standard water pistols
first produced at some point during the 1960s
early water guns function using rudimentary
plumbing principles and have fairly limited
capabilities - firing only thin streams of water very
short distances (2 - 3 meters). this said, they're still
enough ammunition to get a decent water fight started
whatever age you might be. after only a few years
of the 'space styled' guns in existence it wasn't long
before cartoon characters and just about any object
you can think of became a novelty water pistol.
for some years the basic mechanism remained the
same until the arrival of...

motorized water guns
the central theme of toys being 'bigger, better
and more powerful' it took a surprisingly long time
for water pistols to beef-up into the cannon-like
devices we are familiar with these days. with the
exception of 'dip-sticks' (the huge syringe type
guns popularized in the 70s) there weren't any real
advances in the design of water pistols until the
1980s. a grade above the standard guns, battery
powered water designs improved shooting range and
water supply. the american manufacturer entertech
championed the new motorized designs creating
models that shot water 8-9 meters and even
had sound effects. most designs looked so real that
it lead to canada and the US passing new laws, which
state water guns must bear a solid, 'blaze-orange' plug
at the tip of their barrel, or be colored entirely bright
white, bright red, orange, yellow, green, blue, pink
or purple. along with the new laws in place the
popularity of battery powered water guns began to
decline due to the excessive costs of replacement
batteries - sales dwindled and more or less came
to a stop with the introduction of the...

the super soaker by lonnie johnson
released in 1988/1989 and still being produced
today, the super soaker is what most will imagine
as the elite water weapon. former NASA scientist
lonnie johnson is said to have ideated the super
soaker or 'power drencher' as it was formerly
known when working on a new heat-pump system.
struck by the idea for a water gun that would use
compressed air to provide pressure for a water
blast johnson enlisted the help of the inventor
bruce d'andrade. together the pair developed the
first wave of super soakers which were sold by
larami (now owned by hasbro). once the worlds
best selling toy - today the super soaker has reached
sales of around $2 billion USD. with a range of
anywhere between 7 - 15 meters super soakers
simply out shoot the rest. since it hit shelves almost
twenty years ago it has remained the most poplar
mass produced water gun on the market. a series
of related products are also available such as
additional water supply back-packs and water rockets
making water warfare more intense than ever!

how water guns work
howstuff works shows just how the different types of
water guns mentioned here function via detailed explinations
and diagrams:
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/water-blaster1.htm

make your own
whilst so far we have only mentioned manufactured
water guns its quite easy to knock your own together.
super soaker central has step by step guides on how
to make some pretty lethal looking water guns:
http://www.sscentral.org/tech/homemades/


water gun links:

official super soaker site
http://www.hasbro.com/supersoaker

isoaker
http://www.isoaker.com

super soaker central
http://www.sscentral.org




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alternative ammunition
no good water fight is complete using only water guns,
the inclusion of one or two alternatives such as water
balloons and squeezable bottles are also a must.
a simple small latex rubber balloon filled with water can
sometimes be the best way to drench a potential adversary
- if you manage not to burst them yourself before hand.
as water baloons became more and more popular toy
companies began to make water baloon launchers,
which function like catapults. entertech even released
a portable water pump (pictured right) that allowed you to
top up your supplies on the move.