Nerf Super Soakers- super or pathetic

[spitfire]

I believe that basically everyone on the forum is aware of the Nerf Super Soaker line that came out last year. I also assume that most everyone is aware that water warriors is the only major competitor. So I think it's about time that we start listing the major pros and cons of both brands.

[SEAL]

Super Soaker:

Pros:
Exterior build quality
Ergonomics
"Cool" looks

Cons:
WEAK power
The abandonment of the technology that made Super Soaker a household name
Tiny reservoirs
Poorly designed inner workings (ex. Flash Blast)

Water Warriors:

Pros:
They actually use air-pressure tech!
Decent power
Actually willing to listen to feedback from the community

Cons:
Could be more powerful
Stream lamination issues (on later models)
Ergonomics on some models (though the newer ones are apparently better)

[the oncoming storm]

Older super soakers (pre 2003)

Pro's

Durable (excluding most classics)
High pump volume (on pre 1998 XP's) or 300's
High lamination
High Output

Con's

Stiff pumps (again pre 1998 XP"s)
Ammo hungry
Durablity (Classics)
Pricey (anyone who says otherwise hasn't looked up CPS 2000's on eBay)

Post 2002 Super Speakers

Pro's

cheap
Not ammo hungry
easily available

Con's

Poor lamination
Poor output (excluding Flash Flood and Artic Blast)
Low pump volume
Small PC's

[HBWW]

Water Warriors isn't really a competitor when you consider the power range of the blasters. The only reason they act as a competitor in practice is because of how small the market is.

As for right now, there's no real pros for the Nerf Super Soaker line. Even young kids are better off powering up a Max-D 2000 (or a WW Cricket) than using a battery powered MotoSquirter. Sure, they have a certain look and feel to them, but you can get that from Nerf N-Strike blasters anyway.

[spitfire]

Thanks to everybody that posted. I'm going to try and summarize everything that you guys wrote down, so let me know if I miss anything or need to change something. OK, here it goes...


Nerf SuperSoaker
Pros:
1.Overall Durability
2.Ergonomics
3.Clip system
4.Save water

Cons:
1.range disproportionate to mass of gun
2.lack of output
3.delicate inner parts

Water Warriors
Pros:
1.Excellent Range
2.Good Output

Cons:
1.Lamination
2.Ergonomics
3.Exterior Durability

[HBWW]

I'm completely unsure of the whole durability thing to be honest. I though Nerf SS were making durable products, but perhaps the main reason we don't see "How do I fix this Nerf SS" threads may be because no one cares to. BBT blasters however, still seem to have a somewhat limited lifetime (several years of light to medium use?) particularly if they're not maintained correctly. (Ball valve lube in particular; a slick valve keeps the whole trigger system working well, while pulling on a stiff trigger may damage something.) Also, recent BBT blasters have ergonomics that are nearly as good as Nerf SS's, so I consider that point moot. (Python 2 and Colossus 2 have excellent balance and handling, unlike *ahem* the Vindicator, although the Vindicator had a great pump.)

Output and range differences are almost at an astronomical scale between the two brands. Nerf SS has no play here, especially when the blasters are too weak to even fill up water balloons. (That is if what DX told me is true.)

I don't consider ammo usage to be a real con, at least in the hands of a player who knows how to use it effectively. (What with DX and his CPS 2000's...) As much water as I waste when using a 2000, it's something I'd rather learn to use more effectively, as switching to a 10k or 12k gives you a slight tradeoff in range and a higher tradeoff in lower output/stream potency.

I don't see where bad lamination on WW blasters came from. WW blasters have some of the best stream lamination levels ever achieved for their performance. Lamination can be a tradeoff to stream velocity and overall aggressiveness, however, which is why light CPS's dominate despite having poorer lamination. A CPS 10k will have worse lamination than a 1000, but the velocity and output really makes up for it, and it still travels the distance when needed.

[DX]

Nerf SS's main pro should be aesthetics. Even the Electrostorm looks great. The dark blue, white, and orange is a great color scheme. The model I have the least performance respect for (Flash Blast) also looks the best, imo. Water Warriors lags severely in aesthetics, even with the original Colossus. On smaller and even medium guns, I really don't care about the ergonomics because they are neither large enough nor heavy enough for that to play a role in battles. I complain about balance, grip, etc on heavy blasters where that really matters.

