Sidearms

[the oncoming storm]

I just got my SL 1000 and it's great, range 40', output 3x. It makes a great backup never needing to pumping, I will be using it as a last resort whenever I have a battle.

What do you use as a sidearm ?

[SEAL]

I don't always use sidearms, but when I do, I use a CPS 2000.






For real, nothing at all. If I had an SC Power Pak I might use that.

[soakinader]

I like the Speedloader 1000 and 1500. I plan on making leg holsters for them. The 1000 is great for how small it is, and while the 1500 is twice as big, it holds and shoots twice as much water. All I have to do is put my hand on it and people back away.
2nd place goes to the Triple Shot. It's great to sneak up and blast someone with the big nozzle.
And I think it would be great to have a power pak. Although depending on the situation, I think I would like to try using a Hydra Pak in an extended battle. You can fill other guns (with over 4L of water) without taking it off, and I personally would barely notice the weight.

[scottthewaterwarrior]

In the past I have typically used two Water Warriors Crickets, they are pretty small, but have moderate output and easily fit in my cargo pants. Lately I haven't used anything though since I would almost never run out of water and even if I did, the crickets are good for their size, but would be useless against a CPS 1000/2500. Also, they were fine in urban wars, but having them in my pockets limited how far I could lift my leg which made climbing over obstacles in the woods very hard.

Going forward I think I am just going to carry a backpack with a 50oz water bottle in it. I could carry something bigger, but I wouldn't be able to pull a 150 out of my pack mid battle, and if it was in a lull, I'd rather dump the water in my 1000 anyway.

I have thought about making holsters for my Vipers, they have almost no field life, but if I was surrounded by enemies, you only need a few seconds of shot to do a suicide charge. I think if I made holsters it would eliminate the mobility problem of sticking sidearms in my pockets.

[HBWW]

I prefer the Max-D 2k/3k (4k is rather heavy, doesn't work as well with my crappy equipment.) However, I've been favoring mobility over sidearms lately. They contribute even less than balloons IMO and slow me down more.

[DX]

If there's a scenario round with small boundaries for each side, I usually bring a 2000 (or recently, the air pressure water cannon) and drop it somewhere along the line to use when my 2000 runs out. I've found that this beats carrying something small on me. For regular rounds with no or very large boundaries, I just carry a single soaker, cause mobility is king. I learned that lesson in 2004.

[HBWW]

I don't 100% consider that as a sidearm since you're not carrying it, and it could theoretically get stolen. (Unless the rules prevent players from entering the area you are in, such as HTL. However, I think having rules against taking equipment that's just sitting on the ground is a bad idea.) It's also not always reliable to do that; in most situations you have to be ready to pack it all up and leave. Although switching 2000's is way faster than dumping half-liter bottles into the res. (Even if a lot more expensive. =p)

[DX]

I wouldn't leave those lying around in a regular round. Technically, they are live items in most scenario rounds, but if you can get that close to a cached 2000 when I am defending with a 2000, something's seriously wrong with the defense I'm not exactly worried about the water cannon being used by the enemy...as I tend to shoot it first. They'd be taking something super large, super heavy, out of pressure, and lacking enough water for another shot. If they want to refill and re-pressurize it, that will take at least 1 person out of the fight for at least 10 minutes, lol. And then they have to figure out exactly how to use it, as in the required air-water ratio, which can't be gauged while filling due to design flaws. You have to fill, pour some out, fill, pour some out, shake it, fill again...

Switching primaries is often the only way I can "refill" in a round involving defense. One day, the people on my team will realize that I can't refill while holding enemies in a zone defense. The only way to refill in zone is for someone to come behind you, unscrew your reservoir cap for you, and fill you while you stay in ready-to-fire mode. This does take one of your players out of the fight for a few minutes, but you can afford that when the zone player is holding off 3 enemies. If you let them run out of water and they have to withdraw, their position will be overrun, and your whole team will be rolled up in a wave of momentum that you can't stop. You can try a switch, but the enemy might not respect the replacement, it needs to be a veteran.

This also came very close to happening in the CTF round at Moab, when we were defending our 4 flags from repeated enemy onslaughts. Despite having 4 flags to 1, we came *this* close to losing the round and were saved because Ben knows how to play in zone. At one point, it was just me and him while Trey, Sam, and Andrew were all out and refilling. Ben held Brandon and Keith in zone on the left while I held Scott and Jon in zone on the right. If either of us had run out, it would have been 4 on 1 for the survivor with a 2000 running on fumes. At that point, I had a whole PC left and nothing in the reservoir. Dropping the 2000 and picking up the 10K was a lifesaver in that round. The transition is so quick that you don't break coverage and the enemy is still stuck as they were. Note that picking up a Max-D or Cricket would not have been nearly enough. Think you're going to stop Scott and Jon from rushing when they have 2500/1500s and you have a pistol?

I greatly prefer when my team has additional soakers for scenario rounds that actually pack a punch. For regular rounds, it's whatever, but even then, more speed would be good to have instead of more water. When you're fast, you can run away and find water.

[marauder]

I like the Speedloader 1000 and 1500. I plan on making leg holsters for them. The 1000 is great for how small it is, and while the 1500 is twice as big, it holds and shoots twice as much water. All I have to do is put my hand on it and people back away.

The Speed Loader 1500 is amazing. If I had a house or lived somewhere where I frequently could use a QFD I would want one. The first and only time I ever used one was in my first ever major water war were I was supposed to protect my teams' QFDs from the enemy.

[soakinader]

Yeah, the SPDL 1500 is an awesome pistol. I am working with a pair of strap loops that so far, work surprisingly well at holding them at my waist. I would like to sew some straps and make a proper holster though.
I just thought of something. Would an Aquapack Devastator make a good sidearm? It has a heavy duty clip and uses CPS. Has anyone tried to mod one?

[the oncoming storm]

You just walked into a trap, M4 will be unrelenting in his praise of the Devastator

[marauder]

Review from the beta site

This would be top 5, all time, for me if it didn't break. I have 2 of them, broken, at my parents house, just waiting to be opened up and fixed. I haven't opened them up yet, so I don't know if the firing spring broke or the plastic that the spring connects to. I'm thinking you could get more range out of it if you did a nice nozzle mod, although the stock range and output are respectable. Increasing the PC size could be done as well, but you'd have to hack off the back of the gun, and I'm not sure I'd want to do that since I really like the look and feel of the stock shell, and the metal clip is surprisingly highly useful.

If we can come up with a permanent fix for these broken Max D firing valves/springs I'd have to say that the Aquapack Devastator would be very very valuable. Although it weighs 10 pounds overloaded you hardly feel it at all. It would be great for getting you out of difficult situations if your primary goes down - but also for refilling your primary and other people's blasters as well. Speaking of which, I'm serious about wanting to have longer rounds at the community wars. I know a lot of other people are too. Let's make it happen.