Beyond Soakers, 2008 - ^

[isoaker]

Besides water blasters, what other pieces of equipment are or could be invaluable on the water warfare field?

To me, a few things readily come to mind (some ideas on these have been tossed around before, but still no optimal solution found yet).

i) an objective hit system - SoakerTags are messy and cost money. Bits of paper towel/toilet paper don't appeal to many. Fist-sized splotches on shirts work for some, but is still somewhat subjective.

ii) soaker harness system - a better means to allow a player to carry a few soakers along without needing a backpack that may not necessarily fit soakers properly. Soakers should be carried in such a way that swapping between them is quick, but soakers should also be held securely such that they won't fall out when a player is running or making sudden movements

iii) universal filling system - it'd be nice to have a device that offers good flexibility and ease when refilling soakers of different shapes and sizes. The filling system should also have adapters for a variety of water sources including standard hose connections or not as standard faucet, drinking fountain, or even bucket-of-water sources.

iv) for the collector side of me, I'm still looking for a better way to store soakers in the long term. While I'd love to have a water blaster weapon rack akin to the racks seen in the movie The Matrix, would be nice to have a small rack for my quick access arsenal that allows for good drying positioning

Other thoughts on devices that could be good to have besides the water blasters, themselves?

[HBWW]

-Holsters for holding pistol(s)/sidearm(s), refill bottles, water balloons -Straps (on everything that doesn't fit in a holster, not just big CPS's)
-Universal backpack system (similar to universal refilling system)
-Watertight gloves
-Waterproof cameras and walky-talkies / radios
-Non-fog sealing goggles designed to prevent the discomfort and temporary blindness of getting shot at in the eyes/face. (and to keep people's glasses clean) A HUD on these would be nice. =p

That's about it for now...

[cobralex297]

On your number iv.), iSoaker, perhaps you could try pegboard with pegs? Those have been working great for me, to store the soakers that I don't have in plastic tubs.

Perhaps this year I'll purchase this sling, as it seems like it could be effectively used to hold a soaker more securely than the Super Soaker straps. I use the Super Soaker straps always, but am wary as to whether they will effectively hold the heavier guns. I'd never use one, for example, with my Monster XL, to take anywhere near the full weight of the gun. With heavier guns, the Super Soaker straps are only safely good to take some of the weight off while you are carrying it yourself.

A few more QFDs, just in case something goes wrong with the one I have. They're a real pain to get, and having a few more would make me less worried about using them.

[SSCBen]

Towards an objective hit system, shirts that contrast well when wet with some sort of grid would work well. I think I've mentioned that before. All you need is a shirt that is a color that contrasts well and some sort of grid on the front and back. Let's say there's a 3x1 grid on the front and back. You then have to fill in a certain number of the squares for that person to be out, depending on the game rules. As the shirt dries it's somewhat like "healing" too.

This can be cool because we can give out shirts at each game, and the shirts can have things like website addresses, which hopefully will spread water warfare as people see the shirt.

[isoaker]

@Ben: Now that you rementioned it, I recall you mentioning that at WaterWarfare.com.

Expanding on the idea, perhaps if a t-shirt could be made with the grid area actually dual-layered; the t-shirt or shirt would be light in colour (i.e. white, light yellow, light blue, etc) and made of relatively thin fabric while the grid/hit area would have a sewn-in dark under-layer to ensure good contrast when wet.

Additionally, a strap or band/belt could also be created in a similar fashion such that a Player does not necessarily need to change their wardrobe or layer on another shirt in order to play, but instead add on a thinner objective hit-identifier. Arm bands with hit boxes and logos could be quite effective and popular, too.

[SSCBen]

A dual layered shirt is brilliant! That will contrast extremely well when wet. I'll have to look into making a shirt like that to test it out.

[DX]

Of course we still have to make sure it isn't too sensitive - sweat could be a problem. Not a huge problem, but some players do sweat hardcore.

While we're on the subject of league gear, we could also run with some additional items such as water bottles and travel bags. However, athletic bags cost a shitload of money, my track one was like $40, so maybe that's not feasible.

[SSCBen]

For sweaty guys we can have a third layer to protect from sweat. Maybe that could be standard. I don't know. Someone will have to experiment.

Other League gear would be interesting. Hat could work because they're cheap. Athletic bags aren't really necessary because we don't carry any gear aside from water guns, and I think it's a little redundant to put a water gun in a bag. And as you said, they're really expensive.