Hi everyone. I know I'm a noob here, but I need to say this. Throw your Sawyer Extractors in the trash. They do more harm than good. I'm a nurse practitioner in SoCal, and I happen to have been charge nurse in an ED where Sean Bush, MD used to work (Yes, the guy from the Venom ER show on Animal Planet). He is brilliant, knows snakes, and last I heard held a presidential commission to treat any ennvenomations the president might encounter. That being said, the guy also keeps live rattlesnakes *in his house*.

Anyway, he has done studies on the Sawyer Extractor (using pigs, whose skin is very similar to human's) and found that: 1) They don't extract any venom, and 2) they actually seem to cause necrosis (death) of the skin where they are used, making a wound in addition to the envenomation. Here is a link to the abstract of the paper he published on it.

It seems to me that the concept behind the Sawyer is based on a fallacy. There is no pocket of venom to be sucked out of the tissue. This should be obvious to anyone who has used a flavor injector on a turkey. Basically a giant syringe, you use them to add flavor and moisture to your turkey before you cook it (I recommend white wine in turkey, or OJ into duck). Other than the tiniest dribble when you pull the needle out, the fluid soaks into the tissue almost immediately. By the time you've sat down, gotten the kit out, opened up your pant leg, etc. it's too late. Get to the nearest ED.