Koolatron Lentek Biteshield RZ02 Electronic Racket Zapper - Assorted colors

Years ago I purchased this identical fly swatter while staying at the Adirondacks, NY, where flying insects were an issue. When we returned home we continued use this fly swatter to battle and kill those annoying flies. A few reasons why this I choose to purchase more of the same. First, obviously the price. Second, it uses AA batteries. I'm uncomfortable purchasing devices that have rechargeable batteries because the devices I have purchased with rechargeable batteries give out after a couple of years. And secondly, unless the batteries are UL approved (or approved by another like agency) there is always the risk of them exploding and/or burning up. Too many times I've read reports of such incidents. Finally, these fly swatters do work and work well. Too often negative reviews are written by competitors, whch you spot because they are only one or two sentences long IMHO.

Great idea in principle, this zapper isn't enough to always kill a bug. Don't expect the effective and satisfying spark and sizzle of plug in units. Small, softer bugs like gnats and mosquitos are pretty reliably and instantly zapped - sometimes they completely evaporate. Flies tend to bounce off, and it just seems to annoy bees a lot. I quickly learned to ignore the bees.... To actually kill a fly you pretty much have to wait for it to land, sneak up and slowly lower the zapper down onto the fly. And they don't always 'die well'. An old fashioned swatter is much faster and easier, but this is obviously the thing for the hopelessly geeky amongst us. Count on geek envy. This one runs on 2 AA batteries. I have seen ones that use 2 D batteries, but doubt they are more powerful, just the batteries last longer. Yours may vary: the one that I received differs from the image amazon shows you. Mine has additional plastic support under the grid, (in the way many other models do), unlike the picture. This is probably a good thing, it is obviously not very tough and the extra structure probably helps. Just the same, this is not meant to 'swat' or hit anything, just come into contact with the target bug.

PRO: this is a fantastic idea and actually works great, the kids leave the garage door open a lot and the garage fills up with fly. They tend to fly around is spots together so you don't even have to wait aim, just swing wildly a few times and you take most of them out. CON: Total FAIL on the battery freaking holder, once you put the batteries in then the battery door / cover does not close and latch so you have to hold the stupid thing all the way at the end where the door is to keep the freaking dam door closed or the batteries fly the hell out of the handle. Yet another great idea smashed by crappy engineering work. I would have gladly paid another buck or two per unit for the stupid battery holder to be properly designed. The engineer should be ASSHAMED OF HIM/HER SELF! I bought three of these and ALL THREE HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM!

I had shipping expedited on this one, as for the past 2 days I was apparantly targeted for torment by one very fast, elusive, and very annoying fly-bully. Dive-bombing my face, sitting behind my shoulder on my office chair, landing on stuff I'm trying to read/focus on...always right there, strategizing, planning his next move for the few moments I could fan him away...I have the regular plastic style swatters, but I couldn't seem to get this fly in that traditional way. I researched several other electronic racket zappers before buying this one, and I am so glad I did! The fly got zapped today, within minutes of receiving this. Seriously. I was trying to swat the fly, but he was too fast for me. After a couple of minutes, I sat the zapper down on the desk. I happened to look over, and there was the fly, ON the zapper. I reached over and pressed the button on the handle and ZAP! There was a tiny electrical charge, accentuated by an audible "zap" sound, and the fly was dead. I couldn't believe it! Certainly, I know that this isn't typical of how it will be used, just laying there, but it sure worked for me. Shortly after, other family members wanted to give it a try, as there were a few other flies buzzing around as well in other rooms. Within under 5 minutes, two or three more were dead. This thing really works well, and cleanup is not a problem. Simply hold the racket flat and turn it over into the trash can, although you may have to tap the racket frame gently to jar loose the carcass, but not at all hard. I don't know how many others were zapped after that, because I moved onto other things, fly-free. We plan on ordering more, everyone wants their own. Update: I came across a rather large centipede on our carpet that refused to die via the traditional method (squashing with a bunch of paper towels while squealing like the girl I am) and in my desperation, I grabbed this zapper and laid it flat over the multi-legged invader and my squeals turned to sighs of relief as it was quickly electrocuted and promptly disposed of. In case you are wondering, no mess, I just took the zapper with it on it and shook it into the toilet and flushed and watched it swirl away. Just in case.

