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The Amazing Handheld Bug Zapper
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Vendor Commercial
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ASOTVI Review
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March 20, 2008
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 What is it? A bug zapper shaped like a small tennis racquet
Major Claims – It kills mosquitoes, flies, gnats and other flying insects on contact.
This is a predominately plastic product shaped like a small tennis racquet, with a series of metal wires horizontally comprising the “strings” of the racquet. Two buttons are located on either side of the handle, that when pressed together, illuminate a small red LED to indicate the product is ON, and energizes the strings.
We used a small voltmeter to measure the voltage on the strings when ON, and at the highest sensitivity setting on our meter of 500 volts DC, the product was able to peg the meter out and generate a substantial electrical “spark.” The two AA batteries are able to deliver an instantaneous shock of over 500 volts DC, and with similar products claiming to provide 1,500 volts on the same battery arrangement, we suspect this product to be in a similar range.
As to its effectiveness in killing flying insects, that’s a good-news/bad-news proposition, based upon one’s own eye-hand coordination, skill and marksmanship. Indeed, the product has enough electrical power to deliver a lethal jolt to an insect. We were able to observe this in the case of a bee, a spider, a fly, and several white flies. Unfortunately, capturing that on our video proved to be a most elusive task. Volunteer insects were few and far between, especially on windy days. And therein lies the main issue with this type of product and others like it.
A traditional bug zapper, of the lantern variety that you find at your local hardware store, normally has at its core a florescent light bulb that attracts flying insects to a stationary point. As insects approach the light, they come in contact with the energized screen and meet their demise, also providing hours of amusing “redneck entertainment,” especially in the context of fat June bugs that tend to pop and sizzle for several seconds. This product has no such light to attract insects to it, and therefore the user must “hunt” the bugs. This is not as easy as it sound, especially due to the fact that flying insects in particular, by definition, are a moving target, and many of them quite quick and agile.
Unlike a simple household fly-swatter, whereupon the user typically waits for the insect to alight on a stationary surface, and then take careful aim, this product would likely become damaged if used to swat solid objects with any hard force. Thus, the kill must be ideally made in mid air.
Of course, a mid-air hit is certainly physically possible to do, and presumably with practice, one could conceivably develop a talent for it. But bear in mind, a tennis ball is significantly larger by many orders of magnitude than a housefly or mosquito – and not everyone can hit a tennis ball even with a much larger racquet with far more surface area. Furthermore, bugs do have the ability to “flee” for their lives when being swatted. And remember, when it comes to more aggressive insects like wasps or hornets, if you miss, you can make them mad and may be facing a counterattack.
Our most significant observation of concern about this product is that it very much looks like a child’s toy. Despite the warning sticker featured on the product to the contrary, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility to picture a toddler (who can’t read the sticker) picking it up, grasping it sufficiently to depress both buttons, energizing the strings, and then touching its strings to their body, tongue, face, a sibling, a pet, a sleeping parent, etc. And unlike the traditional florescent light bug zapper, there is no plastic screen to prevent skin contact with the energized wires. That’s potentially a dangerous possibility, all humor value notwithstanding.
Conclusion: The product is an amusing novelty and does work as advertised in terms of its potential to kill an insect. Whether the user has the talent to successfully do so is an open question. We observed that watching someone futilely try to kill bugs with it can be rather entertaining as well. But above all, because it can indeed deliver a high voltage electrical shock, we would strongly recommend that it needs to be kept secure from children (or drunken adults).
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Product: The Amazing Handheld Bug Zapper
Available From: The Companion Group
Summary:
- Small, lightweight, easy to use
- Should be kept secure from children as it looks like a normal child's plaything
$14.99 + S&H
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