It’s amazing (scary? hilarious?) what you’ll see on TV if you’re not feeling great and you’re just trying to pass a Saturday afternoon with the TV as background noise. A salt rifle! For shooting insects! With everyday table salt! Who doesn’t need one of these? Especially with that clever name: Bug-A-Salt. And only $39.95 plus shipping and handling. What a bargain.
I’m sorry; I can’t stop laughing.
I happened to be watching a program called “The Shark Tank” (at least I think that’s what it was called — I was half-asleep and too bored to change the channel) when the inventors of this little item came on screen. I could not believe that one of the show’s smart guys bought into this. Not because it wasn’t interesting, but rather because I could see China doing a cheap knockoff about 5 minutes after the first ones hit the shelves.
Well, I guess that’s why the guy on tv is rich and I’m sitting here bored, watching crappy TV!
😛
I guess that’s two of us. I wouldn’t have spent a nickel on this thing and about fell over when the ad said I could buy one for “just” $39.95. Obviously I must be seriously out of touch … or something …
LOL! I saw this thing and it wasn’t 40 bucks I would’ve bought it. Hilarious.
I honestly expected something like “$10 plus shipping and handling.” At most. Or maybe a two-fer deal. The price is ridiculous.
Ingenuity has value, and whoever said “sell the sizzle and not the steak” knew what they were talking about. This is not the first attempt to, ah, (over)kill a fly with a hammer.
Oh good grief. That thing is even more expensive than the salt rifle!
On the other hand, there is on the market an ingenious device that does the same thing. It is mechanical, does not require batteries, and works from about the same range as the bugasalt. Suitable for both left- and right-handers, it is light and portable. Called the Flyswatter, the battery industry has been trying to stamp it out for years, but this proven invention keeps coming back. The appeal is mostly to older consumers whose brains have actually matured. 😀
Ah, simple and effective is no longer in vogue ( do they say that any more “vogue”? Trendy maybe….that’s dated, too…)
Great observation, Jim
Thanks, Mouse. I found one online, $0.89. I didn’t check on the S&H. 🙄
More than .89, I’ll bet.
That’s a big whopper, right? 🙂 Good to see you around, Jim
I’ve always found flyswatters very effective. I don’t happen to own one now, however. I’d have to improvise with a rolled magazine or something similar. Of course I also have a cat, a remarkable low-maintenance, self-powered unit that seeks and destroys flying insects automatically.
Now if it actually “salted” and down flies….and had a long enough range you could use it to hit the big green ones around barns and outhouses, now there might be a useful product for rural areas. (could pop and sting the fella that keeps hanging ’round her tryin to see Cissy, too)
Given the weapons frenzy, this’ll probably (unwisely) become a gift item. Hope it comes with a giant warning label: “Waving this around in dark areas may result in death”
Yep, I might welcome a defense against those big horse and deer flies. Those things hurt when they bite.
This is the new and improved version 2.0 of this item, so it’s been around for a while and I imagine has become a big gift (or gag) item in some circles. I wonder how hard it hits and whether a blast into some kid’s face or eyes might be dangerous … not to mention the fact that it looks like a toy to begin with.
Could replace slingshots!
If they make Legos and shallow wading pools come with huge warnings about swallowing blocks and diving cautions, you know there’s bound to be a label on this one…or maybe not – then we’ll hear about a lawsuits when some idiot shoots an eye out and people can rail at the NRA.
Do you ever think life is getting too overly protected and people losing common sense and the ability/skill to use their own brains to keep from getting hurt?
How did we all manage to grow up OK? You find the coolest stuff.
Yes, our lives are way overprotected … usually by one or more government agencies. And yes, common sense certainly doesn’t seem as common as it once was — which is, of course, the reason we need the government to take care of us.