Devastator rip-off

General water gun discussion.
Locked
User avatar
cantab
Posts: 1492
Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2007 1:35 pm

Devastator rip-off

Post by cantab » Wed Jul 16, 2008 5:32 pm

Seen this on Amazon UK

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Water-Gun-Air-P ... 811&sr=8-7

Made by a company calling itself 'HGL'.
The gun looks like a Devastator; I've compared it to isoaker's pics and the shape seems identical, though the colours are different. It has the words "super soaker" on it, which is a trademark violation if it's not real. The backpack also points to it being a rip-off, since it looks very cheap and plasticky. And the price is too low for it to be the real thing.

Just something to watch out for. It looks like ebay isn't the only place fakes turn up.

User avatar
Silence
Posts: 3825
Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2006 9:01 pm

Re: Devastator rip-off

Post by Silence » Wed Jul 16, 2008 6:58 pm

Wow. And looks at all the related items - there are a lot of fakes/ripoffs on Amazon, it seems. Obviously they're only sold by third-party vendors, but still...that's interesting. I've never seen these on the American Amazon, but maybe I haven't been looking hard enough.

User avatar
cantab
Posts: 1492
Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2007 1:35 pm

Re: Devastator rip-off

Post by cantab » Wed Jul 16, 2008 7:17 pm

Look again.
Availability: In stock. Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
In fairness, the item description isn't representing it as a fake, only the visual appearance of the gun.
It does seem that at least with respect to water guns, UK amazon is full of cheap junk, whereas US have most of the major lines.

Night Shadow
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Jul 30, 2008 6:21 am

Re: Devastator rip-off

Post by Night Shadow » Wed Jul 30, 2008 6:34 am

Yeah, that doesn't look anything close to a Super Soaker Max Infusion pack.

User avatar
cantab
Posts: 1492
Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2007 1:35 pm

Re: Devastator rip-off

Post by cantab » Mon Aug 11, 2008 6:51 pm

Well, I got it anyway, hoping it might be the next Super Shooter 2000 kind of thing. And anyway, here's the review:

First impressions: Not good. I pick up the Amazon box and it's light, way too light. When I open it up, sure enough, the gun is extremely light and flimsy feeling.

The bad:
* The belt clip and trigger are completely fake. It's a piston pumper.
* The nozzle is small, just a touch larger than that of an XP 220. (I'm not sure how it compares to the real Devastator)
* The pump shaft is a rather weak + shape (I've seen that in a lot of cheap guns). It's unguided, which is probably not a good thing on a piston pumper.
* The hose connection to the backpack is a dip-tube type, going into a hole at the top of the pack; this means not all the water will be usable. It's also fiddly to make sure the hose goes straight down, since it came curled up. There's another equal sized hole, with a plug, intended for filling. However, both these are in a larger plastic plug that can be removed, producing a rather wider filling opening.
* The grip area is cramped, my knuckle of my middle finger knocks against the body of the gun just forward of it. (I don't know if the real Devastator suffers the same).
* The seam isn't very well joined; around the fake belt clip, it started to come apart a bit.

The good:
* It actually performs pretty well. Ranges are comparable to most of the rest of my arsenal, ie in the 30-35 feet range (I really should measure my test area accurately). It does break up a lot at the end of its range though. Close up you'll soak your target, far away you'll merely rain on them.
* You can get quite a long shot on a single pump, especially finding the ideal force to pump at so you get the best combination of range and shot time. Sadly I haven't measured it, but it's enough for a 'full burst'.
* The backpack reservoir's a good size (though capacity not measured and not all usable). It's quite comfortable, without having to fiddle with the straps. However, it's only a single layer of plastic, so it feels cold on the back. Of course, since water fights are normally done in warm weather, that's not a huge problem.
* Its extreme lightness might be considered an advantage.
* The hose is a good length; long enough for freedom of movement, but not so long as to get in the way.
* The intake hose isn't fixed to the backpack, so you could use anything as a reservoir, or even take water straight from a pool/river/similar.
* The pump cap screws off, rather than being glued, so it should be easy to open the gun up.

The ugly:
* Before I'd even emptied the reservoir once, the gun broke! It stopped shooting out of the nozzle, and instead water comes out of the seams when pumped. This was when I was pumping hard for maximum range.
* After I'd refilled the reservoir for further testing, one of the strap connections also broke.

Summary: It stood a good chance of becoming one of my favourite guns in my arsenal, until it went boom.
It's also firmly disproved my prejudices about piston pumpers in general. I'd always assumed they couldn't compete with a 'proper' pressurised gun. But now I realise that they most certainly can.

