The Bottom Line
Pros
- Removes ticks whole.
- Easy to use.
- Very simple design.
- Easy to clean/disinfect.
- Lifetime guarantee.
Cons
- May require a lot of twisting - thus agitation - of the tick.
Description
- Plastic hook-like devices designed to remove ticks whole.
- Makes for easy tick removal.
- Simply slide the hook part of the appropriate-size tool between the tick and skin, and spin the tool.
- Can be sterilized in an autoclave at 284 degrees F (140 degrees C).
- Many sources say "Don't twist the tick," but don't offer better alternatives.
- Best tick removal method I have found - and I have removed a lot of ticks over the years.
Guide Review - Tick Twister Tick Removal Tool
Twisting the tick. Some folks say that's a terrible idea. But, this tick removal tool requires it, and this is the only reliable method I've found that removes the entire tick, no matter how deeply embedded it is.Folks, I seem to be a tick magnet. Many's the tick I've detected hiking across my hide, before it ever gained purchase... but I've also had many that anchored themselves right to me, and dug right in. And I've tried a whole lot of ways to get the suckers off.
And the Tick Twister beats them all.
Alcohol doesn't work. Liquid detergent on a cotton ball? Doesn't work. Hot matches are a terrible idea, makes every bite that much nastier and you still have to remove the nasty sucker. Tweezers? They suck. Sources that recommend tweezers tell you not to squeeze the tick or its head... but how the heck are you supposed to grab without squeezing? Duh. Tweezers tend to tear the tick apart and/or squeeze more bad stuff into your hide.
The bottom line is that after a few decades of deer hunting in tick country, the Tick Twister represents a sort of revolution to me. It's just so simple - and it works.
The worst experience I had with this item was with a tiny tick, which I found on the inside of my lower leg. I used the small Tick Twister tool, but I had to re-grab and re-twist the little sucker a few times before I got him out. He was really in there. But, I don't believe I would have had any better experience with any other method, and probably not as good.
Bottom line: Tick Twister is the best there is, as far as I know. I will certainly keep a set handy at home and in the woods.
- Russ Chastain
