows. One fully grown widow seemed to even chuckle and - dare I say - give me her version of the bird as she crawled OUT OF A FROTHING POOL OF 409. Inconceivable!

Then my girlfriend's mom gave me this zapper for my b-day, ironically, because she knows I love insects (???).

Anyway, I offensively left it in the corner to dust-over until I realized this would be perfect for widows (even though I'm strongly against killing non-poisonous spiders).

Well, the light bulb went off and, by the Power of Grayskull, I launched a full assault on the young and old widows around the house. I simply turned the Zapper on and first blocked their escape back into their hidey-hole then slowly moved zapper towards the middle of the web where they were. Eventually, they run out of web and the Zapper's Fury crumples them into a smoldering ball at my feet. A-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

A-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Highly recommended.

I bought this little goodie as a lark and was surprised to learn what kind of a zap and spark one could get from tiny little batteries .....

Certainly not the tool to have if you have any kids .... OR .. if you have any co-ordination problems and may hit yourself or anyone around you ... Touch the metal parts of the swatter and you will very quickly learn what religion is all about with stinging ZAP and a spark ....

Flying bugs are fried immediately ... so if you have any fear or allergy of wasps or bees ... well then this baby is for you ...

Oh yes ... for those of you with an imagination the Amazing Bug Zapper is as close to Darth's light sword as you can legallay get ... LOL

Keeping the sport in bug zapping, this handy dandy handheld model takes it to competitive levels. The more passive models may be as effective, but are they as FUN? Can you feel SATISFIED? Can you COMPETE?

Please note that this is not a safe toy with a child around (and they are going to be soooo tempted, particularly if a younger sibling is close). Definitely a must have for the barbeque boy, porch princess, and all those Happy Campers. Hint: You probably will need more than one.

Talk about a fun and entertaining way to swat flies! I had a blast attacking a springtime fly swarm when this package first arrived, and I was impressed with its ease of use and effectiveness.

BUT...

The trigger button on the handle is flimsy plastic, and I hadn't used this very long before the internal connection snapped, rendering my cool new toy -- I mean, fly killer -- into a fairly useless lightweight paddle. I recommend you look for one with a more durable construction.

by Tom Knapp, Rambles.(n e t) editor

My wife hates bugs, and I bought this for her. But I liked it so much I ordered another one and will buy more for my parents. The best thing about Bug Zapper is that you don't have to deal with the 'bug juice' (if you swat them), and you don't need to wait for the bugs to land and wait for your swat. I even used it near a bee hive, and it was the best defense against them. A few cautions - 1) don't zap yourself, it's pretty painful, 2) don't hit metal objects, you'll see sparks flying (incl. some windows - "Low-E" windows have metallic coating), 3) you can't kill fruit flies with this zapper since it has horizontal bars that these small bugs pass through. However, you can find double or triple meshed version on ebay or sharper image if you have the urge to kill all sizes of bugs. 4) some big bugs need extended roasting - I've seen a few biggies come back to life after a brief coma.
All in all, it's quite entertaining to use.

This is one of the best products I ever purchased. No more waiting for bugs/flys to land before you can have a chance to get them. With this handheld bug zapper you can zap the bugs anytime you can reach them, you do not have to wait for them to land. Just hold down the 2 buttons so the red light comes on, then once the bug makes contact with the metal bars on the handheld bug zapper it will kill the bug/fly/bee/etc. Some bigger pests like bees will take a second to zap, once they make contact with the metal bars they will stick from the electric current, then they will zap seconds later. Really small bugs zap instantly, people that see this will want one also, it is great. Kind of like a fireworks show at night. This thing zaps bugs just like a regular outdoor bug zapper except it is a handheld zapper. It is completely safe as long you you do not touch the metal bars while the red light is on, or shortly after the light goes off be carefull because the bars still have some charge in them. So do not touch the metal bars unless you want a good shock. You can see how much power this zapper has by pushing the 2 buttons so the red light comes on, then touch the metal bars of the zapper to something metal and you will see and hear a nice zap spark (kind of fun also).

We've owned several models of this type of bug zapper over the years. All but the oldest have safety screens to keep you from touching the electric wires. Alas, the safety screens also keep BUGS from touching the electric wires. Which is why I went nuts and bought several of this particular model. We are still working out the coordination required to press two buttons at once when swinging at an offending insect, a feature not mentioned in the product description. But it's worth it to hear that satisfying POP! as an annoying fly gets zapped.
I have not yet found out if this model is capable of the "perfect storm" moment when under the right conditions a fly explodes in a flash of blue flame. That and the two-button control is why I refrained from the five-star rating.

This is the most **wonderful** bug killer ever invented, and it's the 2nd one I've bought. The 1st one wore out after a couple of years and I was in a panic without it.

Killing spiders is a breeze with this - just hold it over them on the wall or floor, or catch them on it as they fall. It kills them immediately, then just hold them on it as you walk to the trash to dump it. Wasps, bees, hornets, flies... same thing - just hold it over them as they buzz against a window or wall and the minute they hit it, they're dead.

No bug smush from crushing them, and no insecticide smells or residue. I love this thing, and I'm buying it for all my family & friends.

One bit of warning, tho - don't let irresponsible adults or children get their hands on it. It does carry quite a charge for having just a couple of AA batteries in it.

As goofy as it may seem, this is actually very effective at eliminating whatever is bothering you. Each winter we encounter about 1 - 3 wasps each week that find their way into our attic and then somehow get into our house (maybe the fireplace). We have 18 foot ceilings in our family room so it is hard to reach them. I bought this to see if I could rig it to an extension pole used for changing lights and then zap the wasps. I wasn't sure if it had the power to kill something as big as a wasp but it does, with a little help. As soon as the wasp touches the swatter, they fall straight down to the ground. They are pretty darn hurt at this point and I haven't seen one get up from it yet. But just in case, I then hold the swatter on top of them for a good 5 - 10 seconds and watch them fry to be sure they are dead. Works great! I also use this when I'm outside in the evening grilling and the mosquitos are very active. Nice to see them briefly spark and light on fire when they hit the swatter. I've also used it on spiders and even silverfish. It's nice not to have any guts to clean off your walls since this leaves their bodies intact.
Some of the other electric swatters sold on Amazon have protective screens but not this one. I didn't want a protective screen because I wasn't sure if that would prevent a wasp from getting through to the hot wires and being shocked. Plus, if I'm dumb enough to accidentally shock myself, I assume I'll be more careful going forward.
Overall, a very effective product.

These things are, nearly by definition, cheaply made. They're novelty items, not something to seriously use for a major insect problem (that's what bug zappers are for). That being said, this thing is great. It's morbidly fun to watch mosquitos briefly flare when they hit the wires, and somewhat terrifying to see the larger insects flare.