Fate of the gun: I might open it up to take a look at the break. If it's an easy fix, I'm keeping it, otherwise, I'll send it back, for a refund not a replacement.

I'm certainly interested in having a good piston pumper in my arsenal though. I might get the Water Warriors Shark. However, it's a bit on the large size. Any suggestions for a compact piston pumper that can do 30+ feet?

EDIT: I opened the gun up and it was the simplest of fixes. The internal tubing had just popped off where it attaches to the nozzle. All I had to do was push it back on! If it comes off again I'll have to glue it I guess.
Last edited by cantab on Mon Aug 11, 2008 8:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I work on Windows. My toolbox is Linux.
Arsenal:
Super Soaker: XP215, 2xXP220, Liquidator, Aquashock Secret Strike M(odded), Arctic Blast M, CPS1200, CPS2100, SC Power Pak, 3l aquapack, 1.5l aquapack
Water Warriors: Jet, Sting Ray M, Shark, Argon M, Tiger Shark, PulseMaster
Others: Waterbolt, The Blaster, Storm 500, Shield Blaster 2000, generic PR gun, generic backpack piston pumper (broken), 3l garden sprayer M, 10l water carrier:

User avatar
SSCBen
Posts: 6449
Joined: Sat Mar 22, 2003 1:00 pm

Re: Devastator rip-off

Post by SSCBen » Tue Aug 12, 2008 2:56 am

Well, that sounds better than I would have expected. The gun seems to me to be an adequate backpack piston pumper, which are good water guns usually.

Certainly a break is a problem but if the repair is that easy that's good news. Tubing clamps (jubilee clamps are what I think they're called in the UK) should hold the tubing on better than glue if the fitting is barbed.

User avatar
cantab
Posts: 1492
Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2007 1:35 pm

Re: Devastator rip-off

Post by cantab » Wed Aug 13, 2008 3:19 pm

Well I'm gonna need to do something. I reassembled the gun (having left the inside to dry out), gave a few test shots, and again, POP. It's not a barbed fitting, and there's not really space for a clamp, so I'll try glue, hopefully that will keep it together for good.
I work on Windows. My toolbox is Linux.
Arsenal:
Super Soaker: XP215, 2xXP220, Liquidator, Aquashock Secret Strike M(odded), Arctic Blast M, CPS1200, CPS2100, SC Power Pak, 3l aquapack, 1.5l aquapack
Water Warriors: Jet, Sting Ray M, Shark, Argon M, Tiger Shark, PulseMaster
Others: Waterbolt, The Blaster, Storm 500, Shield Blaster 2000, generic PR gun, generic backpack piston pumper (broken), 3l garden sprayer M, 10l water carrier:

User avatar
Silence
Posts: 3825
Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2006 9:01 pm

Re: Devastator rip-off

Post by Silence » Wed Aug 13, 2008 3:32 pm

It's disappointing it wasn't as good as the Super Shooter 2000, but it sounds decent after all. Thanks for the review!

Night Shadow
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Jul 30, 2008 6:21 am

Re: Devastator rip-off

Post by Night Shadow » Thu Aug 14, 2008 10:19 pm

That gun you got was probably a scam. Things like that happen all the time. They take a popular brand name and make low quality cheaper substitutes without the real company's permission. Then they start selling those cheap substitutes until someone finds out and reports it, then they drop this product and wipe out anything that could be traced back to them and start building a new scam product, then they get reported again, and the cycle continues. It's sad, but it happens. Maybe the devastator you bought here was a scam. The backpack looked nothing like the Super Soaker Max Infusion Pack.

User avatar
cantab
Posts: 1492
Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2007 1:35 pm

Re: Devastator rip-off

Post by cantab » Thu Aug 14, 2008 10:37 pm

I knew perfectly well when I bought it that it was not a real Devastator. I was interested in finding out more about what it was actually like, how it performed, etc. And it works quite well, so if I can stop it breaking, it's a decent addition to my arsenal.

Though, one other thing I should mention - the gun I physically have does not say 'Super Soaker' on it like Amazon's photo does.
I work on Windows. My toolbox is Linux.
Arsenal:
Super Soaker: XP215, 2xXP220, Liquidator, Aquashock Secret Strike M(odded), Arctic Blast M, CPS1200, CPS2100, SC Power Pak, 3l aquapack, 1.5l aquapack
Water Warriors: Jet, Sting Ray M, Shark, Argon M, Tiger Shark, PulseMaster
Others: Waterbolt, The Blaster, Storm 500, Shield Blaster 2000, generic PR gun, generic backpack piston pumper (broken), 3l garden sprayer M, 10l water carrier:

Locked