

History of the Super Soaker - blogimus
http://www.isoaker.com/Info/history_supersoaker.html

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JoelSutherland
_Rumor has it that the CPS 2000 was removed from the market simply due to its
sheer power. Anyone who has experienced a direct blast from a CPS 2000 can
tell you that the stream packs more punch than most garden hoses. All future
models based on the CPS systems appear to have been toned down in order to
meet some forms of safety criteria._

A friend of mine got this for his birthday the month it came out. His party
was a watergun fight. That was quickly abandoned when we realized how powerful
it was. It knocked down 6th graders at close range.

Instead we spend hours taking turns who got to have the gun and stand on the
deck. Everyone else ran around in the yard and tried not to get shot. Last
person standing won the round.

This is one of my better childhood memories. I am really glad this link was
posted so I can use it to back up the power of the water gun in the story.

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loso
When I was around 13 years old I was interested in electronics, reading
popular science, and listening to Run DMC and any other hip hop I could get my
hands on. I really didn't see that many black inventors or scientist in the
news or on TV(except the little black kid that would show up on Mr Wizad every
now and then). It wasn't until I was a little bit older that I learned about
the rich history of blacks in science. Being 13 years old living on a military
base in North Carolina I assumed that the field was something blacks could not
get into.

It wasn't until I read an article about the guy who invented the super soaker
that I found out that your color doesn't hold you back from getting in any
field. I learned that he held many patents and that the super soaker was just
the most popular. It changed my whole outlook on things and made me do a lot
more research. I knew then I had 2 loves, hip hop and electronics and I could
do either one if I wanted.

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rmp
A true inventor. Even when manufacturer after manufacturer failed he kept
pressing on. Kudos.

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timdorr
This reminds me of my old XP 150:
<http://www.isoaker.com/Armoury/Analysis/1998/xp150c.html>

An unassuming Super Soaker by modern standards, it actually houses a deadly
hack which makes it, by far, the strongest Super Soaker every produced.

The nozzle was removable to allow for a filter screen to be replaced. However,
one was still able to fire with the nozzle removed. This revealed it's hidden
power: The Super Soaker Shotgun. The lines feeding water up to the nozzle were
exceptionally large, so it was merely the nozzle that regulated the flow. With
it removed, the output capacity was massively increased. A fully compressed
tank would empty in approximately 2-3 seconds. It didn't go far (10 feet tops)
and required a bit of luck, but anything caught in front of it at the right
time was instantly drenched in water. It was devastating. There is no modern
equal and I don't know if any other guns have been produced with the capacity
that this one had. I had won many a water battle with this little trick in
mind. Oh, how I miss it!

Dammit, now I'm going to spend a ton of money on eBay when I really
shouldn't...

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sophacles
I wish I could be Lonnie Johnson -- R&D on squirt guns and whatnot sounds fun!

~~~
PebblesRox
Invent an even better one!

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shabble
I remember the glorious day we discovered that the supersoaker reservoir tank
was a perfect fit in the kitchen Soda-Stream.

Fill the tank almost full, saturate it with CO2, then attach to the gun and
pump until you could pump no more. Then shake the whole assembly until the CO2
came out of solution.

Worked beautifully, and if I remember correctly, probably added another 30-40%
range to it.

Unfortunately, we finally reached the manufacturing tolerances, and something
burst quite dramatically, thankfully only spraying water everywhere.

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geuis
Man that brings back some memories. I was 11 and remember that big green
bottle well.

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fallintothis
Never something I thought to read about, but definitely entertaining.

Now somebody needs to do a writeup on the history of Nerf guns!

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billbarhydt
The current super soaker models are very disappointing to me. I've held a few
"battles" with neighbors in my yard and the power is not what I remember from
years ago. Taking a step back in product development makes very little sense
to me.

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jvdh
That writing out of numbers is extremely annoying. I can understand when
writers do it with numbers that are unexpected, or very important. But here it
is done almost consistently with every number. It makes me feel offended that
the writer does not trust me enough to read numbers.

