The Water Warriors Tiger Shark is the 2007 update to the previous Water Warriors blasters like the Water Warriors Lightning and Water Warriors Piranha. The Tiger Shark offers updated styling and several improvements over previous models.

The Blaster ::

Nozzle / Firing Chamber ::

The Tiger Shark features three noticably different nozzle settings all powered by a Hydro Power chamber (similar to other CPS-tech). With a full PC, all nozzle settings produce beautiful streams; the largest nozzle unleashes a large stream on par with original CPS-soakers while the middle setting offers better water conservation. The lowest nozzle setting produces a smooth 1x stream. The pressure chamber offers a respectable amount of pressurized water when completely filled; though holding slightly less water than the Water Warriors Piranha. As in earlier water blasters, the trigger mechanism opens variably depending on how much the trigger is depressed. Because of this, the stream's power can actually be controlled to some extent, though it also means that one must ensure one is pulling the trigger completely to achieve full power out of the selected nozzle.

Pump ::

The Tiger Shark features a common forward-mounted pump. Oddly, the pump grip does not align flush against the body of the blaster when the pump is fully retracted. As well, the pump does not seem to extend as far forward compared to other similar soakers

While the pump glides smoothly, due to the design, the pump grip can sometimes hit against the pump shaft. As well, loose clothing can end up caught by the pump grip as it slides over the forward-extended pump-shaft area.

Triggers / Grip ::

The trigger and grip area on the Tiger Shark is functional, though minimal. The trigger, itself, is larger than those found on other soakers of similar size. This actually causes a slight problem for those with larger hands as it restricts the remaining area on the grip, leaving notably less room for the rest of one's hand. Some users may find that there is no comfortable place to position one's pinky finger. On the bright side, the electronic pressure gauge activation button has been moved from behind the grip as in the Water Warriors Piranha and Water Warriors Lightning to onto the right side of the soaker. This prevents unwanted activation of the gauge as well as eliminates the problem of skin chaffing due to the previously poor positioning of the gauge activation trigger. The only drawback to this change is that the button placement works well for right-handers, but may be a little more awkward to use for left-handed individuals.

The Reservoir ::

The reservoir on the Tiger Shark, as on many other Water Warriors blasters, is situated at the top of the blaster. This arrangement makes the blaster feel slightly top-heavy when filled, yet the Tiger Shark does, overall, feel a little better balanced. Total reservoir volume is larger on the Tiger Shark when compared to its predacessors, the Water Warriors Piranha and Water Warriors Lightning, allowing one to soak a little longer on the battlefield. Intake for the pump is near the rear of the reservoir, thus when water levels are lower, it is best to lean the blaster towards to back to use as much water from the reservoir as possible. The reservoir is closed with a tethered cap.

Overall ::

As a whole, the Water Warriors Tiger Shark is a great mid-sized soaker, able to hold its ground against even slightly larger blasters like the Super Soaker CPS 1200 or Water Warriors Blazer. Its electronic pressure gauge is not particularly useful as most would simply pump up the PC until the pressure-release valve kicked in, but at least it is no longer activated with every trigger pull. The assortment of streams on the Tiger Shark offer a great amount of flexibility on the field. Combined with an expanded reservoir, the Tiger Shark would allow one to hunt down opponents effectively on the water warfare field. Just be wary of its limited hand-grip space and, of course, facing off against significantly more powerful soakers.

Pros

Nice styling, clean lines, and good solid feel to the soaker. Electronic pressure gauge button moved away from the grip and no longer activated every time the trigger is pulled. Streams produced have great, solid feel to them. Three nozzle settings allow for plenty of flexibility on the field depending on the situation. Reservoir volume expanded, yet blaster still feels well balanced. Has a strap to facilitate carrying and use.

Cons

Grip area on the small side and may pose a problem for those with larger hands. Electronic pressure gauge requires batteries to work; gauge activation button easier to use for right-handed users, but may prove more awkward for left-handed users.

