Mybeerbuzz .com Highlights The Bug Bite Thing (Review)

If you’ve been reading my reviews or following me on Instagram, then you know I spend a considerable amount of time hiking. Of course anyone who hikes knows that you can’t say the word “hike” without saying the word “bugs.” Having just completed 100+ miles of hiking in New River Gorge and Shenandoah National Park, I can tell you my arms and legs have had considerable exposure to bug bites.

No matter what insect repellent I use and no matter how much I try to protect my skin, I still get bit.  My go-to insect bite reliever has always been screaming hot water, but when you’re 10-miles out in the woods, you just can’t jump in the shower. This is where today’s outdoor product review enters the picture.  The device is called the Bug Bite Thing and I think you’ll find it’s really unique.

The Bug Bite Thing is a device that literally sucks the bug bite venom out of your skin. It is shaped like a syringe and you simply place the device over the sting, pull up to create suction, leave if there for 10-20 seconds, release and repeat. In theory this will remove the irritant and make the bug bite experience less painful and less itchy. The device is supposed to work on Mosquitoes, Bees, Wasps, Ants, & other biting insects that leave an irritant just below the surface of the skin and the edges of the handles can even be used as a stinger scraper. The end cap on the device is removeable for cleaning and reversible for getting into smaller areas on your hands or feet.

Before I begin I should say that perhaps this device will be a bit tricky to test because it is recommended that you use it as close as possible to the sting occurring and the results may be subjective since it may be hard to tell a sting that isn’t irritating from a sting that isn’t irritating because of the use of the device. Testing will be interesting and this is perhaps one device I don’t want to need…but I’m sure I will….so off we go.

The Bug Bite Thing is small enough to travel and since the bugs seem to love my wife more than me, we both started carrying the Bug Bite Thing in our individual backpacks. We tested over the course of several weeks and multiple hikes and just hanging out on the deck. Thankfully neither one of us experienced a bee sting so we did not test the stinger scraper and neither one of us had a splinter to test the device for splinter removal so far. I will update if we encounter either of these in the future.

Of course it didn’t take very long to get hit by a mosquito and while my first sting wasn’t noticed until hours later, my wife felt hers right away. The bite was on her forearm and she immediately tried the Bug Bite Thing. The device was easy to use and she really did notice less than her typical itching after the first few uses.  She did have a hickey mark on her arm, but it eventually went away and she likely did pull up too hard on her first try.

My first sting was on my leg and I didn’t even see the bug. It’s hard to say how long after the bite that I deployed The Bug Bite Thing because it was already itching before I used it.  I used full force on the bite and repeated it 3-times and it felt like it actually worked. The itchy feeling went away in favor of the suction feeling and over the course of time, the bite didn’t itch.

Over the next few weeks I actually found myself wishing for a bug bite and wishing to witness it, and of course the bugs were happy to accommodate. While there were one or two bites that the device didn’t seem effective, I will admit that I likely didn’t discover them until hours after they occurred. On balance, the bites that I found fairly quickly were quickly relieved by the Bug Bite Thing and overall it was surprisingly effective. It’s hard to say if the suction is physically removing the venom, or the suction feeling is overloading the nerves around the bite, but either way it does provide relief.

In the end my wife and I both decided that overall the Bug Bite Thing is effective enough to carry in our backpacks. Keep in mind that every ounce counts when you’re carrying something for over 10-miles, so the Bug Bite Thing finding a home in our packs is a fairly glowing endorsement. Overall the device is easy to use, easy to clean, it works for a number of different outdoor issues and it is small enough to easily carry. We will continue testing but I’d say that overall the Bug Bite Thing is effective and a useful addition to your pack, purse, car or home.