Super Soaker Central

Overall I think the QuickBlast was the most consistent gun I've ever had. No matter if you apply lots of force or very little force, you'll still get the same 25 foot shot with the same amount of water put out. As a result, I find this gun very easy to use. Does anyone else have one? And what do you think of them?

It's innovative, which is A Good Thing. The behaviour you're describing is by design; resulting from the gun being a sort of hybrid piston pumper / seperate PC type; basically there's a small, PC, the same volume as the pump, and a pressure activated nozzle valve. Together they build pressure if pumping is slow, and stop firing until it's sufficient.

However, while that 25 feet may be consistent, it's hardly far. CPS guns should also be consistent and shoot further, separate PC guns are consistent if you use them properly.

I've never used one, but it's a neat design. Provided it's easy enough to build up that pressure, the extra consistency should help.

On a side note, all the pumpers I've used have had terribly flat, slippery grips that get slick when wet, and a good grip probably makes the biggest difference.

Welcome to SSC Night Shadow!

The angle and material of the grip make a huge difference in force applied. I remember reading something about that when I wanted to make a pumper and the difference was something like 30 or 40%! I'd imagine with water involved on the grips the difference would be even larger.

I too have never used the Quick Blast but if the consistency is valuable I'd consider a homemade version...

Ben wrote:I too have never used the Quick Blast but if the consistency is valuable I'd consider a homemade version...

Hmm...a homemade Quick Blast sounds more interesting to me than the actual Quick Blast itself, but a discussion for it would belong in the Homemades forum...

Just a question since someone owns one; would you say that you conserve water better than a regular piston-gun since pumping slowly has no impact on range?

Ben wrote:Welcome to SSC Night Shadow!

The angle and material of the grip make a huge difference in force applied. I remember reading something about that when I wanted to make a pumper and the difference was something like 30 or 40%! I'd imagine with water involved on the grips the difference would be even larger.

I too have never used the Quick Blast but if the consistency is valuable I'd consider a homemade version...

Thanks for the welcome.

Yeah, I agree that the grip makes a big difference. It's probably what sets Super Soakers apart from dollar store guns. The QuickBlast has a L shaped lever grip which means I barely even have to hold on to pull it.

Answer to aEx155's question:
Every time you pull back the pump lever it releases the same amount of water at the same distance no matter what force is applied. The only difference when you pump slowly is the rate of fire. I hope that answers your question.

Night Shadow wrote:Answer to aEx155's question:
Every time you pull back the pump lever it releases the same amount of water at the same distance no matter what force is applied. The only difference when you pump slowly is the rate of fire. I hope that answers your question.

Well, I was just asking because, a lot of other guns don't have the pressure-nozzle system, so however hard you pull the handle, water comes out at that pressure, which means that it could go as far or not as far as you wanted. Since the Quick Blast has a pressure set, you can sorta say that most of the water will go that distance instead of being wasted when it doesn't.

Sounds like it has a good grip, which is all that matters for me. Thanks!

aEx, how hard you pull on the pump probably doesn't affect the range that much. Flow/nozzle velocity correlate to the square root of pressure, and range correlates somewhere near the square root of velocity. So a little more or less pressure won't make much of a difference. It's a bit like the angle at which you hold the water gun - it does make a difference, but changing that angle accidentally doesn't really make you miss.

That said, I think it's neat that you can be assured of the same output and identical range every time. I would probably prefer a conventional pumper with a better grip (a new grip could probably be added to any water gun), if only for a little extra range (which in this case is limited by the spring).

I think with the Quick Blast, you _can_ increase the range by pumping harder. The system simple creates a minimum.

The Quick Blast is, well as you probably know, a piston-pumper water gun, probably the weakest class of water guns. For a piston blaster, it's not bad. The special feature isn't too useless, compared with Hasbro's other gimmicks, and it makes a good sidearm. It's fast and convenient, no pressurization required.

However, it does have one major drawback: It's weak. range is something around 20 feet, and while it may do in a pinch, it won't get someone soaked in a hurry.

I find the QuickBlast's feature interesting, but I still can't say that the gun is good overall. For a piston-pumper, it's still very weak. I'd prefer a consistent and strong gun to a consistent and weak gun, but I guess that's just me. If it's consistently bad, I just don't want to use it because there's no helping it--it's always going to be bad!

I have personally used a quick blast, and was moderately impressed. The pressure builds up in a single pump so there isn't as much pumping building pressure. I am, however, disappointed with the shape and size of the gun. It is the size of an MD5K, but has much lower ranges.

If you have to get within 20-25ft to shoot someone with that, you're already soaked...

In my wars, if you have to get within 35 feet of someone, then you're already soaked. LOL

Storm

Oh god, in my old wars, if you had to get within the range of stock soakers of someone, then you were already dead.