WaterWar.net

Hello,

i really like the Flashflood design. The big blast is the only thing that impresses people coming after you with a bucket.

But the pump is crap, it just takes to long, also one shot isnst really enough and it could hold more water.

Is there anything better out in the world?

I quite like my FlashFlood (even after repairing that damn firing valve again!  ). I would even go as far as saying it's one of the last decent blasters SuperSoaker made!

You mentioned it could do with more water. If you mean in the pressure chamber then you can modify it to have larger capacity (see further on). If you mean the reservoir (where you fill it initially) you can add a backpack reservoir (either homemade (see here and here) or a SuperSoaker branded max-infusion backpack if your FlashFlood has a max infusion cap. You can usually find them on eBay.).

As for the pump on the FlashFlood, it's the same with most decent blasters. A large pressure chamber with higher pressure capabilties, requires a smaller pump diameter (sounds counter-intuitive but a smaller diameter pump can reach higher pressures. PRESSURE=FORCE/AREA. Smaller diameter=smaller area=higher pressure.) but obviously more pumps. To make a blaster pressurise with less pumps but acheive the same pressure, the pump needs to be longer, making the blaster longer. See SSCentral's section on pumps (in the physics section).

The benefit of the FlashFlood is you don't need to pump it until it's pressure chamber (where the water is pumped into to fire) is full. It is technically a constant pressure blaster, as it uses a natural rubber pressure chamber which expands when water is pumped into it, generating the pressure. You only need to pump it until it's full if you want to fire the 'FlashFlood' nozzle. With the normal nozzle, the range is pretty much the same no matter how much water is in the pressure chamber (except when it's empty    ).

In terms of new blasters, you're best bet would be something like the water warriors Gorgon or Colossus. At the minute the 'best' new NERF SuperSoaker is the Hydrocannon, which, with a bit of modification, can have both a standard nozzle and a flood nozzle, and reasonable performance. As stock, it's pretty pathetic.

If you don't mind going secondhand, you have some really amazing  blasters to choose from, albeit more expensive. As with all 'best blaster' threads, it completely depends on what you want from a blaster, whether it be insane range but almost no shot time (CPS2000), or multiple nozzle versatility in a smaller package (FlashFlood, ArcticBlast (which some prefer to the FlashFlood) or Gorgon) or even a fully automativc dribble shooter (most current NERF SuperSoakers!

isoaker.com is probably the best place to look for blaster reviews and statistics. You can search by brand, or performance characteristics such as range or output.

If you don't find exactly what you want in a stock blaster, you could always build your own! Most of us here have experience with building or modding blasters (one way or another) and would be happy to help out with any part of the technical or design side.

The other option is to modify the FlashFlood. You could give it a larger pump, or power mod the pressure chamber.

Details on homemades and mods can be found on the WWn wiki or SSCentral homemades or mods pages.

The WWn wiki page on elastic pressure homemades explains the concept of the elastic bladder system used in the FlashFlood. The air pressure page explains the other option.

Well it definatly needs the full blast, someone with a bucket chasing after you is not stopped with a tiny stream cannon. But only having one shot sucks.

I personally use the smaller stream most of the time, and the flood nozzle as an emergency shotgun blast to make a quick getaway (i.e. if someone has a bucket ), or when they're empty and I'm right next to them!

Seriously though, the flood nozzle's main problem is, as you mention, one shot before you need to repressurise. Two or Three pumps will give you a second or two of normal nozzle though, so you can fire the flood nozzle and follow up almost instantly with a normal shot. Now, if you fire the flood nozzle and then pump AND tap shots (squeeze and release trigger for short bursts) you can put down fire whilst pressurising the chamber for another flood burst. It will take a little longer to get the flood ready, but you will still give out some effective soakage. I think the idea is you use the flood nozzle to stun the opponent (especially if they are a soaker n00b!) with a fair amount of water hitting them at once, whilst you get away, or move to a new location for another attack.

As I already mentioned you sacrifice pump capacity for higher pressures, but if you can live without higher pressures, you can substitute the smaller FlashFlood pump with a larger diameter pump (from a piston blaster of some sort). THIS WILL MAKE IT HARDER TO PRESSURISE THE PRESSURE CHAMBER, but pressurise it in less pumps. If you modified the casing you could let the pressure chamber expand more than it does, allowing you to fire two maybe more flood nozzle blasts after each other without pumping (or one HUGE blast!). Guide for that on an arctic blast (same principal) can be found here. If you do do this, don't pump too much or you can rupture the bladder. Obviously if you do perform this mod, you'll have to pump even more times to fully expand the pressure chamber. However, you will still only need two to three pumps to fire the small nozzle (pressure remains constant). You will also reduce the life of the bladder as it is stretching further than it used to (constant stretching and contracting weakens the bladder over time). You could always replace the bladder with one made from some Latex Rubber Tubing (see SuperCPS homemade). That will expand further and allow you to achieve higher ranges.

