Hands-On: Nerf Super Soaker Hydro Cannon

[isoaker]

@ Isoaker what is with the shield ? Is it useful or you better get it off before a battle like you would do with the violett nozzle-cap of the CPS 2700.. ?

The shield isn't too much to write home about. It's about the size of a piece of paper and can be mounted on either side of the blaster. Can't say, though, it'd be particularly useful; at best protecting your torso slightly based on where it would be when one holds the blaster in the usual manner. Personally, I prefer the blaster without it, but I'll admit it does look cool to me and adds to the blaster's intimidation factor. May not be particularly useful as an actual shield, but if it puts a little more fear into one's opponents, it still has some value.

[HBWW]

The shield is transparent though, so gotta give credit to that. Unfortunately, the strange angle it's at may mean that it's not useful for most N-Strike blasters, and obviously it's too small for water wars.

Interesting removal of the Max-D system, which follows the trend on the Iron Man. That said, the removal of the mechanism is no guarantee of reliability, as made apparent by some BBT blasters. However, Nerf has created generally reliable products in the past (with exception to the blue N-Strike Maverick; not sure on the yellow one), so it is unlikely to be a problem if they're careful.

[marauder]

I am excited about this and must get one. Should be good for quick raids or just fun games.

[GJIV]

Once again: I would appreciate a small firing video of the Hydro Cannon a lot! It would be great if there is someone, who spend some minutes to help me at my decision Thanks

[isoaker]

Once again: I would appreciate a small firing video of the Hydro Cannon a lot! It would be great if there is someone, who spend some minutes to help me at my decision Thanks

I'll try to take one as soon as I can, but I can't make any specific date promises at the moment. Daylight hours that I have free with access to my armoury are very few and far between. Maybe by the week's end, but maybe not. So many factors including the fact I'm currently fighting a cold and that the weather has been a little crazy recently.

[HBWW]

I saw the Ultimate WW's today at Wal Mart, but unfortunately, no Hydro Cannon nor any other SS branded blasters. Still, we should be seeing the new blasters come into stores soon.

[GJIV]

I do appreciate every help And they should not be a problem if it need more time! But I do not want you to make a video while having a cold, better get healthy again, this is more important!

And may martianshark can offer a short video too.

@ but if you want to make a video, it is appreciated, of course!

[HBWW]

You can still shoot stream videos indoors, just can't get the range data from that. I think it is very likely that the HC will simply end up being a downsized FF with a finger-controlled trigger.

[martianshark]

If I could either get a FF or a HC, I would probably get this. It looks way cooler, it doesn't use Max-D, it has a finger-controlled trigger, and I could mod it.

Edit: Urban Taggers posted a link to this thread on his blog.

[isoaker]

You can still shoot stream videos indoors, just can't get the range data from that. I think it is very likely that the HC will simply end up being a downsized FF with a finger-controlled trigger.

I thought about shooting a video in the bathroom, but its messy, poorly lit, and very small and I'd probably end up soaking myself, my camera, and still not getting a good quality video.

[scottthewaterwarrior]

Wow, I don't check in for a few days and look how much I miss! I'm really suprized by how limited this blaster is, what is in it that takes up all that space that could have been used for PC and reservwar? It beter not be empty space! I think the blaster is way over priced, I boght my Vindicators for only $20 each and they are 2 or 3 times what that gun is.

CA99: They already tried and did a pretty good job at making the Hydroblitz as useless as possible for its size.

You were defenitly right about that, they did screw this up, and I was hoping for a CPS 2000 like re-release, (I was too yong to experiance the golden years of Super Soakers only heard about them ) I guess I should have known better than have faith in Hasbro, I hate them (or at least dislike) for more than just making sucky Super Soakers.

[HBWW]

I disagree. The HydroCannon is a monumental achievement in water blasting by Hasbro/Nerf standards. =p Their other achievements include carrying on the FF to the AB, Iron Man, and maintaining the availability of useful sidearms like the Max-D 2k or 3k. However, all of their Helix, Oozinator, and Arctic Shock crap can just get shoved into a plastic processing facility. (Ok, the Oozinator actually performs decently, but is still way too big/bulky for its size/capacity/performance; it's ridiculous that the FF is smaller, lighter, holds far more water, and is much more powerful.)

What I meant above (comparing the HC to the FF) was refering to the power of the blast, not the improvements over it. GJIV was begging for a video to be posted (which, don't get me wrong, we'd all certainly appreciate), and I was trying to say that the blast is very likely to be similar to the FF.

Regardless of what it is, I'm fairly confident in its moddability from what I've seen. Hopefully it will not disappoint.

[GJIV]

Related to modifying, I think about using a MAX INfusion 3 litre backpack and connect it permanetly to the Hydro Cannon, furthermore I would go over to the PC and make a PC expansion, although I am not sure how much this can be done because I do not know internals of it, nor performance due to firing. And that is why a firing video would be so important^^ If the stream is loosy, all the modifying is not worth its work, but if the nozzle is like the blitz-nozzle of the hydroblitz it would be ok or even great I do prefer such "burst" nozzle over the usual straight nozzles a bit because you can soak people all over their body and you will hit the target quite sure, although it is dodging

And as I see, it would be appreciated by lots of people to watch a firing video. Once again quality does not have to be that great, I just want to see the thickness and the performance of the stream itself and the area it covers. What is about urban taggers ? They made a video of the point break and the thunderstorm, so why not one of the HC(=Hydro Cannon for those who do not know)?

