* Water Balloon Use .:
By: iSoaker.com
Filling/Preparing
Only use clean tap water to fill water balloons. The balloon (depending on the type being used) should be filled until the rubber is stretched a decent amount. Filling too little might result in the balloon not breaking on contact. Filling too much and it will rupture, drenching one's feet at the filling station.
There are two ways to fasten the balloon. The standard is to tie a knot at the opening. The other is simple to twist the opening about 10-15 times and fasten it with a clothes-pin or one of those large paperclips/bulldog clips. When throwing, the fastener is first removed, then the balloon is thrown. Since there is no knot, it unravels mid-flight and begin to spray, giving the balloon a larger area effect. However, there should still be enough water to adequately drench the intended target.
Transporting
How many balloons one should carry really depends on the type of mission one is on. Snipers should really only have at most 1 - 2 balloons since the balloons can be a personal threat when running. Heavy geared people can carry as many balloons as they wish.
It is recommended that balloons be transported in some form of plastic bag. The bag cradles the balloons such that the chance of early rupture is minimized. Also, should the balloons break, the water is kept contained and can be used for other things (i.e. refilling if need be).
It has recently been brought to our attention that some find that plastic bags may tear due to the weight of the water balloons. An email message received suggested the use of potato bags instead of plastic bags for transporting water balloons. Though these bags may not contain the water of a ruptured balloon, they are also less prone to breaking.
Use
Water balloons should really be reserved either for initial distractions/attacks or close-encounters/last resort attacks. Nowadays, water balloons are not as effective as the other water blasters available. They also tend to leave unsightly messes behind and can pose a hazard so please clean up after the water fight is over (though latex balloons do biodegrade, small animals and children may ingest balloon fragments).
Aiming is everything when using water balloons. Once they are thrown, there is no way to redirect them. One should also ensure that the balloon is thrown with enough force so that the target has little chance of catching it and sending it back one's way. The range of the water balloon really depends on the type of balloon and the user. One may wish to practice soaking objects with some test balloons before using them on the field. One thing one does not want to learn is that one has bad aim in the heat of the battle. Range can be increased by using a sling-shot, but aim just requires practice.
Go the Distance
The main advantage that water balloons have over Super Soakers® is simply range. It is much simpler to throw a water balloon farther than most Super Soaker® water blasts can go, allowing one to soak a hostile beyond the range of his/her blaster. The main drawback is that water balloons are a one-shot deal. If one misses, no more balloon. Herein lies the importance of aim. If a balloon is to be used, make it count.
Sling Shots and Other Launchers
There are various devices available in some areas which can allow the user to launch water balloons farther and faster than one can normally throw. Though this, at first, may appear appealing, it is not always recommended. The farther the distance a balloon must travel, the greater the likelihood that the balloon will miss the intended target. From experience, it is often better to go for the sure soak than the long shot.
Be nice to the Environment
The bad thing about water balloons is the remaining rubber left behind. If possible, purchase balloons which are biodegradable and/or clean up after oneself once the water fight is over.
Other Suggestions
Faster-Breaking Water Balloons - Submitted by Squirrel
If you bite and/or pierce a small hole near the top of a water balloon (It should squirt out a very small stream of water) and then throw the balloon, it usually has better chance of breaking on contact. Only do this a minute at most before throwing the balloon or too much water will leak out before you can throw it.
:: Water Balloon Use: Added Techniques
Virtually anyone who can throw a ball can use a water balloon. However, it takes a true Soaker to understand the art of water balloon use. The following page outlines various advanced techniques and strategies not commonly used but very effective if used properly.
Seal the Balloon... or Don't!
Most water balloons, once filled, are tied close at the opening to prevent the contents from spilling out. This works well but means that the balloon must not only hit the intended target, but must also burst. As well, the balloon is limited in its soaking ability since water is only unleashed upon balloon rupture.
