The Nerf Super Soaker Tri Strike Crossbow is the largest, new model for the 2014 Nerf Super Soaker line. It features collapsible arms for the crossbow, allowing this blaster to shoot either from a single nozzle or from three nozzles (the additional two at the outer ends of the crossbow's arms). Like the Nerf Super Soaker Freezefire, the Nerf Super Soaker Tri Strike Crossbow is a true pump-action water blaster, operating akin to the Nerf Super Soaker Arctic Shock and Nerf Super Soaker Shotwave.

The Blaster ::

Nozzles ::

The Nerf Super Soaker Tri Strike Cross Bow features one primary nozzles and two secondary nozzles at the end of each of the crossbow-styled arms. The primary nozzle pushes out a decent, albeit brief stream. The secondary nozzles remain off when the arms are folded, but operate once the arms are extended by sliding a switch on the bottom/left forward section of the water blaster's body

While the arms will open simultaneously, either of the arms can be collapsed separately, allowing both or either or the secondary nozzles to be used as desired. Unforunately, the power of the streams from the secondary nozzles are significantly lower than the already limited output from the primary nozzle. To put it in perspective, each secondary nozzle pushes out less water per shot than the Nerf Super Soaker Alpha Fire. Since water exiting the secondary nozzles reduced the amount coming out of the primar nozzle, there is no increase in overall output. Instead, one ends up blasting with a weakened primary stream and trivial secondary streams that are more easily affected by wind.

Pump ::

Like the 2013 Nerf Super Soaker Arctic Shock and Nerf Super Soaker Shotwave, the pump is comfortable to hold, but its less pronounced riges and more angular design provides less grip than the 2013 Nerf Super Soaker pump-action water blasters. Unfortunately, even though the Nerf Super Soaker Tri Strike Crossbow's pump volume is only slightly more than the older Nerf Super Soaker Shotwave, like the Nerf Super Soaker Freezefire, it too seems to suffer from some type of pump lag if one attempts to pump rapidly. The current hypothesis is that one of the internal check valves is either tight or too constricting which limits how quickly water can be pulled from the reservoir into the pump shaft. Whether this lag will be apparent on all blasters of the same make remains to be determined. The lag is only noticable when one tries to rapidly pull off complete pump shots, extending and compressing the pump as far as it is permitted to move. Typical users may or may not experience this lag depending on their blaster use. However, having tested hundreds of water blasters, this lag really should not exist at all.

What I also noted when pumping is that a small blip of water ends up being shot from the nozzle during the intake stroke. The exact cause of this non-intentional loss of water via the nozzle is unclear, but this further suggests that this water blaster's internals are not optimized properly.

Grip ::

The triggerless grip area on the Nerf Super Soaker Tri Strke Crossbow, like the rest of the other current Nerf Super Soaker models, is well moulded and quite comfortable to hold. However, compared to the 2013 Nerf Super Soakers, the build does feel a little less solidly built, perhaps due to the fact that this grip area is actually part of the reservoir and made of a different type of plastic than the grips of most of the 2013 Nerf Super Soaker models.

The Reservoir ::

The Nerf Super Soaker Tri Strike Crossbow features a screw-threaded cap with a rubber gasket to seal the reservoir. However, the cap, itself, it short, featuring an extended tab to assist with tightening and loosening it, but its low profile makes the cap more difficult to achieve a good grip. Interestingly, the cap uses a tether and anchor system to help prevent its loss akin to some older Super Soaker models.

Overall ::

As a whole, the Nerf Super Soaker Tri Strke Crossbow is a functional pump-action, crossbow-themed water blaster that offers a gimmick that detracts from its performance while offering little advantage. Moreover, while stream creation is fairly smooth, the lag noted when attempting to pump rapidly puts a dampener on how well this water blaster could perform in the field. While its fixed reservoir holds more water than three standard Nerf Super Soaker Clip Magazines, the Nerf Super Soaker Tri Strike Crossbow's pump volume and functionality are beat by the much older Water Warriors Avenger (2008). In the end, the Nerf Super Soaker Tri Strike Crossbow would likely perform adequately against other pump-action water blasters, but is somewhat disappointing for its larger size and would find itself quickly out-paced by most truly pressurized water blasters.

Pros

Nice styling, comfortable to hold. Streams produced are relatively smooth, albeit short in duration.

Cons

Pump-action reduces ability to aim while shooting. Pump suffers from some lag at higher pump rates. Secondary streams at the end of the crossbow arms offer no real advantage, provide non-significant output, and detract from the primary stream's performance. Low profile cap not as comfortable to open and close.

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