I was recently reading about Super Soakers and how that single invention made children of the 90’s both extraordinarily happy and masters of water warfare. This amazing toy changed squirt gun fights forever and made the once close range backyard games into full on strategic battles. It was akin to the introduction of the machine gun during WWI. Not only did they look cool but could shoot farther as well as hold triple the water making fights all the more exciting. This got me thinking about my childhood and I came to realization that 85-90% of playtime was centered around battles and warfare; My toys would fight to the death in elaborate setups (gi joe, he-man, transformers, legos, blocks), we would wrestle and box constantly, we orchestrated adventures that always included fighting some imaginary evil villainor group, we had intense games of flashlight tag during summer evenings (flashlights duck taped to toy guns) and of course there were squirt gun fights. Water fights were the closest thing to actual combat we would see as children (accept the occasional bb gun wars we would have but that isn’t recommended….they were kinda awesome). We actually possessed weaponry that could fire at and hit another child and we even had grenades (water balloons) and artillery (water balloon slingshot) to make it that much more realistic. In the 80’s we did what we could with the low tech weaponry available to us but when the early to mid 90s rolled around everything changed. Below are images showing the evolution of the water gun from the earliest metal squirt guns to the high powered pressurized air guns and improved battery powered weaponry.
USA Liquid Pistol- 1896. This was the first known squirt gun to be sold.
1977 -The Cosmic Liquidator. Here was an early battery powered squirt gun with a water reservoir.
The standard squirt gun that gave us hours of fun but were very short range, unreliable, and had to be refilled way to often.
The Water Syringe was a great advancement in technology and gave the warrior a distance never before achieved. The downside to this gun was that you needed a bucket of water (or a pool) to recharge the weapon after one sustained shot. As artillery with a home base, this was a fantastic water weapon but one needed squirt gun grunts running cover fire or you were drenched in no time.
Battery Powered Guns- These were just plain awesome. You looked legit holding it but it was the first type to use water magazines and was the first “fully automatic” water gun where all you had to do was hold down the trigger and it would keep on shooting.
Water Warriors Tarantula-battery powered-1985
Another Battery powered gun that gave you some serious advantages over the squirt gun
The Super Soaker 50. This is the gun that changed everything. When first introduced only the lucky few brought this to battle and were both feared and envied. You needed this gun on your side and it didn’t take long before everyone got one and leveled the playing field. This gun claimed to shoot 50 feet but really shot about 20. Still, it held more water than any other and shot double if not triple the distance.
Before we move on to the next gun I have to give a shout out to the man who made this all possible….Lonnie Johnson.
Lonnie Johnson
Lonnie Johnson was working as a NASA engineer and stumbled on the idea of a pressurized water gun while working on the heat pump on the rocket used in the Galileo Jupiter Mission. He designed a working prototype that he gave to his daughter
The First Super Soaker- How awesome does this “Mad Max” version of the super soaker look. I want this gun…still
With this gun she undoubtedly destroyed every other kid on the block and was envied by all of them. Those little envious children had to wait a full decade before Johnson was able to get a patent and a company to sell this revolutionary product. From there on out things just got better and better.
Super Soaker XP 150-
After the 50 they were introducing new guns on a regular basis. They got bigger reserves and shot farther.
Super Soaker Hydrocannon
Super Soaker CPS 2000
Here is the coveted gun. It was discontinued because it was so powerful that it hurt the skin. There aren’t many of these out there but it once laid waste to everyone on the water battlefield.
Super Soaker CPS 3000- Was made to replace the discontinued 2000 and although claimed to shoot as far didn’t have the same punch. What it did have was a reservoir backpack giving the warrior a serious advantage. If you got into a one on one fight you better have been a good shot because you were definitely out lasted.
From here on out I can’t really give an opinion on the guns because, sadly, my water war days had come to a close after the 3000. I became the retired warrior with only tales of the past. Nerf bought out Super Soaker and still makes both pump action and battery piston driven guns. I haven’t tested any so I cannot say whether they are better or worse than the original super soakers but I can say, with absolute certainty, that nothing is as powerful as the legendary CPS 2000. The bazooka of the water world. You may as well have had your shirt off and a red cloth wrapped around your head because you were everyone’s “worst nightmare”. Here are the newer ones:
Not gonna lie….This one makes me want to get back in the fight.
-Brian
