The Water Warriors' Lightning is the second largest blaster of the Water Warriors line. The Lightning features 'Hydro Power', the Water Warriors' equivalent to the Super Soaker CPS pressure system. At first glance, this blaster is reminiscent of an extended Super Soaker XP 270, but its behaviour is quite different.
The reservoir on the Lightning offers at least 2 additional full charges of the firing chamber before emptying. The intake area of the reservoir is near to the rear of the blaster, thus when water level is lower, it is adviseable to tilt the blaster slightly upwards so that the pump can draw in water. While the Lightning does make use of all it holds, the fact that the reservoir is opaque makes it a little harder to determine how much water is remaining.
The pressure chamber provides good power to the nozzles. The single firing chamber displays a near CPS-like quality (it is called 'Hydro Power' by Buzz Bee Toys); streams have only minor drop off near to the end of the water level in the pressure chambers.
The Lightning has 3 different nozzle settings ranging from a small nozzle with a diameter of about 1mm to its largest nozzle with a diameter of around 2mm. Streams produced from the largest nozzle have a good feel. As expected, the smallest nozzle offers the best level of conservation for this blaster, giving the Lightning a maximum shot time of about 14 seconds without needing to repump. The pump, itself, is forward mounted.
An interesting feature on the Lightning is its electronic pressure gauge. Activated by a trigger-switch mounted opposite to the nozzle trigger, the pressure gauge indicated whether the firing chamber is full pressurized by glowing different colour patterns. When all the lights glow green, the pressure chamber is at maximum (though it is still recommendable to continue to pump until one can hear the check-valve functioning and the pump has more resistance in order to truly fill the firing chambers). As well, the placement of the pressure gauge activator means one will almost always activate the pressure gauge when firing, potentially wasting battery power unnecessarily. Also, this trigger switch rubs the user's hand between the thumb and index finger, potentially leading to hand strain after prolonged use. The trigger/grip area is a little short due to the blaster's design. As such, it is a little small for those with larger hands (typically leaving no room for one's pinky finger).
All in all , the Water Warriors Lightning makes a good addition to anyone's armoury. While when using, one should still be wary of others using CPS-based soakers, the Lighting user can keep pace with almost anything on the modern water war field.
Pros
Easy to pump, pressurize, and blast away. CPS-like pressure chamber gives good power. Multiple nozzles allow the user to drench more or conserve depending on how much water remains.
Cons
No strap. Reservoir opaque and size a little small for a blaster of its size. Hand grip area around the trigger small for those with larger hands. External reservoir cap tether more prone to damage than an internal string-anchor one. Forward mounted pump more likely to be damaged if left extended.
:: Submitted Reviews
By: mr.dude
Posted: 20060429
Reservoir Volume: 1230mL
PC Volume: 441mL (14.6oz)
Number of pumps: 16-17
Shot times:
On lowest nozzle: 16 secs. without dropoff, 23 secs. with dropoff
On medium nozzle: 11 secs. without dropoff, 12 secs. with dropoff
On highest nozzle: 2.5 secs. without dropoff, 3 secs. with dropoff
Range: Level 45 degrees
On lowest nozzle: 9m 10m
On medium nozzle: 9.5m 11m
On highest nozzle: 9m 11-12m
Output:
On lowest nozzle: 20mL/sec (0.67oz/sec)
On medium nozzle: 33mL/sec (1.1oz/sec)
On highest nozzle: 158mL/sec (5.27oz/sec)
This is a very good gun in my opinion. Sure, the 5x is beaten by most CPSs, but this gun is smaller than most CPSs, so you could easily outmaneuver them. Besides, the 5x can still soak someone in a second (I should know). The PC is fairly big, being larger than many of today’s Super Soakers and even some Water Warriors guns. It doesn’t take too many pumps to pump up the PC either (16 until the pressure gauge glows green, 17 until you can hear the check valve working). It has decent range and the streams are fairly laminated. And the strap is a big plus. The pressure gauge is also a big plus if you don’t mind the placement of the trigger.
Like every gun, this gun has its disadvantages as well. The most annoying would be the reservoir. On a fully loaded reservoir you’ll only get about 2.5 shots. Now that’s on a fully loaded reservoir, which just doesn’t happen since the reservoir’s shape will only allow about 7/8 of the capacity to be used, and you still won’t get to that because the reservoir is opaque, so filling it without getting soaked is hard. Also, the pressure gauge’s colour can’t even be seen well in sunlight.
On the lowest nozzle, you’ll still get severe dropoff: 7 seconds of it to be exact. And on the highest nozzle the shot time is terrible. The medium nozzle serves no big purpose except maybe ranged attack while still conserving, but 11m is nothing to be proud of. It doesn’t have a spray nozzle either so that reduces the “just for fun” part of it.
All in all this is a great gun. Easy to run with thanks to the size and the strap, yet big enough to scare people away thanks to the nozzle selection. While the Blazer may indeed be better in many ways, the Lightning is smaller. It does, however, use water at a considerable rate if you’re not careful with it. I would recommend this gun to scouts and maybe even snipers.
Pros: nice size, good power, good shot times on the lower nozzles, good range, strap, pressure gauge, reasonable number of pumps, dropoff passes by quickly on the higher nozzles.
Cons: small oddly shaped opaque reservoir, external tethered cap prone to damage, pressure gauge hard to see in sunlight, electronic pressure gauge wastes batteries, PC smells like fish.
Related Content .:
Product Listing Page | Water Warriors Product Evolution Tree
Water Warriors Hydro Power Based Systems
Additional Resources
Water Blaster: Basics | Care, Cleaning, and Storage | Soaker Use: Basics|Repair Articles|Elastic Pressure-Based Tech Troubleshooting|Elastic Pressure System Blaster Usage
:: Water Warriors Lightning
