We have some
Hydroblitz internals at SSC for those who want to get a better idea of how this water gun works.
What's good about the HydroBlitz is that it's an available CPS water gun with a large pressure chamber and good water capacity. However, I can't say much more good about it. While I'll admit that I have not use the HydroBlitz, I have read enough about them and seen enough statistics to have a solid opinion of it.
The lack of true nozzle selector is a problem. I hate Hasbro's trend towards two-triggered or two-nozzled water guns. This adds complexity, cost, and is less useful than a nozzle selector because you only get two options.
Similarly, the small nozzle diameter of the stream nozzle is a problem. 2X is a good option, but a better variety of sizes would be more helpful in other situations.
The complexity is a major issue. Looking a the internals, I can only wonder why Hasbro designed the water gun in the way they did. There are two PCs, a two-stroke pump operated by a lever, and a crazy switching valve assembly. Complexity adds parts and cost. This complexity isn't even beneficial in my mind. In fact, I think it makes the water gun less useful as explained above with the nozzle selector paragraph.
The weird shape and ergonomics is another major issue. All I can say is that it doesn't look easy to carry. I'd much prefer something more along the lines of the old CPS series with a handle under the majority of the water gun. The strap is a plus but it's definitely necessary for this design so I'd be complaining huge if it didn't have one.
The pump on a lever makes no sense to me. The only reason I can think of to justify its existence is that Hasbro designers couldn't figure out how to fit a pump into this water gun so they put it in the middle and used a handle. I'd greatly prefer a normal pump with a larger pump volume. They can make it a two-stroke pump, but make it used more normally.
Without a reservoir cap tether, losing your cap with the new Super Soakers is much more likely. I think Hasbro removed the tether on purpose so you have to buy a new one when you lose it. To Hasbro that's profit, but to me that's evil.
The new Max-Infusion cap is pure evil. You'd think they'd keep the clockwise to open convention on all water guns, but they didn't so they could make the cap and consequently the Max-Infusion backpack incompatible with older water guns, so you have to buy new water guns to use the new backpack system. This is annoying beyond belief and is one serious reason I haven't bought a HydroBlitz. Opening it will be incredibly annoying to someone like me who's very used to normal threads. I've already suggested in my critique of new water guns at SSC to change the size of the cap rather than how it is threaded if you want to make people buy new water guns to use the backpack. This just annoys everyone if they buy newer water guns.
Power-wise the HydroBlitz is a horrendous. The riot blast nozzle is a measly 6X. My CPS 1000 nearly matches it's big blast with a stream, and that's more useful to me. The stream nozzle is 1.5X, which is good for XPs but terrible for CPS. The reported range of 35 feet is terrible as is for a water gun this size, and we know that Hasbro exaggerates their ranges so I'd imagine the true range is even worse. There's not much you can do to improve the power through modification either because the internal diameter looks dinky still. With that being said, I don't think anyone's tried to modify a HydroBlitz, so it might be promising if I'm mistaken.
Lastly, the Max-D technology used is too fragile and low performance. Go back to pull valves. They might not improve range by less than 5 feet at best keeping the diameter of the pipes the same, but they won't break down. The potential for higher flow from pull valves is significantly more important for performance than a small increase in efficiency from the Max-D valve. Max-D valves are also hard to repair when they break, the repair is unreliable, and it seems most Max-D water guns will eventually break so repair is necessary. Ditch the Max-D valves Hasbro.
I'll probably edit in more as I think of it.