As for durability, I've yet to have a WW gun break. My Blorca's sticky trigger has been the only issue so far. I've yet to have a Nerf SS break either, but I don't use them other than testing.

The clip system in Nerf SS is far from a pro. It violates the principle that technology should improve over time. The clips need battery power to draw water up, when gravity used to do the same job letting water fall down without consuming any power. Battery power is an obsolete technology that Super Soaker itself made obsolete over 2 decades ago. The clips also pack significantly less capacity than regular reservoirs in WW guns, or most lines of water guns for that matter. They do offer a faster way to refill, however, a gun with a larger reservoir simply does not need to be refilled as often. Would you rather need to switch out clips 3 times or continue using the same large reservoir without needing to refill?

And yes, I've been unable to field fill a water balloon off a Nerf SS (Hydrocannon should easily have the power, but I lack one to test). I can also prove on video that an Electrostorm does not generate sufficient power to topple or even nudge an empty plastic cup even from point-blank range. I have not had time to run my medium sized Nerf SS guns through the cup test, but I'm assuming the results aren't going to be that different. Battery power with tiny nozzles should have predictable results.

Longer field life with Nerf SS is neither a con nor a plus in my mind. They have long field life because the output is so tiny. Long field life would be a pro if the model had a large nozzle and a large reservoir. It's a pro with the CPS 2700 because it's got a 10x nozzle, yet shoots forever. A 0.25x nozzle will shoot forever, but it's utterly useless. There are other guns where performance could have been increased (both Colossi) at expense of the field life. The original Colossus can be stretched to an insane amount of tap shots (391). I'd rather have 200 with a larger nozzle option. There is a threshold where high field life becomes a waste and the performance needs to be increased instead. The CPS 2500 and 1500 have that ratio about perfectly set given their sizes and weight. The 1000 and 2000 go too quickly and there is no CPS that goes too slowly (although you could argue that the 1200 needs more output, see 10K vs 12K).

To say that the "range is disproportionate to mass of gun" is a huge understatement. My Monster X pen soaker had triple the range of my Electrostorm. My HH Dream shoots slightly farther than Nerf SS's small models, using only a dollar store style piston-trigger mechanism, the weakest method of powering a water gun known to exist in production.

[the oncoming storm]

If you want to talk about insane field life I must drag in the 200 and vindicator, both can get just over 800 tap shots but use small 0.3x on the 200 and 0.6x on Vin to do so.

[HBWW]

The swappable mags are not a bad idea in and of itself, but it's not exactly original either. Still, I think that it'd be nice to have 2-3L reservoirs (a size that's actually meaningful) that are quickly swappable. That said, with all the costs and work involved (especially if something breaks), perhaps the age-old cap and water bottle is good enough to carry us forward.

I think it's hilarious that a keychain/pen shoots further than the MotoSquirters, but if I'm truly honest, I can't say I'm surprised. I've seen videos from Urbantaggers and perhaps others demoing the inability of a Thunderstorm to topple cups easily. It took about 5-10 seconds of shooting to do the job, whereas a CPS required a tap shot.

The range being disproportionate to mass factor is why making fun of the shelf space excuse was funny in the first place, but I guess Nerf really took that joke to new extremes.

With that said, I will say that I'm surprised to find piston trigger squirters shooting better than MotoSquirters. If that's really the case, it seems that Nerf SS team really did not do their homework when it came to researching, like Entertech supposedly did. (I'm not as well versed with that pre-SS era.)

I think that in several years, we'll be able to look back at all this and have a laugh again, be it after the SS brand not changing, going under, or even making a comeback.

Lastly, I want to point out that saying that a Nerf SS has better field life than WW blasters is like saying a water refill bottle you never use has longer field life than a CPS 2000. So what? Both the Nerf SS and bottle have only one purpose: carrying water, but the bottle does a way better job at it.

[spitfire]

'K, thanks guys. i don't have time to write much, so I'll revise the list later.
Q: If everyone I play against is using SS, then doesn't that even up the playing field enough that the range really doesn't matter???

[HBWW]

If everyone you're playing against is using a Nerf SS, you can outsoak them all with a water bottle and perhaps a few water balloons for good measure. If you want to make anyone regret getting the wrong blaster however, just grab almost any Buzz Bee blaster.

If you want to play fair, just save the money you'd waste on Nerf SS soakers and dual wield cheap squirt guns. They may not look as pretty, but they're at least as effective.