Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 8
 Great affordable product August 4, 2008
Jacqueline A. Ross (Williamsburg, VA)
1 out of 13 found this review helpful
When You live in a place with poisonous snakes, it is a MUST to keep handy.
 Useful, but not for snake bites May 12, 2009
S.E. Leitten (Okaloosa, FL, USA)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
This snake bite kit, like others of its kind, are generally worthless against dangerous, poisonous snake bites, but they have other medical and miscellaneous uses that make them worth purchase. You can apply them to your face or body with light suction to treat cystic acne by bringing blood flow to the afflicted tissue. For these alternative uses at the price, I rate this product five stars.
However, given the intended use, I give zero stars, and other reviewers have already explained the reasoning.
 For your own good, please don't buy this product June 21, 2007
Jesse D. Walker (Logan, UT)
61 out of 61 found this review helpful
As a biologist who has worked extensively with rattlesnakes (though I currently study scorpions), I can tell you that this product is worse than useless. The suction is too weak, and doctors specializing in wilderness medicine (Forgey, Auerbach, and others) recommend not using a restriction bandage or scalpel (both included in this kit), as they will do more harm than good in the case of a rattlesnake bite. The ONLY product they recommend is the Sawyer Extractor. Look it up. While it's a few bucks more than this product, it has much more powerful suction (an actually useful amount), and has been clinically shown to mitigate some of the effects of a venomous snakebite. It's available on Amazon, but often available cheaper locally at your giant wallyworld or other local supercenter, in the camping section.
This is dangerous! January 29, 2007
Gary W. Topic (NSW, Australia)
48 out of 48 found this review helpful
I work as a tour guide in the outback of Australia. I was recently horrified to examine the contents of this snake bite kit that one of my overseas passengers was carrying. I seriously cannot believe that in this day and age of first aid wisdom, Coghlan's are still selling such a frighteningly wrong product. Do they know nothing about correct snake bite treatment?
No you do not inject antivenin immediately, as the instructions advise. Antivenin can be just as dangerous as a snake bite, if the wrong one is administered. Further, if a snake bite is dry (most are), then the administration of antivenin is terribly dangerous. Only after a victim starts to show symptoms of invenimation should antivenin be given, and then only by an expert who has positively identified the type of snake.
No you should not clean the site of the bite. Leaving the bite alone is crucial to the correct identification of the venom and administration of the correct antivenin.
God no you should never cut into a snake bite with a scalpel. Are these guys serious!? How can they be so out of touch with correct first aid procedures? Not only do you risk introducing the venom into the bloodstream but cutting a patient will no doubt cause much anxiety and heighten the pulse rate... precisely what you are trying to avoid happening. The flowing blood will also wash away the venom which you need on the skin for identification purposes.
No you should not use a lymph constrictor. The lymph system is best slowed down by bandaging with a regular elastic bandage from the bite site down to the end of the limb, then all the way back up to the top of the limb. But then if Coghlan's told people that, they wouldn't make any money from selling these dodgy snake bite kits, would they?
I'm amazed Coghlan's haven't been sued for selling this product. I would strongly advise they remove it from the market, because it is a dangerous bit of merchandise. If Coghlan's were in my first aid class, they would have received a fail.
dangerous junk! January 29, 2007
Gary W. Topic (NSW, Australia)
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
I work as a tour guide in the outback of Australia. I was recently horrified to examine the contents of this snake bite kit that one of my overseas passengers was carrying. I seriously cannot believe that in this day and age of first aid wisdom, Coghlan's are still selling such a frighteningly wrong product. Do they know nothing about correct snake bite treatment?
No you do not inject antivenin immediately, as the instructions advise. Antivenin can be just as dangerous as a snake bite, if the wrong one is administered. Further, if a snake bite is dry (most are), then the administration of antivenin is terribly dangerous. Only after a victim starts to show symptoms of invenimation should antivenin be given, and then only by an expert who has positively identified the type of snake.
No you should not clean the site of the bite. Leaving the bite alone is crucial to the correct identification of the venom and administration of the correct antivenin.
God no you should never cut into a snake bite with a scalpel. Are these guys serious!? How can they be so out of touch with correct first aid procedures? Not only do you risk introducing the venom into the bloodstream but cutting a patient will no doubt cause much anxiety and heighten the pulse rate... precisely what you are trying to avoid happening. The flowing blood will also wash away the venom which you need on the skin for identification purposes.
No you should not use a lymph constrictor. The lymph system is best slowed down by bandaging with a regular elastic bandage from the bite site down to the end of the limb, then all the way back up to the top of the limb. But then if Coghlan's told people that, they wouldn't make any money from selling these dodgy snake bite kits, would they?
I'm amazed Coghlan's haven't been sued for selling this product. I would strongly advise they remove it from the market, because it is a dangerous bit of merchandise. If Coghlan's were in my first aid class, they would have received a fail.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 8
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