Sawyer Extractor Snake/Insect

J

jaymeister99

Joined
Sep 14, 2010
Messages
819
Anybody tried this? Just curious, Ive had one for about 20 years but never had to use it. I don't think I would ever use it on a snake bite, but might for an insect bite.
 
I have one shoved in a drawer somewhere. I think modern medical advice is NOT to use them for snakebite. I can't imagine you'd do any harm using it on an insect bite or sting. I'm not a doctor, though.
 
My buddy is a doctor who specializes in emergency medicine and a while back he went to a Wilderness Medicine seminar and I asked him to specifically check into the current stuff on snakebite.

He pretty much said they said nearly all snakebite kits were not really helpful and about the only thing is to get to the hospital as soon as you can.
 
This may be an "old woodsman's tale", but supposedly the Cherokee's treatment for snakebite (usually copperhead or rattlesnake, I suppose) was to wrap in a blanket and not move for at least a day... In light of newest research, this actually seems to make good sense. Statistically, very few healthy adults die from snakebite....

I would make sure I was lying down a pretty good distance away from the snake, or any of his/her kin.......
 
My friends who have been bitten by snakes and not gone to the doctor all lived but said it hurt like hell.

They were bitten by copperheads though, and not rattlers or huge coppers.

Might be an option for those w/o insurance. The antivenom is HUGELY expensive.
 
Like I said wouldn't use it on a snake bite. Common first aid says not to try to suck the venom out, just immobilize the bitten area.

But I would still like to know how it works on an insect sting.
 
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We sold them in our retail store for several years...I've gotten mixed reviews but most people say they work really good on bee stings and spider bites if caught early. I have one in my large kit that goes in my trailer for camping but I certainly don't carry one for backpacking or in my day pack med kit.
 
I've had one for years but don't carry it anymore. 50-50 chance if a snake bites me, he'll hit the prosthetic foot, ha ha. Might be good for bee stings but I've only been stung twice in my life, and mostly when I'm around bees and wasps we don't bother each other.

Now mosquitoes ... I learned to wipe down mosquito bites with alcohol pads, and it helps a lot to take the sting away and speed healing. I hate mosquito bites.
 
I've got one but never used it on a bite of any kind. I CAN tell you that it generates a tremendous amount of suction. I put it on my arm once just to see what it would do and the bruise it left was the size of a half dollar. Took a week for it to fade out.

I've always wondered if you can even remove any venom from the bloodstream after it's been injected?

The blood flow through the aorta artery is 45cm per second.

On the other extreme, the flow through capillaries is .305mm per second.

A hit in the any of the major arteries is going to move the venom away from that area so fast that it would be impossible to suction any of it out.

So even if you get injected in a capillary, by the time you've got the kit out and ready to go, it's been at least 30-60 seconds and the venom is 1.5-3.0 mm from the injection site.

If it's a major artery or vein, the venom would possibly have moved a couple of FEET from the injection site.
 
cramsey3006 said:
The blood flow through the aorta artery is 45cm per second.

On the other extreme, the flow through capillaries is .305mm per second.

A hit in the any of the major arteries is going to move the venom away from that area so fast that it would be impossible to suction any of it out.

So even if you get injected in a capillary, by the time you've got the kit out and ready to go, it's been at least 30-60 seconds and the venom is 1.5-3.0 mm from the injection site.

If it's a major artery or vein, the venom would possibly have moved a couple of FEET from the injection site.
Click to expand...

Yup, pretty much useless for a snakebite. If you got a decent size puncture through an artery you might have more to worry about than the bite itself.

Either way I'll stick to the first aid recommendations and just immobilize the area.

I'm really itchin (no pun intented) to try this on an insect bite. Any volunteers?:D
 
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