[HBWW]

If you're going for a permanent connection, a homemade backpack would probably be a better idea for the lower cost and much higher capacity. You may non't want to ruin a Max-I backpack that works perfectly well with Max-I blasters anyway.

Based on the shape of the blaster, it won't be as easy to expand the PC as it is on the FF, but I'm confident that with enough modification, it is possible. The reservoir really has nowhere to go other than behind the PC, and the reservoir is almost always an easily removable component.

The firing video would give a good performance reference to the FF to see what's possible. However, a firing video is not going to give the juicy details on how it would be possible to turn the HC into the next CPS 3000. Only internal pics and hands-on experience will give that.

[GJIV]

You are right CA99 But it is important to see, whether the stream is great or not. I can change lots of things on a blaster(with little work) but what I really do not change at the HC is the Nozzle. As you stated clearly, the original nozzle will always perform best. So it depends on the nozzle and the performance of the stream whether I buy one or not Nevertheless nothing else could help me out but a test video Of course internal pics are important too, that is out of question. But before thinking about modifying, I have to think about getting one

But I think this gun can be modified well and will bring good performance then with little work It would also be interesting how much you can expand the PC, as it holds only 200 ml originally. May you get out 500, that would be a good ammount of water for a burst

[HBWW]

If I have ever said that the original nozzle performs best, then I either misspoke or was refering to CPS's. (CPS's have percisely designed nozzles and laminators that are hard to beat with DIY solutions.) I believe what I said however, is that the best performing nozzles are those that are done professionally; that are made smoothly without interference. Drilled endcap nozzles give the most options, but they are very difficult to get decent results out of and even a hose barb is often a better choice. However, I've never seen anything work better than the water balloon filler nozzles I've tested on homemades, which have given a weak CPH more range than a CPS 2k. (Though the ball valve is also responsible for this performance.) In the case of the HC, adding a laminator and a good custom nozzle is, I would argue, a necessary modification to ensure that the blaster is capable of combat in games that demand range, fast streams, etc. The FF nozzle was not designed for range, and the HC appears to have little difference (if any) to the FF's nozzle design. In that case, a modification as simple as removing the screen already boosts range. The screen's purpose is to prevent foreign material from entering the PC but also lowers range. (However, screens and straws act as good laminators when applied before a nozzle that's smaller than the space of the laminators; they slightly slow down the water so that it can make it through the small nozzle more smoothly.)

[isoaker]

Got a chance to do some output measurements yesterday night. With blasters like the Hydro Cannon whose shot time is exceeding short, more effort is spent trying to measure the shot time as opposed to measuring the volume pushed out since it empties its whole PC is less an a second. In fact, for the Hydro Cannon, shot time is roughly 0.3 to 0.4 seconds. After doing multiple measurements, the average worked out to a shot time of 0.35 seconds.

As the PC holds roughly 200mL of water, that gives the Hydro Cannon an output of roughly 570mL/sec or an iSoaker x-rating of 19x.

Note: due to the rather short nature of the shot time, output calculation is easily influenced. If the time was set to 0.3 seconds, the output would be 667mL/sec or ~22x. If the time was set to 0.4 seconds, the output would be 500mL/sec or 16.7x. As such, take this particular output number with a grain of salt. To do a truer output measurement would require more time, effort, and probably high-speed video analysis.

[HBWW]

So, a video wouldn't be such a bad idea after all. At 30fps, you'll get up to 33.33ms of accuracy. Of course it's a little more complicated than that; starting and ending can be ambiguous sometimes.

Nonetheless, if your estimates are at least somewhat accurate, that's a fairly impressive output level that definitely surpasses the FF. Is the nozzle orifice roughly the same?

[isoaker]

Nozzle is basically the same size between the Hydro Cannon and Flash Flood. I'll be happy to take a video once I manage to get home before it's dark outside! That said, I have a feeling that the number for the Flash Flood may be lower than actual. I believe the actual shot time for the Flash Flood is also below 1 second, but I wasn't measuring it as accurately back then.

[pocketesq]

And as I see, it would be appreciated by lots of people to watch a firing video. Once again quality does not have to be that great, I just want to see the thickness and the performance of the stream itself and the area it covers. What is about urban taggers ? They made a video of the point break and the thunderstorm, so why not one of the HC(=Hydro Cannon for those who do not know)?

M'fraid they haven't been spotted anywhere in Australia just yet, which is disappointing. Only the Thunderstorm and Point Break made confirmed sightings here, and there was talk of someone seeing a Tornado Strike but we can't be certain.

We at Urban Taggers had our HC ordered on Amazon since the first week of Jan, but it's reported to be delayed till end of Feb:( If noone's done a video by then we'll do one for sure:)