As individuals, we are all wildly different from one another. But as a species, there are certain basic facts that we all agree on. To list just a few: Flies = Annoying. Sparks = Awesome Murder = Fun This device manages to take those three seemingly-unrelated truths and combine them into one amazing product. Play the role of a Greek God in your own living room as you smite lesser creatures with the electric fury of Zeus. But be warned... the power is addictive. Once you've cleared your home of flying pests, you may find that you still crave more. So you step outside, into the shady spot behind your house. It's just as you suspected... there they are, buzzing around like they own the damn place. You'll teach them to squat on your property. After several days of battling your electric muscicide, the flies get wise to you and stop congregating on your property. Your job complete, you can finally rest... briefly. The world could still be a less annoying place... you have the power to make it so. And so you do. You start hanging around Dumpsters and portable toilets, actively seeking out the enemy you have sworn to destroy. Work, family, personal hygiene... these things are no longer important. All that matters now is cleansing the Earth of these belligerent, buzzing bastards. This is your new life. You are the Batman to their Joker, and the world is your Gotham. Crime doesn't sleep, and so neither will you. Not until the job is done. Your wife abandoned you to your quest years ago, and your kids haven't returned any of your calls in months. That's fine. Every war has its nonbelievers, yet a soldier marches on just the same. You're at the beach, battling a swarm that has congregated around some old seaweed, when you see them. They've just stepped onto the sand when you lock eyes with your former life-partner. She looks taken aback at first, but she immediately masks that with a smile that does nothing to hide her sadness. As she gazes at you with a hopeless longing in her eyes, you know that she has finally seen the selfless heroism of your endeavor, and she regrets leaving you more than anything else in the world. You are proud. You are satisfied. You are content. And that's when you hear a buzzing right next to your ear...

This is a great product. I read the reviews and a few of them say the racket is fragile. In fact the racket is quite solidly built. You are not supposed to use this racket as a regular fly swatter by smashing it on hard surface. It should rather be used to approach a flying bug--without smashing into wall. It kills mosquitos very effectively. For flys and larger bugs, it can knock them out in most cases (sometimes kills), which can be followed by stepping or disposed of using a paper towel. I used energizer batteries. Make sure a good pair of batteries are used. Follow up: Well, after it worked for the last summer, we accidentally drop it head down. It was cracked on the rim and no longer functioned. We got another one from Amazon as replacement.

I was hopeful based on other reviews that it would work. I had an issue with basic house flies that were getting in the house from outside. The racket uses 3 layers of screens, but this caused too much "wind" when trying to swat a fly out of the air. If you happen to hit one, the fly needs to touch two layers of screens at the same time to get zapped. Since the racket is well... a racket-- you can't swat-to-kill when they are sitting on the counter. You just trap the fly and hope it walks on the racket and touchs the two layers... and then ZAP! I bought two, since I knew my son would want to try when he saw me swatting... but they both broke. One just quit zapping, and with the other the plastic and layers started coming apart. I missed the 30 day return window, otherwise I would have tried to get a refund.

I bought the Racket Zapper because I was having some trouble with pantry moths in my kitchen. I hate to spray insecticides around food. Well, I retained possesion of the Zapper for all of 2 seconds until my husband saw the gadget. He took over immediately. He LOVES this little gismo!!! He goes around the house looking for pests to kill, and guess what, the pantry moths have all been exterminated, much to my husband's dismay. I guess he finds it very satisfying to zap the little buggers, and it really works. Just ask my husband. He just had to touch the screen to make sure it was zapping. Men! Anyway, when it comes in contact or within close proximity to a bug and you depress the button, it sends out a small current of electricity, and it is all over. There are no instructions on the packaging. You just have to insert a battery, and start zapping. It doesn't really make any noise, so you don't really know it is working until it comes in contact with a bug, and then you see a small spark. Ouch! This is definitely not a toy, so I wouldn't let a kid handle it, because they might try zapping a pesky sibling. I know I would have (Ha-ha!). I highly recommend it.