Giottos Rocket Air Blower

Each month Wildfoot Travel’s Dave Cheetham reviews a piece of wildlife travel or photography gear. From clothing, to books and cameras to accessories, the product-in-focus may vary, but the honest and thorough scrutiny remains constant.

“Conscious that I often take my camera gear into dusty and dirty environments, I recently invested around £10 in a Giottos Rocket Air Blower, hoping for an easy way to clean my camera gear in the field.

Since I added this nicely designed, rather tactile gadget to the contents of my camera bag, I’ve been finding more and more reasons to use it. And every time it takes care the job at hand with surprising efficiency.

The first and most striking thing you notice about the Rocket is the force it seems to generate from a simple squeeze of the hand. One clench of the palm and a force-ten gale fires out of the nozzle. The ferocious blast of air offers a hugely efficient and safe way of removing debris from corners and crevices on camera bodies, lenses and any other bits and pieces you carry. For those with a little knowledge and confidence, you can even use the blower to clean the inside of your camera and its delicate sensor.

The Rocket’s unique design draws air in from bottom of the unit and blows it out through the nozzle at the top, preventing the dust you are blowing off from being sucked back in to the main chamber. So you are never blowing the same dust back on again.

Aside from making it look pretty cool, the rocket-leg feet prevent the base of the unit from touching any dust covered surfaces. When the blower is lying on it’s side the same fins prevent the blower from rolling away.

Overall, this is an extremely robust and durable device with many cleaning applications, which comes at a price that is hard to find fault with. If you’re serious about your photography and your gear, you should add this invaluable gadget to your kit bag. The day your favourite lens rolls off into the dust, you’ll be glad you did.”