Soaker-Terms Schemes - looking for consensus

[isoaker]

The following are the approximate size ratings I plan on giving to soakers listed here @ iSoaker.com.

Size - Approx Length - Approx Weight
--------------------------------
Micro - 5 to 15cm (2" to 6")- <0.5kg (1.1 lbs) full
Small - 15 to 35cm (6" to 14") - 0.5 to 1kg (1.1 to 2.2lbs) full
Medium - 35 to 55cm (14" to 22") - 1 to 2kg (2.2 to 4.4lbs) full
Large - 55 to 70cm (22" to 28") - 2 to 4.5kg (4.4 to 9.9lbs) full
Extra Large - 70cm to 90cm (28" to 36") - 4.5 to 5.5kg (9.9 to 12.1lbs) full
Oversized - 90cm + (36"+) - >5.5kg (12.1lbs) full

Based on stats looked at thusfar, I think that most of the soakers end up being called a size that sounds reasonable, all things considered. There will, of course, be the odd soaker that is either too long or too heavy (or light) and would end up not quite fitting these above ranges. However, those can be dealt with on a case-by-case basis with the majority being sorted this way.

I plan to create an analogous listing, but with respect to power levels of a soaker. What all this is for is to come up with a more systematic way to refer to a soaker's size and ability without having to use the 'x' system that doesn't account for range or just talking about 'larger' or 'smaller' than another soaker.

[Hannibal]

Could you include some "regular" units please? The only way I got used to ml and meters were when the conversions were posted as well. I think the kg is about 2 pounds, right? And the cm is about 2.5 inches... 90 cm is 35.4 inches.

Classes sound good, but make them so they would be useful! :;):

[isoaker]

Power Terminology:

Power - Output - Range (average, not max)
Minimal - <15mL/sec (<0.5 oz./sec; <0.5x) - <20'
Low - 15 to 60mL/sec (0.5 to 2 oz./sec; 0.5x to 2x) - 20'-40'
Mid - 60 to 150mL/sec (2 to 5 oz./sec; 2x to 5x) - 30'-45'
High - 150 to 600mL/sec (5 to 20 oz./sec; 5x to 20x) - 35'-55'
Extreme (low) - 600mL/sec to 1L/sec (20 to 33oz./sec; 20x to 33x) - 50' to 65'
Extreme (high) - >1L/sec (>33oz./sec; >33x) - >55'

As for classes, I'm not sure I want to do specific classifications on soakers mainly since I currently cannot think of a good way to classify them apart from size, power, and pressurization method. Trying to come up with terms to take these things all into consideration is a little tricky and less self-explanatory.

Note: the names aren't necessarily the final ones and I'm open to suggestions on tweaking names, ranges, etc.

Also, if anyone would like to suggest other types of terms he/she feels would be good to use (or at least in terms of articles/posts here @ iSoaker.com), please feel free to post the ideas here for discussion.

[m15399]

~2.5 cm = 1"
~1 m = 3' (for our purposes)
Your elephants = about 5-6 tons each ( )
50 ml = the bottom line in most liquid measure cups

The list goes on. Here's a great web site if you're having trouble:
http://www.onlineconversion.com/
Very creative title, eh?

iSoaker, what about backpacks? How will those factor into the size?

[SSCBen]

All of these classifications sound good. The only thing that might need adjustment would potentially be the ranges of each class, but it looks like you have every possibility covered.

This whole idea brings to mind a neat idea: graphing where most water guns stand in each statistic. To the best of my knowledge, iSoaker has his review data in a database. Thus, it would be possible to calculate statistical things such as the mean and standard deviation of certain statistics such as distance or output. It also would be possible to make a percentile indicator for certain water guns (i.e. the CPS 2000 is in the 100th percentile for output, etc.). Sounds like a good idea to me, in fact I would really love to see something like that.

[m15399]

He already does that. The "Output Rating" is the percentage of the output of the CPS 2000. Same with "Power Rating", except "The best way to truly compare soaker power is to multiply output by range and then compare those numbers."

Here's the link.
http://www.isoaker.com/Info/statistics.cfm

[SSCBen]

That's not what I mean. I meant that actual statistical calculations are done to determine where a water gun stands against all others, not just the CPS 2000. I merely used that as an example because it probably is the 100th percentile for water guns. That is fairly close, but not very close because you can not say that statistically a water gun is more powerful than 50 percent of all water guns if it's output rating is 50. It also does not describe distance, which is actually where I mainly wanted to see this statistic.

