Sun, Jun 09, 2002 page10

• Water-gun makers produce heavy-duty artillery for summer

  • NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE
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  To measure how far the human race has come, let's examine one of our greatest achievements.

  The mapping of the human genome? Not exactly. Microwave kettle corn popcorn? Not quite.

  The real measuring stick is at your local toy store. Head to the water-toys area. That's it, the plaything from your childhood: the water gun.

  Once palm-size toys that leaked faster than a crumbling roof during an afternoon rainstorm, water guns are now Shaq-sized and have a Constant Pressure System that can launch virtual rivers from four nozzles as far as 15m. They come with reserve tanks you can strap to your back for those extended afternoon battles. Some even come equipped with lights to target your prey.

  We've come a long way, baby.

  School's out for summer, and when the heat rises a funny thing happens: It fries our brains, turning us into rascally kids ready to splish-splash. The season's inaugural wet ambush can't be too far behind.

  "Let's face it, how much fun is it to squirt someone?" asks Tim Englert, the Tampa Bay, Floriday, inventor of Water Wheels, a bicycle-mounted water-gun system. "It's a blast."

  Ah, the anticipation as you sneak up on your friend, then quickly but firmly squeeze the trigger in high-noon, Wild West fashion, releasing a narrow spritz of water that smacks him right on target. You squeeze again. And again. And once more for total soaking humiliation. Then you run, not only to escape from your antagonized victim but also to reload at the nearest water hose. What a rush.

  Englert, who has a patent on Water Wheels but is looking for an investor, hopes his invention becomes the next generation of water guns, a field dominated by Laramie's Super Soaker line.

  He got his idea when he saw children riding bikes and squirting one another with water pistols. Englert, a structural/architectural designer, figured he could make something that was just as much fun but safer, allowing kids to keep both hands on the handlebars. Water Wheels comes with two front guns, optional rear guns and tanks. A thumb-controlled button maneuvers the guns.

  The 41-year-old fondly recalls his first water gun.

  "I remember the days of the old plastic, 6-inch squirt gun," he says. "It looked like a German Luger. You had to run up to the garden hose or spigot, pull off the plastic cap, fill it with water and turn the gun upside down to let the air bubbles out."

  The Toy Industry Association estimates that water guns are a US$100 million-a-year business. In 2000, the latest figures available, Americans bought 15 million of them. Water guns enjoy the reputation as the No. 1 spring/summer toy.

  Chris "The Toy Guy" Byrne, a New York-based toy researcher and analyst for more than two decades, says toy pistols caught on in the 1950s and 1960s when kids emulated cowboys. But the water guns of old weren't very dependable. They held little water, and they leaked. Sometimes the trigger jammed or the nozzle clogged.

  Motorized water guns running on batteries arrived in the 1970s and 1980s. All you had to do was press and hold the trigger, freeing your trigger-happy index finger from cramps and potential carpal tunnel syndrome. Better, but not quite perfect.

  The big innovation came in 1990 with the advent of the Super Soaker (briefly known as the Drencher), created by nuclear scientist Lonnie Johnson, who designed an air-pressure system that can shoot streams of water up to 15m. Finally some serious power.

  Byrne says Trend Masters, a toy company, recently entered the water-blaster market with a line of weapons called Storm that feature red or blue lights to help you aim.

  Just listen to the arsenal that's available: There's Super Soaker Wipeout, Super Soaker XP 240, Storm 3000 Tsunami Force 5, Storm 1000 Typhoon Force 2, Storm 2000 Monsoon Force 4 and Super Soaker Monster X, which holds a whopping 120 ounces of water, the largest Super Soaker.
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