Pt.4: Equipment / Water Sources - Soaker Combat Rules

[isoaker]

Not sure I'd go as far as saying swimmable water is soaker-fit water. Sure, for some, loading up a soaker with highly salted or chlorinated water is fine, but I'd personally discourage the use of pool water and/or sea water in soakers simply since their higher salt/chlorine content makes it much more painful to be accidently struck in the eyes or even one's nose-lining. Splashed from a paddle or bucket is a rather different means of getting soaked than a focussed stream of water from a soaker's nozzle.

Of course, local groups use what they can get their hands on and what Players are comfortable with. Then again, it is the more laxed nature which ends up differentiating the general rule set from an "official" rule set. Once the general rule set is more fully developed, I'll start getting membership feedback on potential theoretical "tournament" rules.

[HBWW]

Well swimmable water means you can get some in your eyes without being a big concern, if you can't go under water without goggles on, then I wouldn't consider it safe to swim in. Getting hit by a stream of that water in the eye is a bit different, more pressure, but doesn't submerge it.

[DX]

Having all to agree to water sources is good in most cases. There are, however, some times that all cannot agree, hopefully the rule set can help bring about some sort of compromise.

If no agreement can be reached, then the players lose their power to decide and it passes to the commanders. Basically, there are three styles of decision-making [in the absence of refs]: A - all players must agree on details, B - commanders must agree jointly, C: all players must agree and if not, commanders pick up the choice. B and C are better than A IMO, since rarely will every single player agree on things like weapons distribution. Absolute power resides with the team commanders/founders [at least locally].

I don't see why shooting pool/sea water is any different than swimming in it. The threat to the eyes is kinda moot, since staring at the sun will do more damage than being shot there, along with a million other risks that your eyes face every second. A lot more people fight using pool and ocean water than ANY other natural sources, since water fights in those areas are popular.

[isoaker]

The difference between swimming and getting shot by the same water is similar to the difference between standing outside on a cold day versus standing outside on a cold and very windy day. The total amount of salt/chlorine (or actual temperature) are identical, but how one feels when hit is rather different since increased flow rate (wind) strips body water (heat) faster than slower moving does. That said, my statements earlier are on personal preference due to my own dislike of having either lake/river/ocean and/or pool water in my eyes (I prefer wearing goggles when swimming), thus would prefer not to have to worry about getting a face-full of such water when in a water fight. Also, the cleaner the water that goes into one's soakers, the overall better condition one's soaker internals end up being. Lake/river/ocean water contain a lot more other dissolved nutrients that facilitate the growth of life than sanitized tap water sources. Of course, stuff can still grow in most tap water, but typically not as quickly or to as high density.

Some may argue that sea water is pretty much "saline", thus almost equal to the salt level our bodies naturally produce. Heavily chlorinated water is something else. Of course, what matters is group consensus on what is safe or not to use. For every example, there are counter-examples. Some lake water is safer to drink than some tap water, etc. Some regularly use river, stream, lake, ocean water with no problems at all. For the general rule set, it is open.

The problem I find with being too lax about what is considered acceptable water may allow some to consider things like juice, pop, milk, urine, etc. also as acceptable liquids to use in their soakers. If salt water is okay, why not semi-sugared water? Or carbonated water? If someone pees into a stream, can that stream water still be used? Or what if it was a pond or a large puddle instead of a stream? Having stricter rules about water sources reduces such problems, but such strict rules are not for the general rule set.

[SilentGuy]

Duxburian's mentioned the amount of junk in all water sources except for deeply purified or distilled water. Would spring water be good if it came out of a bottle? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

Goggles are always an option if you so desire. (Or would they be the subject of a different rule option?)

Additives obviously aren't allowed. It's in the rules set and I would always mentioned it when setting rules.



Edited By SilentGuy on 1170798341

[isoaker]

Spring water is typically quite clear and drinkable (unless we're talking about hot springs or some mineral springs). Again, there are exceptions to all water sources and what is safe or not. I've seen plenty of absolutely nasty water coming from taps that I wouldn't trust to feed plants, let alone load into a soaker. As for roses, Outkast has a song about those.

More babble: Springs are rather different than rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, and oceans. The water from springs have typically filtered through many layers of rock and soil whereas rivers,creeks, and ponds contain plenty of surface run-off and other bits of soil and organic material that is almost absent from spring water. This is why they can bottle spring water, but you don't see bottled river water on shelves (water may have come from a river, but it needs to go through serious treatment or a distillery before it is sold for public consumption). Good spring water is often even cleaner than the rain water where it originally came from since it's been filtered through soil layers.

Back-to-the-point: I accept that for many (if not most) people may not care as much where water in their soakers come from. However, like Professional Baseball has specific requirements over the type of material that goes into the bats and baseballs, I could foresee a Professional Soaker League have slightly tighter regulations over water sources. Some natural sources contain additives already in them due to the local environment. By setting standards to water supply, you are reducing the variability in water stream performance due to differing water source use. I don't accept any argument over refilling constraints being a reason to allow for more water sources to be allowed as limited water supply can be a rather interesting and tactically challenging aspect of a water warfare game.

[SilentGuy]

The roses line was an allusion to Romeo & Juliet.

I understand that spring water is clean; but it has many minerals in it. Tap water is generally clean too, but with plenty of minerals as well.

I wouldn't fill my soakers with water from an industrial river or Chicago tap water or anything. But I think in general it should be fine.

At any rate, I'd say the decision would have to be up to the people fighting. We can't set up rules for localities we know absolutely nothing about.



Edited By SilentGuy on 1170811247

[isoaker]

The roses line was an allusion to Romeo & Juliet.

Oh, I got the reference and know Shakespeare... I just choose to ignore it!

Again, for the most part, it's fine to leave it up to people fighting for local games. Never disputed that one.

[isoaker]

Rule set updated: 20070213.

[isoaker]

Thread closed now that first version of full rule set now posted onto iSoaker.com.