[m15399]

Oh, I see. That would require some scripting from iSoaker to make each soaker's percentile change when necessary.

[isoaker]

If you're referring to mean and standard deviation for an entire 'class' of soakers, that'd be rather painful to attempt to code in terms of how to get the database to pull some of the specific numbers out. It is do-able, but it would take awhile and careful coding to ensure the right data is being used for the calculations.

As for range adjustments, if they aren't quite right, what should the numbers be adjusted to?

More comparisons could be added to the 'Soaker comparison' page, but such things all depends on how should be compared and how.

I was firstly interested in the above terms to help with writing future articles for water warfare guides.

[isoaker]

Ok, here is the tentative final version for the terms.
===========================================
Size - Length - Weight
Mini - 5 to 15cm (2" to 6")- <0.5kg (1.1 lbs) full
Small - 15 to 35cm (6" to 14") - 0.5 to 1kg (1.1 to 2.2lbs) full
Medium - 35 to 55cm (14" to 22") - 1 to 2kg (2.2 to 4.4lbs) full
Large - 55 to 70cm (22" to 28") - 2 to 4.5kg (4.4 to 9.9lbs) full
Extra Large - 70cm to 90cm (28" to 36") - 4.5 to 5.5kg (9.9 to 12.1lbs) full
Oversized - 90cm + (36"+) - >5.5kg (12.1lbs) full
Note: for soakers of a given size, but odd weight, the prefixes 'Lightweight' or 'Heavyweight' can be added (i.e. Lightweight-Large soaker for a longer, but low weight soaker)

Power - Output - Range (average, not max)
Minimal - <15mL/sec (<0.5 oz./sec; <0.5x) - <6m (<20')
Low - 15 to 60mL/sec (0.5 to 2 oz./sec; 0.5x to 2x) - 6m to 12m (20' to 40')
Mid - 60 to 150mL/sec (2 to 5 oz./sec; 2x to 5x) - 9m to 13m (30' to 44')
High - 150 to 600mL/sec (5 to 20 oz./sec; 5x to 20x) - 10m to 16m (33'to 54')
Very High - 600mL/sec to 1L/sec (20 to 33oz./sec; 20x to 33x) - 14m to 19m (50' to 64')
Extreme - >1L/sec (>33oz./sec; >33x) - >17m (>56')
Note: for streams that fire shorter or longer for a given output rating, the prefixes 'Shortrange' or 'Longrange' can be added (i.e. Longrange-Mid power for a particularly farther-firing soaker)

Shot Time (continuous output above 70%)
very short: <1 sec
short: 1-3 sec
average: 3-7 sec
long: 7-15 sec
very long: >15 sec
--------------------------------------------------------

If these terms sound reasonable, I'll be adding them onto the general soaker statistics page and using these terms in future training articles for iSoaker.com.

Particular thanks to Doom/Ben, Duxburian, and ZOCCOZ for their input.

[Crashdummy]

There should be one more for shot time. Just think how long the hydra pack and Power pak can shoot on their smallest nozzles. They should have a section for 30 seconds + IMO.

[isoaker]

There should be one more for shot time. Just think how long the hydra pack and Power pak can shoot on their smallest nozzles. They should have a section for 30 seconds + IMO.

There just aren't many soakers that can push out a stream for longer than 15 seconds, let alone 30 seconds. Being hit with a stream continuously beyond 15 seconds would be considered 'very long' to most. Most soakers' shot time fall well below 15 seconds, thus making another division for the rare one doesn't make sense.

Remember, these terms are not meant to replace the actual measured numbers. They are to be used in articles when recommending a type of blaster to use or avoid depending on the situation. The only time I would consider inserting a longer 'time' term value would be for a soaker that could continuously shoot beyond the 1 hour mark. For that case, I'd consider the soaker 'effectively unlimited'.

[Crashdummy]

Lol, and isn't that what the Armor Dillo does? I'm pretty sure it hooks up to a hose, and gets unlimited shot time. :p

[isoaker]

iSoaker.com Glossary page updated with new terms. Terms will also be listed on the not-yet-written page for the introduction to Player Training.

Thread closed.