Quick Comparison: Hyroblade VS SC400 VS XP70

General water gun discussion.
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Kimura
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Quick Comparison: Hyroblade VS SC400 VS XP70 VS Argon

Post by Kimura » Sat Mar 13, 2010 11:14 pm

I'm testing the guns I have while they're out of storage to see what works and what doesn't, and I figured it might be fun to compare some guns of a roughly similar size (although the Hyrdoblade is larger). I was planning to include my Argon but I can't get it to pre-pressurize, so I'm doing it based one memory.

XP70 - In essence, the XP70 is a scaled down XP110. As such it has the only separate pressure chamber of the four. It has that nice, classic SS good look to its design. Feels well constructed. It also has a clear reservoir so you can see how much water is left. The pump is smooth and progressive, and you can feel the air being pushed in the entire length of a pump. It only takes four or 5 pump to achieve full pressure, regardless of water level. It's the only one to have a tethered cap.

Hyroblade - This gun is larger than the other two, but water output (thickness of stream) seems to be slightly less than the XP70. Build quality is good, and the design, while futuristic, retains the classic layout of Super Soakers. Overall I would say the body of this is the most durable of the four. There is one weakness to the design (besides the D-ax trigger apparently), and that is the pump. Even fully retracted the arm s still partially exposed. It also feels a bit flimsy when the pump is extended all the way. However I think it's more of a design element, it seems to be flexible plastic VS rigid plastic. Of the four, this took by far the most pump to pressurize. I would say 10-15 pumps, more as the reservoir empties. It doesn't help that the pump doesn't seem to push air until 2/3 of the way pushed in. It does not come with a tethered cap, however caps from other modern SS guns like the Flash Flood, which don't require you to remove the cap to fill the gun, will fit.

The Hydroblade's gimmick is a spinning disc, which is designed to spray the stream. The problem here is that it only spreads the stream vertically, which isn't of much use against multiple targets unless you hold the gun sideways...which doesn't work all that well.

SC400 - This SS looks like a sleeker XP55, which to me is a good thing. However,a although build quality is good, it feels a bit frail. This is backed up by the fact that my first SC400 doesn't work. Although the SC400 seems to suffer from the same quirk the Hydroblade does, in that it doesn't feel like it's actually pressuring until 2/3 of the way through the pumping action, it doesn't take many pumps to pressurize. About 7 or 8. However, because it doesn't have a separate pressure chamber, it takes more pumps to get max pressure as the water drains. The SC400's specialty is the QFD, which as you know, fills and precharges the gun very quickly, thus allowing for short downtime in battle. Curiously, like the XP55, it has the old school screw-on type reservoir. It's stiff to screw and unscrew, and is apparently a weak spot on these guns. It's best to stick with the QFD.

Argon - (This is based on memory) It's an overall handsome design, and feel well rugged. There is a bit of over spray on the painted areas. The pump handle tends to hit the housing when pumping though, and the end cap tends to pop off easily (good if you plan to take it apart like I will need to). The handle is also on the small side, so if you have large hands like me, you fingers may not all fit on the handle. The Argon has the pre-charger system. You pressurize the gun before filling it with water. After it has been pressurized you then only need to pump it 2 or 3 times to get it to max pressure each time you got o fire. this is great for reload times. The stream is CPS-like in that it's constant pretty much from start to finish, with little misting. One trade off though is that the stream times are short. Cap is tethered, and it is the only one with a pressure gauge.

Streams:

Of the four, the XP70's stream was the strongest and shot the furthest,a bout 30 ft. It's stay at full power longer than the others, but the dropoff is pretty quick, and it tends to mist at the end of the shot. Shot time is about 10 seconds.

The Hydroblade's stream is a bit thinner than the XP70's. It shoots about 27 ft. at full pressure. What is interesting about the Hyrdobalde is that the power will drop off quickly from max, but then hold, and slowly decrease. It shoots for a while too, easily 15-20 seconds Therefore it has the longest overall useful shot time of the three. It allso doesn't mist much.

The SC400 shoots a stream about the thickness of the Hydroblade, but drop soft from max power very quickly, then quickly looses about half its power. The rest a week stream. It's useful shot time is about 7 seconds, the rest is just a dribble. It mists a lot too.

The Argon's stream if I remember, shoots about the same length as the XP70. The stream width is a bit thinner, but it still feels powerful. It shoots the shortest time of the four, about 5 seconds, but there's little to no drop off from start to finish, and it reloads quickly.

Overall, I would pick the XP70. It's the strongest of the four, and although it's useful shot time is lower than the Hydroblade, it depressurizes much more quickly. It's smaller size also makes it less cumbersome. Plus you can see the water level. The Argon is however, a close second. While it's shot times are the lowest of the group, they are useful for the longest, as there's no drop off. Plus it builds back full pressure thr fastest. The small handle is it's only real shortcoming. The Hydroblade is a good third choice. It's bigger, but holds a bit more water, and while it takes longer to pump, it has the longest useful shot time. The SC400 is really only a useful choice on a smaller battlefield where a QFD is present, where it can then come in handy. Otherwise I'd leave it on the side lines.

Well I hope you enjoyed my little writeup. If I get the Argon working I'll update teh comparison.

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C-A_99
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Re: Quick Comparison: Hyroblade VS SC400 VS XP70

Post by C-A_99 » Sat Mar 13, 2010 11:26 pm

M4's remark about the HydroBlade here on the bottom of the page pretty much sums up my impression of it so far. (though I've yet to try it, it doesn't look too useful)

The SC400 is the first soaker I've had. I never even knew of the QFD's existence until well after I started "collecting" water guns and found the QFD and the SC400's box lying around in my brother's room. Throughout the years, my SC400 has had a rough pump and has broke; the internals simply blew up. After that was fixed, the spring under the SC nozzle became problematic. It crumbled up and rusted, which constantly blocked the stream so I did a nozzle drill to help get it out. Though the nozzle is fairly smooth, I drilled it too large and now the SC400's range has been comprimised for that.

The SC400 can keep up decent stream performance if you keep it pumped up, obviously. Otherwise the dropoff makes the gun unusable so there's no reason not to keep it pressurized decently. Without bad nozzle drillings, it can well outperform the XP70 though the XP70 will still last longer due to capacity and ease of filling. (i.e. no QFD needed to fill it up in a reasonable amount of time; the SC400's reservoir takes forever to unthread)

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