Submitted Reviews:

By: Chuz | Posted: 20100601

Review: The tiger shark is a good weapon with 3 nozzles, I have had a waterfight with my dad a few times and he got more soaked than me (he was using a fairy liquid bottle which was decent, about the same range). I think it has a small reservoir even though it seems [like] a lot of water. He has used it too and he soaked me. It is overall a decent blaster. I would give it 8.5/10 not the best but pretty good.

By: C-A_99 | Posted: 20080703

Intro

The Water Warriors Tiger Shark is basically the WW Orca's little brother, holding slightly less water and having slightly less power along with 2 fewer nozzles than the Orca. That said, it often doesn't get much attention in both the real world and online so I decided to write up a review on it since there aren't very many around.

The WW Tiger Shark was first released in 2007, essentially replacing the WW Piranha, which replaced the WW Lightning. Its pressure chamber works by the Hydro Power system; water is pumped into a chamber which pushes back against and stretches rubber disk, which then pushes the water out of the nozzle when the trigger is pulled, much like a water balloon. The trigger is simply a ball valve, a ball with a hole in it that turns to allow or restrict flow. This valve is connected to 2 arms, one going to a spring that keeps it closed and the other going to the trigger piece. (the actual part that the user pulls on)

The Tiger Shark also features an electronic pressure gauge and 3 nozzles, which will be gone over in greater detail in the rest of the review. The review here is for the 2007 Tiger Shark, though I believe the 2008 version performs very similarly. They seem to be pretty much the same except for the coloring.

Usage

Nozzles: The Tiger shark, like previous WW's, has 3 built in nozzles in a nozzle selector. There are 2 which are very similar, differing by about .5mm in size. The other nozzle is fairly large, around 4mm, way too large for the power the gun is able to provide. The first 2 smallest nozzles produce fairly standard streams that have typical range of streams their size. They are, however, more potent and consistent than many air pressure systems. The 3rd nozzle has somewhat lousy range but good for close range soakfests. For the sake of this review, the smallest nozzle will be called nozzle 1 and the largest, nozzle 3.

Handling: The trigger handle and guard are poorly designed, being unfriendly to those with large hands. The trigger guard is a bit restricting but even if your hand fits (which mine hardly does comfortably), the trigger piece itself is a bit oddly designed too. However, the biggest problem I've had here is the way the top sits on your hand. Instead of smoothly curving the handle into the rest of the blaster, there is a relatively flat base below the reservoir that rests on your hand, proving to be fairly uncomfortable especially if the blaster is fully loaded. Also, there is no carrying handle for easy-filling. However, the pressure gauge activator has been moved, which is a nice relief. Also includes a strap, which is a huge relief for some who prefer to use them but are unable to create them.

Pressure Gauge: Unfortunately, this pressure gauge is fairly useless. Traditionally, one pumps up a blaster until the pumping becomes difficult and a noise is heard. This is the pressure relief valve releasing extra water back to the reservoir to maintain a safe pressure level. (the supposed maximum of the blaster) So in nearly all cases, the user knows 3 things about the blaster at any given time: when theres no pressure, when theres some, and when its full or near full. Well guess what? That's exactly all this electric pressure gauge tells you! There are 3 lights: red, yellow, and green. However, upon examining the internals, there is a part with a spring that matches the pressure built up in the chamber. Outside of this, there is a tab that moves up to connect circuits that activate the lights. Basically, at low pressure, the spring is pushing the tab back, so it doesnt activate the higher-pressure light indicators. As pressure builds up, the spring gets pushed back and the tab moves up to connect the yellow and green light circuits. Alternatively, they could've simply placed this spring into part of a case where it'd be visible, so the percise amount of pressure can be recognized. I suppose this is just gimmicky design on their part, for marketing reasons. It should be noted that the pressure gauge and its activator are not ambidextrious, they are designed for right-handed holding, but can still be activated and viewed when carried left-handed.

Pump: The pump, while positioned a bit low, has a fairly standard design with a curve on the end. This is pretty much the proven method for free-pump handles and works very well. Some may find the grip a bit too slippery but I think its fine. It is also neither too long nor too short. The sliding action, however, feels strange at times but for the most part, but works fairly well.

