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XP 150 vs Arctic Blast which is Deadliest?

Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 8:52 pm
by marauder
Ok... so this should be pretty easy, but my neighbor Brandon is gonna have a battle with me and I let him have a pick out of my arsenal and he chose the Arctic Blast. I chose an XP 150. Report to follow.

Re: XP 150 vs Arctic Blast which is Deadliest?

Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 9:58 pm
by marauder
Brandon is track fast and he likes to hide a lot so this made for a very interesting battle. I had to stalk him for 15 minutes and when I'd almost catch him by surprise he'd take off to hide again. If I was using my CPS 2000 I could have definitely shot him two or three times. I stalked him through the gardens on campus but didn't go too far in as that would have been a death trap. I laid down in a grassy sheltered area and watched the entrance/exit of the gardens for a while.

Eventually he took off back towards our apartments and I followed suit. He was hiding no one of his friends' porch who yelled out his location to me. He turned around the corner of the building and hid somewhere. I did my best at quietly making my way around the corners of the building, crouching and sticking close to the bushes as I did. I made a sharp left at the back of the apartment complex/dorm/whatever and saw him about 10 feet to my left. We opened fire at about just the same time but I hit him and his shot went over my head as I had been crouching.

After that a soakfest ensued. I obliterated him from long range. Although the guns had about equal range I was a bit more accurate and each hit I made with my XP 150 caused about twice as much soakage as his Arctic Blast shots. Once he figured this out he ran up to me and we toe to toed it. I would say that I won simply because the 150 shoots out more but the Arctic Blast can also pump and shoot and has a nice CPS sting to it. He didn't figure out how to use the FF nozzle until after the fight.

Even with the FF nozzle I think that I would have to go with the 150. The 2.5x nozzle is nice, and it's even better when combined with such a large tracked pump. I could pump and shoot a 2.5x nozzle and keep up almost 100% pressure as long as I want. That practically negates the Arctic Blast's CPS advantage as I could fire at near "constant pressure" as long as I wanted to. The only disadvantage to this is that pumping and shooting is usually less accurate than regular firing as pumping tends to move the gun a bit. We plan on getting our roommates involved next time.

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Some dumb kid colored on it

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Re: XP 150 vs Arctic Blast which is Deadliest?

Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 10:42 pm
by Silence
Sounds like a fun and balanced fight. I'd have expected the XP 150 to be significantly more dangerous, though. And I didn't know about the Arctic Blast's riot blast, actually.

The coloring on the the XP 150 isn't too obvious.

Re: XP 150 vs Arctic Blast which is Deadliest?

Posted: Sun Jul 19, 2009 10:19 am
by HBWW
Given the AB's main nozzle is drilled and the flood screen removed, it would be pretty effective and is also more compact. I'm a bit surprised that he didn't know how to use the flood attack though, since it's advertised everywhere and there's a huge nozzle on top of the gun too. Then again, when I first used the FF 3 years ago, I didn't know how to use the quick fill cap.

However, the XP 150 has more PC capacity and is probably capable of being effective through a larger nozzle. I've never tried a 150, but it seems to be more efficient; easier pumping, faster charging, and bigger streams. The detatchable reservoir however, appears awkward. Still, its a Larami gun, which are generally better designed.

Re: XP 150 vs Arctic Blast which is Deadliest?

Posted: Sun Jul 19, 2009 3:33 pm
by marauder
Question to you guys. When you remove the screen on the Arctic Blast does it shoot as far as your FF with the screen removed? Does it even shoot as far as the FF with the screen not removed? I have one Arctic Blast with the screen removed and one not, same goes with my Flash Floods. My FF with the screen removed shoots around 48-49 ft and is the only thing that comes close to my CPS 2000 mk1. Unfortunately the Max D nozzle broke. My other FF I found in the attic... I don't ever remember having an orange one... and I'm selling that one on ebay right now.
The FF nozzles on the Arctic Blasts don't shoot nearly that far for me. If I remember right it's some where around 35-36 feet, which is probably documented on Hydrowar. I don't remember there being much of a difference in performance between the screen and no screen for the Arctic Blast. Either the one Flash Flood I have is truly an exception to the norm, or it's just greatly superior to the Arctic Blast.
If Flash Floods weren't prone to breaking I would consider them one of the best soakers... ever... 48 feet is ridiculous.

Re: XP 150 vs Arctic Blast which is Deadliest?

Posted: Sun Jul 19, 2009 10:58 pm
by HBWW
Funny thing is, the FF is intended for close range. At farther ranges, you'll get a splattered shot at best, and you can't tap shoot due to how the valve works. (it generally won't close if you try to, so the whole shot must be dumped out)

Re: XP 150 vs Arctic Blast which is Deadliest?

Posted: Sun Jul 19, 2009 11:06 pm
by DX
They're hamstrung by capacity, IMO. Without backpacks, FF's run out way too fast. At Ridgewood, Flash Flood users on both sides had to fill from bottled water - there was no way to last through long engagements without a quick and mobile method of refilling.

I love these duels btw - very interesting selections. The AB has an output advantage, but the XP 150 is faster. The pump and trigger repetition is why I own 4 of them. There's nothing quite like it except the smaller XP 75. I would like to see that duel with refilling though, cause the 150 reservoir can be awkward if you're trying to get it on/off and filled while under fire.