Elastic Pressure
Elastic powered blasters usually use a rubber bladder to store pressure, though a few spring powered blasters have also been made. The very first water gun to operate via this method was the Super Soaker CPS 2000 (see History of Water Warfare) which employs the Constant Pressure System, or CPS, which is used to refer to any elastic powered blaster that uses a rubber bladder. Instead of storing the pressurized water in a vessel to compress air, and using that air to expel the water, CPS blasters use a rubber bladder similar to a water balloon but much stronger. This saves a lot of space from having to store air, and provides more constant force throughout a shot. In contrast, the power provided from air pressure will drop off enourmously as a stream is fired, requiring constant pumping or a high air to water ratio. (i.e. The vessel must contain 2 or more times the volume of air as water.) However, not all elastic pressure is as constant as CPS; HydroPower (rubber disk) and spring powered have significantly higher dropoffs. See the Workshop section for more details.
Only elastic powered blasters with a manually operated trigger are listed here.
Following lists some of the most common elastic/CPS blasters, both old and modern:
- CPS Series: CPS 1500/1700, 2000, 2500, 3000, 3200
- Monster Series: Monster, Monster X, Monster XL
- Super Charger Series: SC 500, 600, Splashzooka, Power Pak, Big Trouble
- SoakerTag Elite Series: Flash Flood, Aquapack Devastator
- Max-Infusion Series: Flash Flood re-release
- AquaShock Series: Arctic Blast, HydroBlitz
- Iron Man (Arctic Blast re-release)
- Nerf SS Hydro Cannon
- Water Warriors HydroPower: Lightning, Piranha, Blazer, Tiger Shark, Orca, Expedition, Sphinx (UK version), Gorgon (UK version)
- Water Warriors Pressurized Performance (CPS): Vindicator, Vanquisher (first edition)