One variation is to twist the open end of the balloon several times around but leave the end untied. This end should be held to prevent it from unwravelling. However, upon throwing the balloon, the end will unwravel and water will begin spraying out from the opening. The speed of water released from the balloon will depends on both balloon size and opening size. Usually, there is still enough water remaining in the balloon to still deliver a good soak to the intended target. However, multiple secondary targets may be hit along the way from the spray. By varying the amount of water in the balloon as well as the number of twists given to the open end, one can control how long it takes from release of the balloon until water begins to emerge. The main difficulty is that these balloons need to be held shut with a paperclip or twist-tie to prevent them from opening up while in transport.
Hit 'em... or Don't!
In the heat of the water fight, water balloons are often used as a quick way to deliver a good-sized payload of water directly to a hostile. As effective as this may be, there are often times when a direct path may not be feasible or as desired.
If a hostile is hiding behind a fence or shrub, a balloon can still deliver the majority of its payload to the target. If the object that the target hides behind is used well, a properly thrown water balloon will rupture on the object and shower the intended target with its payload. (i.e. a balloon thrown towards an opponent hiding behind a chain-link fence will rupture on the fence but still deliver most of its contents onto the other Player.)
Sometimes Ya Just Gotta Lob It...
Lobbing a balloon refers to throwing the balloon higher as opposed to farther. This is typically used if a hostile is hiding behind an otherwise water-impenetrable object yet open to the sky. The height that the balloon is thrown is important. Since the horizontal motion of the balloon in minimal, most of the balloon's energy required to rupture it comes from gravity. The higher a balloon is thrown during a lob, the better its chances of breaking on impact. Unfortunately, the higher one throws, the less accurate one's estimate of landing zone becomes. These types of throws require practice to become good.
Don't Throw It... Tie It!
If ever involved in a water fight game which includes in the option of capturing opposing forces, long balloons filled with water are great for making cold and nasty body straps or handcuffs. Long balloons when filled, but not over-filled, can be used in a similar manner to ropes. However, in this case, if the captured individual tries to escape or simply moves around too much, the balloon will burst, emptying its contents directly to the area the balloon was tied to.
String Up the Balloon
An interesting device that has seen only limited action is the cable-bound water balloon. The balloon to be thrown should be filled to near breaking point and have a sturdy string attached to it. The other end of the string should be held by the user. After the balloon is thrown, once the string reached its maximum length, the used should give a sudden, sharp pull, bursting the balloon mid-flight. This is a rather effective device for hitting multiple targets. The trick here is having the right length of string as well as filling the balloon with enough water such that the string's pull can easily break it. However, if one can get it to work, it will surprise any unsuspecting opponents.
Posted: 20040501
:: Submitted Tips
Submitted by WaterWolf | Posted: 20040504
While experimenting with ways to use water balloons, I had an idea of how to make a more powerful and easier to clean up water bomb using any type of water proof plastic bag that is plentiful in your house - I use plastic bread bags from feeding our sheep day old bread. You take the bag and fill it with as much water as you want depending on what you are going to use it for, but you have to leave enough of the bag available to make the same knot used for balloons. Using this designing you can place up to a gallon of water in a bomb and all of the bags that I have used didn't shoot a single piece of extra plastic off of the bag minimizing clean up time.
The more water in these bombs, the more likely they are to explode and thats the down side. When you use smaller amounts of ater it may not detonate. These bombs can also be used as mines, to be dropped from a tree or as a trap. If you are willing to go thru the extra work, you can make a giant sling shot that the bombs can be fired from like artillery shells.
I used this idea on my tree house that I often host battles around. To one side is a field that attackers sometimes try to sneak up from. On this side are two trees that the tree house is anchored too and so I built a huge sling shot between these trees that could aimed down the field. If an attack came that way I could blast the would-be attackers with a barrage of water bombs.
Submitted by Joel B. | Posted: 20030422
Tanker
Take a punch ball (you know: those thick rubber balloon-balls you put on rubber bands and hit?) and a large back-pack, put the punch ball in a garbage bag (in case of accidentall rupture, rare), and then put it in the back-pack. Fill the punch ball with water till it's about 2 feet wide and temporarily seal it with a rubber band. You now have a tanker capable of refilling a MXL twice and a bit of extra storage for other accessories. If you have a big back-pack it can easily hold 2 or 3 punch balls, seriously increasing your reservoir.
