Flies are a terrible thing, especially when camping, because tents have no hard surfaces on which to thwack them.

Thus, we design a fly-catching box, and attach it to the end of a flashlight. Since flies are drawn to light, they will enter the box, and then you can collapse the box, thus crushing the miserable buggers.
-- ye_river_xiv, Jul 13 2008

Todger Torch Todger_20Torch
by [DenholmRicshaw] with illustration by [bz] [csea, Jul 19 2008]

Undead?
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jul 13 2008


This is one of those plausable ideas that is quite creative, and probably will be made available for a mere $19.99 very soon. I love it!+
-- blissmiss, Jul 14 2008


Heck, I thought this was a way to light your way to the loo without having to hold the flashlight in your hands. But, [+] anyhow. It should even work for Millers too.

Added: When it goes into production, call it the "Venus Flytrap Flashlight"
-- Klaatu, Jul 14 2008


Instead, you can just take any box and perform a topological inversion. Presto: all flies everywhere captured at once! Along with the rest of the universe except for the stuff that was already in the box. There is a theory that states that this has already happened (apologies to Douglas Adams).
-- luxlucet, Jul 14 2008


Perhaps have one with a CO2 attachment for capturing midges...
-- Jinbish, Jul 14 2008


How about a flashlight with a flip-top lens cap (controllable by a trigger)? If a fly land on the lens, flip the top and it smushes the fly. Clean the flashlight and repeat as needed.
-- phundug, Jul 14 2008


Yes, Undead. Flies that are not dead are a serious problem, to which Science should devote more energy...

Ok, so stuffing it in the "Science: Energy: Undead" category is a bit dishonest...
-- ye_river_xiv, Jul 19 2008


//I thought this was a way to light your way to the loo without having to hold the flashlight in your hands.//

[Klaatu], you're thinking of [link] with awesome illustration by [bristolz].
-- csea, Jul 19 2008


What an attractive idea! If the box contains a glue board, bugs will stick there. +
-- Amos Kito, Jul 19 2008



random, halfbakery