Nerf Super Soaker Barrage - Hydrowar Review

[marauder]

Review
Youtube Review

Additional thoughts that would make my review too long:

The pump diameter is almost as large as that of an XP 150's! However, the pump stroke length is amazingly short (think Arctic Blast) so the overall pump capacity/output is still only 38-40ml (1.3-1.35 oz). This would be a decent pump capacity for a pressurized blaster, or even for a small piston pumper, but for a piston pumper of this size it's just meh.

Speaking of the size, here's some comparisons.
CPS1000: 22.5″ x 4.5″ x 11.5″ overloadedcapacity: 98 oz
XP 150..: 23.5″ x 4.0″ x 12″...overloaded capacity: 75 oz
SC 600..: 23.0″ x 3.5″ x 9.5″..overloaded capacity: 60 oz
Barrage..: 22.5" x 3.0" x 8.5"...overloaded capacity: 88 oz
Explorer: 21.0″ x 4.5″ x 10″....overloaded capacity: 60 oz

When fully loaded the Barrage is about as cumbersome as a Gorgon. All of the other, similarly sized blasters listed above are easy to wield. Even the 4100/Monster is probably easier to maneuver with when fully loaded. As you begin draining the tank it's easier to aim with, also like the Gorgon, but you don't have sling mounting points on the Barrage like you do on the Gorgon.

The nozzles are interesting. I really do like how it looks like there's only 1 nozzle, but it's actually 3. There's no way of telling which nozzle you are on unless you memorize the order, look at the nozzles, or mark them. That's annoying. The large nozzle is about the same size as that of the CPS 1000's. When you use it it is kind very similar to firing a CPS 1000 on only 2 pumps, just enough water to get out there, but not enough to hold the stream together to actually do any damage. The fan blast is possibly the most pathetic nozzle I've ever seen, and believe me, I've seen a lot of fan nozzles in my day. The Vindicator would absolutely have this thing for lunch if both were only able to use fan nozzles. You'll see what I mean when the video is up. It is more like a mister.

Pics to come.

[isoaker]

Thanks for posting the review!

Almost makes me want to do a full testing on mine... Almost.

I think I'll measure some stats and write up some thoughts, but will end up linking off to your review for a more in-depth analysis.

[TheSoaker]

‎(ﾉಥ益ಥ）ﾉ ┻━┻

[isoaker]

Oh, I should note that I also noticed the rather short pump-stroke length, but hadn't tried measuring its volume, yet. I'll see if I can without removing mine from the box. That said, if it's true we're dealing with a wider, but shorter pump, that actually works against the top performance of the NSS Barrage's stream since that means a user's force when pumping is being spread over a greater area.

Oh, and that fan spray nozzle looked tiny when I first saw it as well. The nozzle selector is a neat system, but beyond that, it's actual usefulness seems limited by the nozzles actually added to it.

[HBWW]

Are you having trouble logging into the YouTube account? I had to change the password some time ago because Google was screwing around with it.

Also, YouTube processing is pretty messed up. It should be done by now if you posted it that many hours ago. Perhaps it prioritizes based on an account's number of video views?

[the oncoming storm]

I am surprised the pump moves so much water, I saw one in a store and thought it might move 0.7oz

Since you mentioned 300 reservoir caps in your review I have tip for others with 300s. Water Warriors threaded caps fit and with just just 2 wraps of E-tape is perfect. I discovered this yesterday, (so nice to be able to lay down without getting by your own gun ).

[marauder]

I uploaded it from my roommate's laptop yesterday night, since we edited it on there. He may have closed it at some point during the process, but then I don't think it'd say it was processing. I think processing is what happens after it's uploaded right? If it's still like this I'll end up re uploading it from his computer. I selected the highest quality available, maybe I should scale it back so as to have less likelyhood of something going wrong cuz of how long it takes to upload.

Nice catch Storm.

[HBWW]

Yeah, it looks more like a problem on YouTube's end, but it is very unusual for it to process for more than a short time these days. For your end, just save it at the reasonably highest quality with as little quality loss as possible, in the smallest file you can. Do keep it at the original resolution though.

Edit: YouTube says "Please check back in a few minutes." so it's very likely to be a botched upload. You should be able to resume the upload from where it was, however.

@storm: Interesting find on the caps.

[isoaker]

@marauder: would you mind double-checking the volume you measured per shot? I just tested mine and I'm only getting, at best, ~22mL (0.7oz.) per shot. If you're getting 38-40mL per pump, we may have two variants on our hands.