If you only want to change the pump then take a larger one out of another blaster (will need to be about the same length though!). The FlashFlood and Arctic Blast are two fo the most versatile blasters you can get, however if you want a hard-hitting, good alround blaster, the CPS1700, CPS1500 or CPS2500 are all good. They have multiple nozzle options (2 on the 1500 and 1700, 3 on the 2500) some of which are very large, and output more water than the FlashFlood's flood nozzle.

If you're still looking at getting a blaster better than the FlashFlood go on isoaker.com, soaker listing and use the drop-down 'sort by' box to arrange the blasters by 'maximum output'. That'll give you an idea of what blasters to keep an eye out for. Some of the reviews have video footage of the blasters firing aswell. The FlashFlood is by no means the highest output blaster, and other, more powerful blasters feature rotary nozzle selectors so you can quickly switch from large stream blast, to smaller streams. Look for nozzle selectors with a setting of 10x or higher (10 ounces of water per second).

Don't dis stream nozzles, get up to the 10x and higher of the good oldies, and you are actually nearring the output of you flash flood with much more range.

IMO, the Flash Flood is almost the very best you can get for that blaster size. I do agree though, that the pump system is cumbersome and unnecessarily difficult for the blaster's capabilities. The problem seems not to be the pump diameter, but the low diameter of the tubing that gets to the PC. I know they had their reasons for thin tubing, but I still think it could've been done better.

It is difficult to say, we want more than the Flash Flood. SIze and power is great, the next bigger thing would be the Hydroblitz...with several shots inside, not loved from people....

What would you think of a Connection of a POWER PAK and a Flash Flood ? The Chambers should be designed the way, the PC of the FF is filled after firing, which would just make a better kind of Hydroblitz, better to run and more efficient I think I have to go and have a try here...

The Hydroblitz isnt that bad, sure it could get more water out with one burst. But the main trouble is the that trigger doenst react fast enough. Hard to hit with that delay.

What's better than the Flash Flood? I'll tell you:

CPS 1000
CPS 1200
CPS 1500
CPS 1700
CPS 2000
CPS 2100
CPS 2500
CPS 2700
CPS 3000
CPS 3200
CPS 4100

There are more of course, but this list represents the best of the best. The FF isn't that bad, but I've never liked it, and the riot blast, while fun in soakfests, is not very useful in any serious gametype.

The "riot blast" is the only thing useful. No one with buckets or plasticbags cares about the standard stream. Only a little if you put ice in the tank, but that doenst hold very long.

I think what SEAL is trying to say is, the streams on most old CPS blasters have the same (if not more) force and output as the FlashFlood's riot blast (bearing in mind the FlashFlood riot blast is around 10x output (10oz per second) anyway). Basically, anything CPS 1500 or larger has more output (and is harder hitting) than the FlashFlood's riotblast, but with more range and accuracy. The same amount of water will leave the nozzle, in the same amount of time, making the opponent just as wet (but a thick stream will hit them harder than a spreading riot blast). Just because the FlashFlood's stream isn't brilliant, don't make the mistake of underestimating any stream!

It's not just the output, it's just that the CPS line is just plain better than the Flash Flood when it comes to combat. If you were to use a FF in one of the serious battles we had last weekend, you would be toast, unless you're really really good. Even in non-serious battles (we call them soakfests.), CPS blasters will easily outsoak a FF, because the only way the FF can come close to matching one in output, is to use the riot blast, which eats up water very fast.

He asked if there was anything better than the Flash Flood, and he got the answer.

Fair enough.

You can get a lot out of the main stream nozzle if you drilled it to a slightly larger diameter. It tends to get a reasonable range and will get people wet enough that you don't have to depend purely on the flood nozzle.

Does it make sense to remove the wires in front of the blast nozzle?

I've done it, it concentrates the stream a bit more so it doesn't spread out all over the place. Whether that sounds good or not is up to you.

I removed the wires and mine shot further... and then it died... but that had nothing to do with removing the wires.