Reviews: Waterbolt, The Blaster, Shark

General water gun discussion.
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cantab
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Reviews: Waterbolt, The Blaster, Shark

Post by cantab » Thu Aug 21, 2008 2:57 pm

Three new guns for me today.
I'm also going to start giving my reviews a summary on a five-point scale: Buy, Good, Neutral, Poor, Avoid

(Lanard) Water Weapons - Waterbolt

£3.74 from WHSmith, or £2.99 with 'Privilege Card' (you may have been given one when you shopped there previously)

Green, with 'industrial' styling.

A perfectly decent pressurised reservoir gun. Range and output seem pretty average.
The gimmick is the crank, which acts to open and close the firing valve in a 'machine gun action' - the gun still needs to be pumped, it's not like the Shield Blasters. This might actually be useful. The opening and shutting is much faster than a string of tap shots, though getting off just one may be difficult. It's a bit like having a smaller nozzle. Though on an already low output gun, it makes it even lower.
And that's useful because of the Waterbolt's key drawback - it just doesn't hold a lot of water for its size. 350ml is puny. The crank mechanism takes up space.
The cap's not tethered. It's directly at the back of the gun, meaning a larger sink is required for filling. There are also two protuberances either side of it, which get in the way when trying to screw/unscrew it.

Rating: Neutral. If you like the styling, or can find it cheap, and don't have similar weapons already, then it may be worth getting. If you really care about capacity, then avoid it.

(Lanard) Total X-Stream - The Blaster

£4.99 from WHSmith, or £3.99 with 'Privilege Card'

This could well be the king of piston pumpers. A big fat nozzle (3.5mm) on the front and a capacious 1850 ml reservoir. Range is pretty good, 35ish feet. The intake is at the back, which is good.
The streams feel a bit underpowered, but go far nonetheless, probably due to their size. Though I haven't measured output, it'll outsoak most XP-class weapons, and most current soakers. I reckon it might even give the smaller CPSes (1000, 1200, 2100) a run for their money.
To get the best power and accuracy out of this or any piston pumper, I suggest bracing the butt of the gun against the shoulder. This works well with the size and shape of The Blaster, maybe less so with some others. The drawback is the cap (a snap cap with a pinhole) will leak a bit when you shoot (seems the check valve isn't perfect), but you'll get far less wet than your target. At least it's tethered.

Rating: Buy, unless you should happen to own an even better piston pumper (does one exist? Blastmaster maybe?)

(Buzz Bee Toys) Water Warriors - Shark

£2 from Woolworths

Not to be confused with the Tiger Shark.

A light, slim, cheap piston pumper. Surprisingly good 900ml capacity. Range and output feel good, but firmly XP-class. Choice of colours. Tethered snap cap.
The rear grip feels just a little uncomfortable, especially when pumping hard. It's possible to brace the gun against the shoulder, though feeling a bit more awkward than with The Blaster.
The slim nature might make it easily concealable, though probably less so than an overally smaller gun.
It comes without annoying packaging, just a single tag, which is probably A Good Thing.
The intake is somewhat forward in the reservoir, albeit in a dip. Thus, you'll need to hold the gun close to level to use the last of the water, which may not be ideal.

Rating: Good. If you completely lack piston pumpers, or want a cheap gun, it's certainly worth getting. However if you have other similar guns then perhaps less so.
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:

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Specter
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Re: Reviews: Waterbolt, The Blaster, Shark

Post by Specter » Thu Aug 21, 2008 4:48 pm

it would probably be helpful to include a couple pictures of each. Good job on the reviews. :)
My "arsenal": Customizable APH, Storm 600 pistol (still haven't finished fixing this), launcher- Model:AB1.0(Decommissioned), AB1.5, soon AB 1.1(2"rebuild) maybe ill get something else in the future
My site Image My website/forum is back up and running, for the most part after it having been deleted in october

coolocat
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Re: Reviews: Waterbolt, The Blaster, Shark

Post by coolocat » Thu Aug 21, 2008 8:27 pm

The x-stream sounds like a good blaster by todays standards for the price. Like specter I'd also like to see somes pictures of the blasters. I believe the shark is a newer version of the ww gremlin.

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cantab
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Re: Reviews: Waterbolt, The Blaster, Shark

Post by cantab » Thu Aug 21, 2008 9:42 pm

Styling-wise I think the Shark's closer to the Wasp. But the three are pretty similar.

I'm not sure I have any way to get photos from my camera to my computer at present; cable and card reader both left at uni I think. But I'll see what I can do. Once I get back to uni (around October-ish) I might do some fuller reviews and statistics. Maybe even my own website on them.
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:

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Specter
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Re: Reviews: Waterbolt, The Blaster, Shark

Post by Specter » Thu Aug 21, 2008 10:25 pm

Depending on the brand of camera, you can probably use any [usb] cable that fits.
What brand / model is your camera ?
My "arsenal": Customizable APH, Storm 600 pistol (still haven't finished fixing this), launcher- Model:AB1.0(Decommissioned), AB1.5, soon AB 1.1(2"rebuild) maybe ill get something else in the future
My site Image My website/forum is back up and running, for the most part after it having been deleted in october

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cantab
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Re: Reviews: Waterbolt, The Blaster, Shark

Post by cantab » Thu Aug 21, 2008 11:19 pm

Concord 4340z
It's quite old. I know I can use any cable that fits, I'm just not sure if I have said cable.
In any case, I'm heading off on holiday tomorrow. Soaker shots will have to wait.
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:

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isoaker_com
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Re: Reviews: Waterbolt, The Blaster, Shark

Post by isoaker_com » Thu Aug 21, 2008 11:34 pm

Nice reviews! I like reading others' opinions on blasters, particularly ones I've yet to try. Pics would be great when you get a chance! If you are up for it, I'd definitely fully encourage you building a site. Otherwise, at least your can always submit you reviews to SSC.

:cool:
:: Leave NO one dry! :: iSoaker.com / iSoaker.net ::

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cantab
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Re: Reviews: Waterbolt, The Blaster, Shark

Post by cantab » Fri Sep 05, 2008 5:46 pm

My camera broke on holiday :( probably the damp got to it. So I'll have to get a new one soonish.

Anyway, I got a 2100, and indeed The Blaster rivals it, maybe giving away only 1-2 feet in range (both shoot the whole length of my patio making exact ranges hard to get), possibly somewhat more in output (My 2100 is probably a Mark II mind, supposedly the worst). They're almost the same size - the 2100 is a couple inches taller, length and width are almost identical.
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:

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isoaker_com
Posts: 458
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2004 12:00 pm

Re: Reviews: Waterbolt, The Blaster, Shark

Post by isoaker_com » Sun Sep 07, 2008 5:28 pm

Interesting! Don't think I've seen "The Blaster"... time to do some web searching. Can't wait 'til you can take some pics of your own, though, once you get your hands on a working camera! Would be nice to see blaster sizes compared in the same pic. Any idea of how much water "The Blaster" pushes out in a single pump?

Edit: Found The Blaster @ Amazon.com

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:: Leave NO one dry! :: iSoaker.com / iSoaker.net ::

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cantab
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Re: Reviews: Waterbolt, The Blaster, Shark

Post by cantab » Sun Sep 07, 2008 7:56 pm

Related to photos - does anyone know where in the UK it might be possible to get hold of big squared paper. Like, inch or 5cm squares. I suppose I could always print some.
I just think that would work well for photographing things against. You can easily see how big they are.

And yes, that's the right gun.

Just measured the pump volume - about 100ml. +/- a rather large error I suspect.
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:

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