Will longer barrels help?

[SSCBen]

I added a link to the forum thread from the homemades page. I agree that we could organize things at SSC better, though my present capabilities are very limited by my free time and other priorities. I would change many things there if I had the time.

[Drenchenator]

I'll start to work on a Riptide writeup. There will be no construction information, since I didn't document the construction, but it will have a thorough description of its design goals, features, subsystems, and ways it could be improved. I'll try my best to come up with a parts list, but it might be tricky considering that I used anything immediately available. They are just way to many parts in it.

In general, I think that ergonomics are inherently subjective. The APH is completely battle-ready, but many people just want a design that is similar to what they are already used to using. They don't want to learn an entirely new user interface (ball valve) when they already know one (trigger) that works well for them. A new interface could mean that you have to relearn how to use the device, which could be difficult.

A good example of this is manual versus automatic transmissions. Both are an interface to a car, and both have the same result (car moves around), but one is hard to learn (but powerful once you learn it) and the other is easy to learn. Like most Americans, I learned to drive with an automatic transmission first, and I got used to it. But when my first car broke down, I suddenly had to learn how to drive a manual. And I hated it. It was difficult to get the timing right between my feet and hands, and I was stalling all over the place. But given time, I learned to drive stick and saw that it actually gives the driver much more control of the car.

Ball valves versus triggers are similar. The ball valve is harder to use at first but does give the user more direct control of the water gun. A trigger is easy to use and makes certain actions (tap shots) easier than with a ball valve. But both are still just interfaces to the same object, a water gun. One user may prefer one, but another may prefer another. It's just subjective.

[Fishfan]

If I'm going to make a standard homemade in the future, I'm going to get a brass ball valve. PVC ones are terrible.

[DX]

Actually, I think the ball valve is among the least concerns with usability. While you can't pump and shoot at the same time, you can tap shoot at a rate identical to that of most triggers. Flipping the valve becomes a natural action. My onboard rez APH with a greased brass ball valve was found to have the same RoF as a CPS 1500 in one vs one. The pump spurted water at high pressure, but now we've got better materials for those.

Make a torque arm if you use a PVC valve, and grease if you use a brass valve. Brass valves can come stiff, so I check the shelf for the loosest one to begin with.

My next homemade will probably be small, a 2"er. I really liked the original 2" APH I made minus the crappy leaking pump. It was like an XP 150 but with higher output and 48 ft of range. One of the typical issues with homemades is lots and lots of pumping. My standard APH needed to be pumped like 50 times. My APR 2000 needed 8 pumps. Granted, that reduced the possible range, output, and shot time, but it was so light and fast to fire that it could have run with any medium gun.