Popular Mechanic's Super Soaker Showdown

[isoaker]

Super Soaker Showdown: Abusive Lab Test

Note: the age of kids test were from 5 to 12 yo. No idea why these sites seem to avoid getting older people to test these things out, too. Though the Super Soaker Hydro Cannon says 6+ and Water Warriors Gorgon says 8+, I'd say they would be best used by a typical 13yo+ to get the most from these blasters.

[SEAL]

Yeah I've seen this before (I get the magazine.). I was going to post it here, but the article wasn't on their website then.

Comments?
Well, I agree with you that they should have used older kids in their last test, and when they said that the Gorgon was too heavy for even the oldest "tester", I had to laugh. I mean, really? I was using a Monster X when I was 7 (Relying on the strap most of the time. ), and I know some kids under 12 who can use my CPS 2700 fairly easily, so I don't see why the Gorgon would be that heavy for anyone over 9 or 10.

I guess their results were alright; The T-Storm and Banzai (Whatever it was called.) are better for younger kids, and the HC and Gorgon are best for...Everyone else! I pretty much agree with it. By the way, does anyone find it amusing that they said, "The world of water guns is in an all-out arms race!"? Arms race? Yeah, we wish.

[HBWW]

If the Gorgon came with the strap, they wouldn't be complaining about it.

Anyway, if kids have trouble with the Gorgon (which is understandable without the strap), then get some .5L bottles and don't fill up the reservoir all the way. Pretty much common sense, but it would make more sense to just get a strap and not have to worry about it. Rather unfortunate that BBT had to exclude it for a blaster of that size.

But in that case, they could've used a Sphynx, Max-D 6000, 3000, or something else that's light and doesn't suck... If they insist on new releases only, BBT has it covered pretty well with the Ultimate line.

[XCALIBR8]

Not a bad roundup there. I'm really digging the Gorgon. Easily one of the best, if not the best blaster of this season. The Thunderstorm is nice to have to look back to the old Entertech era of guns, but it just isn't effective for older warriors. I'm going to let the little kids use that at our family campout this year . I'd get a Hydro Cannon if it was the right price. I've passed on the Banzai twice at local thrift stores. Just too gimmicky for me. I did get another Water Warriors Titan and I couldn't be happier for $4. It reminds me of the old XP soakers and performs very well.

[atvan]

The T-Storm was the favorite, lol. The Banzai was also popular lol.

What they should have done was gotten something good to compare. However, they didn't like the Gorgon because they had to pump, so a CPS would be hated too. They praise Hasbro like everyone else.

[XCALIBR8]

Yeah, it's kind of sad what's considered cool these days in the current water gun market. It seems like we're stuck in the mid 90's (80's even, considering the novelty popularity of Saturators and the Thunderstorm). I think the Gorgon got a bad rap. All it needs is a strap for younger warriors. If I could hulk around a Super Soaker 200 when I was 9, the Gorgon is nothing compared to that. I recently picked up a Gorgon and it's amazing. BBT really puts out a quality product that goes beyond what Hasbro has to offer. BBT reminds me of the classic Super Soakers, but they are built much better overall. My Super Soaker 200 only survived two Summers of intense water wars, but I used it almost every day of the Summer vacation. BBT is the real "Super Soaker" in my eyes, and it's more evident each passing season. I wish more new comers knew the whole backstory on BBT. I think that would make a difference. I've converted a few of my friends in seek of new "Super Soakers".

[atvan]

The mid 90s would be nice. XXPs, good XPs, CPS 2000, Storm, and more. 1998 would be even nicer.

The Gorgon seams much bulkier than the SS 200, and definitely holds more water.

[marauder]

A bit of a tangent, but this article and this discussion made me think of something.

I think it's clear that our age difference makes a huge difference in how we play/fight. I started reading the online sites and forums when I was 11. That year, 9-12 year olds made up the bulk of my team in Vermin War I, and the analysis here is quite consistent with my team's experience with weaponry in the first war. The "Vermin" were mostly 13-18 and it made a huge difference. Basically, you had a lot of people that could run with a loaded CPS 1000 against kids that could at best manage manage an SC 500. Huge difference.

As we got older, our armament (as well as our mentality) changed greatly. The CPS 1000/1200/2100 series was critical in this change, due to having so much power in a manageable size. If you have enough of these guns you won't need anything small in my opinion. Your scout/point man can run with a 2100, and when you tap shoot (like DX always talks about) you will never get caught pumping (as SS says: For best performance pump rapidly between shots).

When you have a variety of ages, as we often did between V2 and V9, and a variety of weaponry, specializing with different team jobs only makes sense. When you have a bunch of high school or college athletes with top level guns, weapon and job specialization becomes less important. Age and athleticism changes everything. In one of the later wars I had a CPS 3200 and I ran 2 miles, with 2 other guys armed with CPS blasters, to get behind the enemy base and take them completely off guard. We took them by surprise and hit them from max range. Changes everything.