Tree trap
F find a branch low enough that you can throw a dark colored spool of thread over and throw one over. Tie a fist sized water balloon to one end of the string and pull the balloon out of visibility. Next find a low bush or any ol' object on the ground about 4 feet from the balloon and wrap the string around it so that the string can slide back and forth (raising and lowering the balloon.) Then find another object 4ft from the balloon directly across from the other object and tie the string off to make a trip line about ankle height. Because of the strings thinness it is barely visible and will snap as soon as an unsuspecting foot hits it droping down the balloon.
Sand trap
Since this only works in deep sand, it's kind of a novelty but none the less cool and will provide endless hours of amusement at the beach. First dig a hole in deep sand. Next fill up a HUGE party balloon (the kind meant to be inflated with helium) way beyond capacity and carefully place it in the hole. Then cover with a lite sprinkling of sand. The first foot that touches it will pop the balloon and plunge down 6in. in a sandy soggy crater. Awesome!
3-Man Launchers by Major RB | Posted: 20030928
Buying a launcher
You should buy, depending on size of your battlefield, a medium to large launcher. It should be a 3 person launcher no matter the size. I usually fight on a 150xa150 yd piece of property that has a pool two houses tree house and several hoses.
Choosing the right people
Two fairly heavy or strong people should be on the side and one very heavy or very strong person in the middle. There should also be and artillery commander; I'll explain what his role is. Then this is the part where the O.B.O or Off-Battlefield Officer or Communication officer comes in. Choose someone who can handle multitasking very easily. That person should be in a place preferably that is a safe zone or non-squirt zone.
The Gear
There should be depending on battle length 50 to 150 water balloons reserved for balloon launcher only. Then you need walkie talkies radios, the ones with channels or changeable frequencies. The O.B.O or Communication officer should be Channel 1. The Groups depending on how many you have should continue from channel 2 upward The Artillery should be unit should the last channel after your groups.
Making a Map
The map, one of the most essential parts of getting a balloon where you want it. First, take a piece graph paper and take marker so its noticeable and draw all the major land marks on it do not color them in. Then draw with different color marker and divide the paper down the middle and across all the way till the end of the sheet. Take the same color marker and depending how much accuracy you want make your scale. Where the your two lines meet in the center when you divided the paper down the middle write with same color marker as the dissecting lines write zero then by the way make marks in the line going up and how many little square they’re separated keep equal then where numbers make your scale like write numbers in repeating interval like by 1’s 2’s 3’s depending on your accuracy of the shot you want. Then on the right side of the zero write the same scale as you did going up. This is a tricky part so read carefully, at the middle where the zero is go down and use the same scale as the top and the right except use negative signs like minus to indicate negative numbers like this – 4 then do the same thing with the left side. Then write N for north S for south E for east and W for west in appropriate position for where your unit artillery unit is going to be. is going to be. Good you made your map
Procedure
Now that you have all the gear and O.B.O or Communication officer and you've picked your people, Let's do this thing! First, the Artillery commander needs just like the leaders of your groups and O.B.O or Communication officer needs a map and walkie talkie. READ THIS PART!!!! This is how you interpret the map, you take the numbers going from left to right and pick one. Then take the numbers going up and down pick one. Those are your coordinates see where the lines meet from coordinates meet on the graph paper paper. Good you have your first part down now look at all the landmarks you drew those and compass rows you drew will help you locate the position on the map so lets say you pick the coordinates -6,4 look where your landmarks are and the compass rose that should make it fairly easy to know which way to fire. All of that make sure your artillery commander and group leaders know. Now this is how everything goes: Say your group is under heavy fire you want to call in an artillery strike, you look at your map and interpret the coordinates of your enemy then you radio the coordinates to the O.B.O or Communication officer he radios the coordinates to the artillery commander he interprets the coordinates tells the artillery unit where and how much force to apply. Then FIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You will get a a very accurate shot like this.