[HBWW]

Or more likely two completely different measuring methods. (i.e. Whatever marauder is doing may be gathering water from dead space, or iSoaker may not be getting the full pump, who knows.) It's too soon and unlikely for them to be making different marks with different internals.

[isoaker]

Could be two different methods, I suppose. I don't think I can get any more pump out of mine, though. I'm measuring what comes out of the nozzle for each pump stroke and, because I had marauder's measured volume in mind, did several measurements to see if I could squeeze any more out. The most I managed to get out in a single stroke was 22mL, though volume dispensed was often only 20-21mL for me.

Oh, and though highly unlikely, I wouldn't completely rule out variant since I have heard stories about different factories making older models of Super Soakers and ended up with definite differences between batches.

[DX]

It sounds like different measuring methods. I'm pretty sure that Ben and I measure pump volume the same way, by measuring the rez volume, pumping once, then re-measuring the rez volume and taking the difference. Measuring the volume shot out might result in less water if there is dead space, including the tubing.

I guess pump-action blasters are tricky because of how it functions as pump and PC - pump volume in separate chamber blasters kind of has to be measured by rez volume difference, but PC volume should be measured by what comes out. Perhaps the PC volume way, iSoaker's way, should be used with pump-action, what comes out matters more than what you can draw total with these types of soakers.

[marauder]

Actually, while I typically measure the way Rob described above I go with Isoaker's methods for pump action. So technically I wasn't measuring pump volume, I was measuring output. I decided to do this since that's all that matters when it comes to pumping the Barrage (e.g. you aren't pumping to fill a PC). You can tell that there is some dead space since the first shot is pretty weak which indicates part of the water was left behind in the dead space.

I'm still getting 38-40ml. I can try the other method later, but I have to go to class first. There are several reasons we could be getting different pump volumes/outputs due to manufacturing differences. The duct/pipe that houses the pump could be just a little bit shorter, or even the tracking. I noticed this when pumping it while disassembled. How far I pushed the pump back unsurprisingly affected how much water came out the nozzle. For instance, I measured the pump stroke length at 3.5", but if your tracking is shorter than mine you wouldn't be able to use the full 3.5" - which is not long at all to begin with.

I'm thinking of going back and retesting using the other method later, then updating the pump volume on my review to reflect this figure. I am fully confident in the 38-40ml output I'm getting for each shot though. That's not that bad in terms of overall output, but I feel like it is when you factor in how heavy the gun is overall.

[isoaker]

I'll also go back and test mine again to see if I can move the pump more. Maybe I messed up or, for what ever reason, my Barrage is defective and won't let me do a full pump.

As an aside, you see you be using the term "output" to mean how much water is pushed out from the nozzle for which I use the term "pump volume". I usually use "output" for how quickly (volume per second) water comes out of the nozzle.

[isoaker]

Update: this is one of those rare times I re-did measurements in the hope that I made some mistake or found some definite fault in the item I was testing. However, at least for my NSS Barrage, I'm only able to squeeze out ~22mL per shot. The pump cannot extend any farther outwards nor be pushed any farther into the body so I've hit my blaster's pump limit. Not sure why there's a difference, but that's the number I'm getting.

[marauder]

Youtube review is now up! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uOEgHXASWA

[darthmeow]

I saw one of these in a target yesterday. The nozzle selector is awesome although they should have added some sort of indicator. What surprised me is the sheer size of it, i's at least as big as a 2100 going on a 1200, and with the design of it it makes sense that it is so unwieldy.

[HBWW]

Someone needs to turn off their TV while filming these! lol.

Nozzle selector is interesting. Would be useful if there's some way to attach an indicator to be able to visually tell what nozzle is selected. The leaking cap makes it pretty useless though, especially for storing water.

Will you be using this channel from now on? Or are you simply having trouble uploading to the water warfare network channel? We need to centralize our online presence in order to have a higher chance of drawing more attention. The description now is almost useless since you only get a few lines before the user has to click "see more", and most won't even read it that far. Best way to draw attention is probably with annotated links at the end of the video. (Which I'll need to add to my Frozen Fury 2013 video as well.)

Anyway, very good review that effectively details the pros and cons of this blaster. Hopefully this gets attention away from the typical Youtube garbage by being early, which should draw attention to the problems of modern SS's better.

[marauder]

PM me the password and username again and I'll try to put it on the wwn account and then you can tweak it from there as you see fit. I just know that previously, last year, youtube was giving me trouble logging onto the account, saying the computer wasn't authorized or something really weird.

The size of the blaster is pretty impressive, but it wouldn't have taken as much money to produce as say, an SC 600, or CPS 1000.

[HBWW]

Let me know if you take down the old video, because I linked to it on Nerf's Facebook page lol.