Water Warriors Aqua Pak/Hydra Pak - ^
Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2005 4:18 pm
Well, just unwrapped and did some initial tests with the Water Warriors Aqua Pak/Hydra Pak. Ok, the box says Hydra Pak, but based on the Buzz Bee Toys website, it appears the name of this soaker is being changed to avoid confusion with the Super Soaker Aquapack Devastator. Guess some boxes were shipped before the name change.
At any rate, I had a few surprises, both good and bad, when testing out the blaster. First, when taking pics, I peeked inside the backpack reservoir and noticed a small black rubber thing on the inside. Well, not that small, but it seemed maybe like some sort of float at first (silly me
). Looking longer, I noticed a second one being obscured by the pump shafts that run down the center of the reservoir. The Hydra Pak is based on Hydro Power (though these things really look like CPS chambers to me). I had previously assumed it was air-pressure based and feared bad performance. To verify, I loaded up the reservoir and gave a few pumped, watching as these black rubber bladders expanded. Sweet!
The bad surprise... well, good and bad I suppose. The base of the reservoir where the hose is attached is actually removable. Good for cleaning; bad if one hadn't checked before filling half way with water. Thank gosh I do filling with towels nearby. Tightening it, all is good.
The Hydra Pak has 4 nozzles: 3 stream settings and 1 fan setting. The best nozzle, IMO, is the mid-sized one. It seemed to have the best power and feel. The large nozzle size felt a little weak while the small nozzle is, well, small.
I'll save the rest of my thoughts for the full review to come eventually. I need to do a bunch of stats measurements first. The feel of this blaster reminds me of the SC: Big Trouble, but doesn't require a hose to pressurize. Power is decent, similar (though perhaps a touch weaker) to the Aquapack Devastator. However, the pressurized chamber is MUCH larger and it has multiple nozzle settings. Of course, the hard backpack isn't as comfortable as a fabric one, but it does hold more water as well.
At any rate, I had a few surprises, both good and bad, when testing out the blaster. First, when taking pics, I peeked inside the backpack reservoir and noticed a small black rubber thing on the inside. Well, not that small, but it seemed maybe like some sort of float at first (silly me
). Looking longer, I noticed a second one being obscured by the pump shafts that run down the center of the reservoir. The Hydra Pak is based on Hydro Power (though these things really look like CPS chambers to me). I had previously assumed it was air-pressure based and feared bad performance. To verify, I loaded up the reservoir and gave a few pumped, watching as these black rubber bladders expanded. Sweet!The bad surprise... well, good and bad I suppose. The base of the reservoir where the hose is attached is actually removable. Good for cleaning; bad if one hadn't checked before filling half way with water. Thank gosh I do filling with towels nearby. Tightening it, all is good.
The Hydra Pak has 4 nozzles: 3 stream settings and 1 fan setting. The best nozzle, IMO, is the mid-sized one. It seemed to have the best power and feel. The large nozzle size felt a little weak while the small nozzle is, well, small.
I'll save the rest of my thoughts for the full review to come eventually. I need to do a bunch of stats measurements first. The feel of this blaster reminds me of the SC: Big Trouble, but doesn't require a hose to pressurize. Power is decent, similar (though perhaps a touch weaker) to the Aquapack Devastator. However, the pressurized chamber is MUCH larger and it has multiple nozzle settings. Of course, the hard backpack isn't as comfortable as a fabric one, but it does hold more water as well.
