Abstract: A hand-held suction pump for creating a vacuum in a container (2) provided with a suction valve (3), comprising an elongated outer casing in which an electric motor (7) and a piston pump (14, 15) driven by the motor (7) are accommodated, wherein the pump chamber (14) of the piston pump is connected by an inlet valve and a suction duct (28) to a hollow tip (34) at the free end of the casing for direct coupling with the suction valve of the container, the pump chamber being further connected by an outlet valve to an exhaust duct (29) having a duct opening on the outer surface of the wall of the outer casing for porting an exhaust flow to the exterior of the outer casing. In order to reduce noise caused by the exhaust flow, the duct opening of the exhaust duct (29) is overlapped by a baffle (38) which is separated by a gapped distance from the outer surface of the wall of the outer casing so as to deflect the exhaust flow exiting the duct opening by a substantial angle.