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Soaker Balls!

Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 8:33 pm
by martianshark
Why hasn't anyone thought of using soaker balls instead of water balloons in launchers? You don't have to fill them, they're soft and safe, they're light, and because they can't pop, you could probably launch it a mile! You could even use a mauler valve to make it go even further and make the launcher smaller! Plus, they're cheap and reusable. The only drawback I can think of is that they probably wouldn't soak you quite as much.

Re: Soaker Balls!

Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 8:45 pm
by soakernerd
The main benefit to a WBL is that it doesn't have to be a direct hit to soak you. Soaker balls will only soak you if it impacts you. My friends and I sometimes have wars with just sponges, throwing them at each other. In that kind of situation, a soaker ball might work. But it is easier and cheaper to use water balloons.

Re: Soaker Balls!

Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 10:04 pm
by zeda.beta
And if you shot the soaker ball out of a launcher, it would lose much of its water going out of the barrel and traveling through the air, so it would do the same thing as a SS 10
-Zeda

Re: Soaker Balls!

Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 10:49 pm
by martianshark
Okay, that's three more cons, although because it's light and can't pop, it would probably be easier to get a direct hit. I think I'll make a "soaker ball launcher" and see if it's any good.

Re: Soaker Balls!

Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 11:57 pm
by cantab
That they won't pop is a good point. It might well make such things a good candidate for the absolute maximum range water weapon. Such a weapon would have no battle value, inevitably being inaccurate, slow to reload, and not capable of soaking much - but it's about the technical achievement.

Re: Soaker Balls!

Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 12:00 am
by martianshark
Hmm... would some sort of sight help with aim? I know nothing's really going to help after a couple hundred feet... unless the target is big.

Re: Soaker Balls!

Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 12:10 am
by cantab
Well it would be more like artillery aiming. I don't know too much about it, but typically it's doing calculations or looking up in tables based on things like target range and wind conditions.
For a cannon, you vary elevation, but for an air powered launcher, you can also vary air pressure. That might make a fixed mount practical, which would be simpler.

Of course, if you start using centrifugal, trebuchet, catapult, etc designs, where there's no barrel, accuracy becomes a much bigger issue.

Re: Soaker Balls!

Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 1:49 am
by C-A_99
I can't see a "soaker" ball doing any more soaking than one or two shots of a squirt gun.

Re: Soaker Balls!

Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 4:43 am
by martianshark
I think it would soak a little more than a squirt gun, but still, it has very high range and could possibly be the most high-range water weapon.

Re: Soaker Balls!

Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 4:49 pm
by JuchTurtles
Dude, those things could hurt if you hit someone with it when it's going like 60 m/p/h (just an estimate). And when it hit, it would be heavy (hit like a rock) and have hardly any soakage.

Not worth it. Build a WBL instead.

Re: Soaker Balls!

Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 7:07 pm
by cantab
My thinking was it would be very much a strictly indirect fire weapon. In that case, the speed at impact will pretty much be its terminal velocity in air, which depends mainly on size and weight.

Re: Soaker Balls!

Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 12:55 am
by martianshark
JuchTurtles wrote:Dude, those things could hurt if you hit someone with it when it's going like 60 m/p/h (just an estimate). And when it hit, it would be heavy (hit like a rock) and have hardly any soakage.

Not worth it. Build a water balloon launcher instead.
I don't think it could hurt that much. It's basically just a peice of sponge. And wouldn't a water balloon hurt way more than a soaker ball anyway?

Re: Soaker Balls!

Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 10:32 pm
by JuchTurtles
Ya, that's kind-of true. If the ball was soaked in water completely, then it might have some weight. I guess a water balloon could hurt if it would hit in the face, but otherwise it would be about the same.

I don't know. Here's the other thing, and it's more tactical wise. The soaker balls can be reused by enemies after you hit them with it. It's an interesting thought, because WBs can't be reused.

Re: Soaker Balls!

Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 11:15 pm
by martianshark
Enemies could reuse them, but they could only throw them unless they also have an soaker ball launcher.

Re: Soaker Balls!

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 2:53 am
by zeda.beta
You may have a good idea, but I tried to throw a "water football" and it really hurt the person that it hit. Yes, it was made of the sponge material, and yes, it was waterlogged, but it still is a potential danger. Martinshark, I would hold off on building a cannon just for water balls and make them interchangeable with water balloons as well. That way, if the soaker ball idea works, you can use it, but if it doesn't, or is too dangerous, then you have a use for all of the parts that you bought. Maybe you could use a universal canister for both the water ball and the water balloon.
-Zeda