Trigger and Valve: The ball valve is simultaneously attached to a spring which closes the valve, and to a rod that connects to the trigger piece. The valve is basically a ball with a hole in it. The ball rotates to open or close the hole, letting water through or blocking it. The trigger itself feels a bit sluggish, at least compared to the old stuff that Larami used. Still, it does the job fairly well but most blasters using this design tend to exhibit annoying leaking problems over time, where the valve does not close completely due to the spring weakening. This has not been a problem on my Tiger Shark yet, but happens to every Orca I've seen and is starting to become a problem on my Piranha. It is usually correctable by placing rubber bands to aid the spring.

Pressure Chamber: The Hydro Power system was most likely designed because Hasbro held the CPS patents but no longer really used them, except to sue other companies which happened to use a spherical or cylinderical rubber pressure chamber in their water guns. To get through the problem, Buzz Bee Toys used their brains instead of their lawyers and used a simple, flat rubber disk that stretches back as pressure builds. While it definately works better than air pressure, it seems to have some limitations at higher power, but this can't really be verified.

Internal Design: While many factors have contributed to somewhat low performance in WW blasters, the main problems are a weak pressure chamber and fairly low pipe diameter. The pipe diameter is nearly the same as the largest nozzle, which constricts flow greatly. The design of the pressure chamber also makes it difficult to create a powerful one.

Reservoir: The reservoir's capacity isn't the greatest for the blaster's size, but still does fairly well, providing enough shots to last long enough without creating too much weight. The cap works similar to the Super Soakers, but uses a different method of holding on. Instead of a tether that goes inside, a ring wraps around the base of the thread and grips on. The problem with this design is that anyone who's an idiot and borrows or uses a WW could lose the cap, but the company usually replaces them for free.

Overall: Handling design could be slightly improved, though the inclusion of a strap helps a lot. Power is very lacking on here, especially on the large nozzle, though the overall lack of power is very evident in the low stream velocity, even on smaller streams. (which still make reasonable range.)

Statistics

Reservoir: 1570 mL

Pressure Chamber: 400mL

Range - Level:
     Nozzle 1: 18'
     Nozzle 2: 21'
     Nozzle 3: 20'

Range - ~45°:
     Nozzle 1: 31'
     Nozzle 2: 34'
     Nozzle 3: 30'

Ranges taken with nozzle about 1' 4"above ground. Very sight wind, unperfectly even ground, lineup of measuring tape, etc. may affect results, especially on small nozzles. Range was gone by rough average of the center of the water pool created, not by last drop.

Shot Time:
     Nozzle 1: 18s
     Nozzle 2: 11s
     Nozzle 3: 3s

Output:
     Nozzle 1: 22.2 mL/s
     Nozzle 2: 36.4 mL/s
     Nozzle 3: 133 mL/s

# Pumps: 17

Pump Volume: 23.5 mL

Output and pump volume directly calculated using total PC size / Shot time, and PC size / # of pumps, respectively.

The data is for reference only. Many measurements were only taken once, using conventional household equiptment. Due to the lack of being scientific, as well as the manufacturing process, results across the same model may and probably will differ.

Personal Preference Ratings

Ratings based on scale of 1-10

Soaking Power: The overall feel of power from the streams and their ability to soak targets far away and up close.
6.5/10

Shot Capacity :: How long and effectively the blaster lasts on its given capacity. Also factors in PC size and ability to recover and re-pump from big shots.
8/10

Ease of use: Handling and ergonomics in how the blaster is designed.
6/10

Overall: 6.75/10

Shot Video

Download: (9.77Mb .avi)

The End

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Related Content .:

 Product Listing Page | Water Warriors Product Evolution Tree 

Water Warriors Hydro Power Based Systems

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Water Blaster: Basics | Care, Cleaning, and Storage | Soaker Use: Basics|Repair Articles|Elastic Pressure-Based Tech Troubleshooting|Elastic Pressure System Blaster Usage

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