Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I recently discovered the many benefits of diatomaceous earth. I know. Where have I been? I purchased my first Pest Pistol along with a quantity of DE from Earthworks Health and have never looked back. Now I've bought a second unit from Amazon. (The first one's working fine. I just wanted one for upstairs, too.) There's nothing really fancy or complicated about these little (really only mini compared to the professional sized one which holds a half-pound of DE, etc.) puffers. It's a well-made, well-designed plastic accordian unit fitted with a screw-on cap which has a plastic "straw" applicator narrowing to an attached nozzle with a tiny hole in the end. The underside of the cap has a small built in "sifter" to keep a large quantity of powder from clogging the applicator as you "puff." The pest pistol can be used cap facing up or down or angled, depending on your target. I personally found it very useful to practice my skills in the garage before dusting the carpets, nooks and crannies, and cats. There is a slight learning curve depending on your technique. Heavy-handed puffing will result in the "blob" outcome noted by more than one reviewer here. This didn't seem like a big deal to me. I just brush the blobs down into the carpet, or vacuum up the excess. Once you get the hang of things, there's little effort involved. Again, a little practice beforehand will pay dividends. And don't overfill the cannister (two-thirds is fine for me). This works like a little bellows and requires air to function. It may be necessary from time to time to tap the container to loosen the contents a bit. Bakers among you will understand--it's like rapping your flour sifter to clear it. There is, as others have noted, no way to make the pest pistol air-tight when storing DE in it. I think this is a very minor issue. In the mid-south, land of high humidity, I simply store my pest pistol in a large zip-lock bag and it's ready to go at any time. I don't fool with funnels or other gagetry to load the container. I simply spoon DE into the opening with a standard soup spoon out of the silverware drawer. It works fine. (Granted, I might want to find a less casual method if I were using a toxic product. But for food-grade DE? Nah.) Aside from dusting the environment, I have found the pest pistol perfect for dusting my cats. The little applicator can be slid into their fur and "poof," they're puffed. Just be sure the business end isn't actually touching the skin. The end hole in the applicator is super tiny and easily blocked. Just get as close as you can under the fur, without touching skin, give the pistol a squeeze, and then distribute the DE with your hands. I can "do" a cat with about 12-15 strategically placed puffs. A big dog would take more time, but still so worth it. What I love about DE and the pistol application is that even if I overdo things, the surplus DE is distributed by the animals in the places they frequent and gives even more protection from those rascally fleas. Plus it's not a powdered neurotoxin, as most insecticides are, so if it's on the furniture, or the vanity, or my bedsheets, I don't care. The Pest Pistol and diatomaceous earth go together like "love and marriage." I can't imagine one without the other.