These things are awesome.

"Hey Bob, check this out."

"Sweet, what does it do?"

*swings racket into Bob's arm*

"@#$%^@#$"

These have been around for years.

more like centuries or millenia. They are available at harbor freight for like 2 or 3 dollars and work great.

I used to use these to kill flies & misquetos in South Korea.

Its really kewl since it fries the insect into dust leaving you basically nothing to clean up.

I actually thought it was some kind of taser when my cousin used it on my friend.

Actually there is a second layer that will protects you from the shock unless that part touches the part that actually shocks you.

Yeah guys not exactly breaking news! I first saw one of these at least 5 or 6 years ago if not a little longer.

They sell them at my local dollar store... it's old tech.

Giz osmetimes I wonder if you guys ever get out. I have had one for years, and so have many of my friends

I got one at Harbor Freight last year for 4 bucks without batteries. Its good for a few minutes of entertainment in the back yard.

old news giz
but still fun :D

Heh, these are banned in Australia... which is a bit of shame, we seem to have more bugs than anyone.

Gosh Jack, didn't you check froogle first?

starts at $4.99 from various & sundry outlets online.

also, posts on this were in 2005 on quickonlinetips, boing boing, and *gasp* engadget!

what's funnay is at quickonlinetips there's posters saying how old it was THEN "back in 99 I was usin' these..." "I picked up 6 of these for 90 cents each a buncha years ago in thailand..."

I live in Thailand and everyone has these. They are like $3-$4 here and every home has about 5 of them at least. You will see people before going to bed, turn off all the lights in their room, use the 'light' feature on them to lure the mosquitoes towards the light, then zap em. Its pretty funny, me and my wife have had to do this a few times when our maid has left our door open to outdoors and we got invaded with mosquitos. But they typically fall apart, the plug part, after a few months, but you get what you pay for...

Yeah, those do hurt. My fucker of a friend smacked me with one. I mean, it was like ... getting slapped with a tiny ruler by a nun in rapid succession. Say, several hundred times a minute.

My finger was slightly numb for about five minutes afterwards

I used to scare kids with that thing back in the days, i would put a coin on it hold the button and just watch the sparks fly.

seriously now, what's next.. "Lit torch works wonders with insects!" ?

Fun to use!

if you smack someone's arm with it, a vague steak-like aroma will linger in the air for a few seconds.

As many have already pointed out, these things have been around for a while, but this does not change the fact that they are awesome... and painful...

My family in vietnam has them for flies and mosquitoes. They break pretty damn easy though so theres like 5 of em around the house that dont wok.

My brother in law brought me one of these from Canada. I live in mosquito country. This thing is some of the most fun I ever had killing insects. It makes this satisfying crackling 'zztt' when you thwap one, and it falls to the floor, dead as a doornail. To be honest, it doesn't work great for small mosquitoes (gaps are a little too wide); only gets 'em one out of three swings (probly when wings are fully extended) but it is a lot of fun when you get one and it stays stuck to the wires. You keep triggering the electricity, 'zztt' 'zztt' and its evil little body keeps jumping and visibly sparking. Wow I really hate mosquitoes I guess.

this is incredible

The best part is the freshly bbq bugs make great treats for my koi

there's a game show here in taiwan that uses these guys to zap the losing contestant.

These are a bad idea because you basically send disgusting insect parts flying everywhere. Mmm, nothing like breathing in aerosolized fly guts.

When i first saw one of these i though it was an egg slicer. (they were the ones wihtout the 'protection' layers)

I bought mine about 5 years ago, several dozen burns, and several hundred dead mozzies later it's still going strong. Mine however doesn't have that bullshit safety netting on the front...

What do you mean old news? Come on. Cut them some slack. I bet they just haven't reported about this before, because they haven't been outside for quite some time and hence haven't had any real use for this little thing.

But as you all start coming outdoors you'd better check more of these wondrous anti-bug stuff out. I heard there are salves, nets and even hats (big in Australia) to keep the buggers out of your face!

if you want new news. attach a bunch of these to a roomba.

the ensuing of hilarity is guaranteed.

I have no screens on the windows in the school where I teach, and no air conditioning, either. It is either leave the windows closed and have intolerable heat, or open the windows and invite a stream of vicious stinging insects. Hornets, wasts, yellow jackets...they all stand guard outside the window ready to invade and terrorize the kids. Heck, and me, too. My ol' trusty bug racket bit the dust last fall after years of faithful service, and I need to get another. The entertainment value alone in seeing their fat chem teacher flying all over the classroom to destroy a wasp at least three times more wily than he is guarantees hilarity.

I have one from Harbor Freight. best 4 bucks I ever spent.

arm yourself with two of these and go smash open the nearest wasps nest. it can be a battle of will and fortitude amongst your friends. whoever can kill / piss off the most wasps while staying within a chalked out 20' diameter circle (centered on the nest obviously.) 1 point per wasp / -5 points each time you step outside the circle.

once you get good enough there is "Pro" mode where you are naked and oiled up in fish grease first and the circle drops to a mere 10' around.

ive had this thing for a year. i think it was like 2 bucks. i live in israel btw.

its useful but its just crappy plastic that slowly falls apart. not worth 20 bucks.

Old. Like, really old. I know a guy who bought one in Syria.

They also put bug spray in aerosol "'spray'" cans now, I have heard from the West.

Oh goody, a "this is old" fest.

Folks, saying "this is old" is old.

You are victims of your own meme.

saw these are target yesterday actually... prob different brand tho

Yeah, we've had one for a while now. It's so much fun to nail a fly with one and hear the "crack" as the electricity kills it.

I zapped a spider with that thing when i was a kid. It was very entertaining.

Me: "DIE SPIDER! DIE!"
Spider: "DONT TASER ME BRO!"
Me: ""DIE!"

We broke off the top half of the hoop, rolled the two layers of the wire mesh back to each side, and then yelled "cattle prod" as we attacked friends and enemies. Shoving a 9 volt in there would have been better, but we had limited resources at the time...

I think the difference here is that this one is RECHARGEABLE. Which is sweet.

death to bugs! Sweet, sweet grilled death.

They have these at Harbor Freight for $3. I want some of these just to whack people on the butt. And at no time in this comment did I say "This is old", oh dammit!!

Bought mine at harbor Freight used it to kill Miller Moths during the '02 invasion in CO. Those moths stink like crap when they fry.
I found that a small light left on overnight with a bowl of soapy water underneath worked better and no stink.

Much rather have a cattle prod. MUCH more satisfying crackle, and a whole lot more fun to use on your friends too.

I'm pretty sure you guys had a DIY on one of these several months ago- I could be wrong, and I'm too lazy to check. I recall the DIY project turning it into a personal taser using the plug from an extension cord as prongs. I use one of these at home where I live in Northern California, to take out those monster horse flies. They go DOWN. In flames. Awesome.

@strider_mt2k: Um...it's not a meme or catch phrase, it's an observation that a number of Giz writers are either-
-Shut-ins who never leave the house
-Too busy to see if something has been posted before
-Faking the whole gadget interest thing

I like this site and I want to see higher quality content from it. It's friendly, constructive criticism.

ah.

poor man's taser.