Advice? - Best drenchage for the buck?

[Pete]

Okay, I'm over the hill and all that stuff but this seems to be the only competent and active super soaker site going.

My 8 y/o son finally destroyed my nearly 11 year old XXP-275 today and I'm left wondering what to do. Looking over your boards, I see all sorts of conflicting advice so, if y'all would be so kind, I'd really appreciate being pointed in the right direction.

Money is an object but under 100 USD isn't much of an issue. I'm not scared off by the price on Hasbro's best and brightest but I'd rather buy or build something that will not only last another decade but survive the abuse my kid is going to inflict, as well as delivering massive water on target to the neighborhood squirrels when they decide to raid my bird feeders in the dead of winter. I can build anything that doesn't involve surface-mount soldering or a dedicated machine shop so. . .

Please give me your expert advice. eBay for another of my old favorite? Something newer? DIY?

Please and thank you,

Pete

[DX]

Hi, welcome to the forums! Enjoy your stay.

Out of the guns available in stores today, I'd recommend medium-sized guns such as the Flash Flood and Arctic Blast. If your son is 8, he might not be able to hold larger guns such as the WW Orca or Hydroblitz. Max-D 3000 and XP 310 reissues would work very well if you can find them. From experience, I can say that the XP 310 is one of the most durable water guns ever built.

For older guns, I'd recommend medium CPS such as the 1200, 1000, and 2100. Those tend to be tough guns that can take abuse. Their prices on Ebay are often lower than $40, even at this time of the year.

For homemade water guns, you can build most anything with virtually no toolset. I've built over 10 homemades with nothing more than a hacksaw, power drill, electric tape, duct tape, PVC cement, PVC primer, and the such. Very common and very easy to find items.

[HBWW]

IMO, it's better if your son knows how to handle the guns properly, as regardless of whether it's a homemade or CPS, improper use WILL eventually result in one being broken.

[hydroblitz]

Give him surgery to get bigger hands and then get the HydroBlitz.

MOD EDIT: I am not even going to bother responding to this one. You already know why. Moderators at any other forum would simply delete posts like this, except at Nerfhaven, where they'd also ban the user out of sheer annoyance. I'd rather not do either because I do not think that either should ever be necessary. Please do not prove me wrong though.



Edited By Duxburian on 1182052972

[Silence]

You could definitely buy a CPS-line water gun off eBay - a good investment, and they have decent reliability. However, your son might find the water guns a little bit too bit - I'm not quite sure. The smaller ones, as Duxburian suggested, are probably possible to handle.

You could also build a homemade water gun - they're fairly easy to do. Most people who build them create large, powerful ones, but a smaller water gun should be fairly easy to build as well. A homemade will be rock-solid, with prices similar to what you'd pay for a small CPS water gun (excluding tools).

Water guns currently available in stores might be another option. While they might not last quite as long, water guns from Buzz Bee Toys/Water Warriors are quite cheap and have good performance. The Tiger Shark, for example, has good range, medium-small size, and is $15.

[hydroblitz]

This one is serious now. I would suggest the SS 10. It's the smallest Super Soaker ever made. Or the FF (Flash Flood) but since he's 8, then it might have a strong recoil.

[Loumeyer]

The Tiger Shark would be good, however, Water Warriors are not as durable.

[SSCBen]

If you want durability, homemade water guns will last several times as long as any manufactured water gun simply because PVC is a much stronger material than the cheap plastics used by the manufacturers. Whatever "surface-mount soldering" is, I haven't done it, and I've built just about every type of homemade water gun there is. The only tools you will need are a saw and a drill. I also would suggest a homemade water gun because your kid will probably grow into it over the years.

If you want something now that'd be good for him, this year's Arctic Blast from Super Soaker seems to be pretty sturdy and performs well. The performance will be far from the best, but it won't be bad.

[isoaker]

I'm opting to move this thread to the "mySoaker" forum simply since this thread can really go either way in terms of recommending Stock or recommending a DIY homemade solution.

Whether to go for stock, homemade, or even both really depends on need and time available. The above responses cover current respectable stock soaker recommendations as well as possible thoughts on building a soaker yourself. If you opt for the latter, there are good resources on the web to help you there.

My own recommendations for a decent, available stock soaker would be either the Water Warriors Tiger Shark or the Super Soaker Arctic Blast. Many seem to like the Hydro Blitz, but as I have not personally used it, I can't give a personal recommendation on that one.

Edit: as an aside, surface mount soldering is typically used for mounting microchips onto boards so unless a water blaster is in need of a microprocessor, I believe he was making a joke about things that would be overly complex.

[cobralex297]

If your son can handle the care of a cps blaster, i'd go with a 1000/1200 as those seem to be quite reliable, as well as being quite small considering the power. The output is more than decent on either.


If you're willing to delve into the homemade realm, which i think could be an interesting experience that could be quite redeeming for someone with your technical ability, you can pretty much do whatever you need to do to build a gun that suits the needs of you and your son, without really needing to worry about durability as much, as PVC is pretty much the strongest stuff out there.


XP310s are also quite durable, as stated above, as are the XP270, and as pricing <$100 seems to be the area in which you are, the XP270 would be good because you can buy 10-15 of those for less than 100... not that you'd do that, but the point is, bang for your buck, it's a good one.

On a similar note, if you're interested in buying a gun for your son that may be one of the following, please contact me and i'm sure we can work something out:

XP270
CPS1200
CPS1500
CPS2100
CPS2700: not mentioned above, might be unwieldy for your son, but certainly packs the punch necessary for squirrels.

I'd never recommend this for an 8 year old kid, but if you really wanna piss off some squirrels, i've got a 2500 that i could sell you, or regardless of whether you buy from me, it's a great gun.


In terms of modern guns; the MI: Defender seems nice and durable, as well as being more than compact enough for an 8 year old to handle, but it may lack the punch necessary for
squirrel-bothering. The Flash Flood, be it MI or STE, is an
all-around great gun, and as long as basic care is taken, i can see it lasting at least a few years. Packs the punch for squirrels, and is about at the higher end of power in terms of what an 8 year old can handle, unless you really wanna go old school CPS. The STE: Arctic Shock, the older model i know for a fact is quite durable with a plentiful reservoir, i'm sure the new one is even better.


There's more than a good amount of guns out there, i hope my advice helps you find what's right for you and your son. Also... i really express my regrets with regard to the loss of an XXP275... they're a pretty darn cool gun.

[cobralex297]

To add to my recent and somewhat nauseatingly long post... there's an XXP275 up on ebay now if you were to have the desire to purchase it. At the time of this post, there are no bids, so it could probably be acquired at a more than reasonable price. Here's the link:!:
[url=http://cgi.ebay.com/Laramie-Super-Soake ... 145991QQrd
Z1QQcmdZViewItem]http://cgi.ebay.com/Laramie....iewItem[/url]


Just to close off my post with this... looking back at that link, i'm quite impressed at the condition of that soaker, the stickers and everything all are intact and i don't see any scratches. I'd keep that away from your son if you were to get that one

good luck!