It’s Just Cool: Balloon Bazooka
By J.R. Bluett
Throwing water balloons is for children. Adults launch them, usually with a rig based on surgical tubing. But for true Toolmonger overkill, you’ll need the Balloon Bazooka: a pneumatic launcher that can loft a balloon over 300 feet — or launch up to twelve balloons at once.
A four-liter steel tank pressurized to 150 PSI provides the motive force to drive balloons down a six-foot barrel — and this is the company’s smallest model. Their “Magnum Model” features a whopping eight-foot barrel and a four-liter tank, good for flinging balloons up to 500’. Note that you must bring your own air source. All models fill via a standard Schrader valve just like your car’s tires. You’ll also need a tire gauge, so your best solution might be a small, portable air compressor with a built-in gauge.
Pricing for the entry-level model starts around $120, and the bad-ass Magnum will set you back $220. Of course, building your own doesn’t seem all that difficult — and if you’re brave, we found numerous online instruction sets employing PVC rated to more than 200 PSI. Or you can snag a three-man tubing-type launcher for just $43.
One advantage to the tubing-type launcher: it’s a lot easier to hide during clandestine ops. You’re more likely to get in and out of target range without alerting the soon-to-be-soaked if you aren’t carrying a six-foot-long tube and air compressor. Then again, if you don’t have cronies to help, the pneumatic version might be your only option.
Balloon Bazooka [Official Site]
The Beast Mega Slingshot [Sling King]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon
DIY Pneumatic Water Balloon Launcher [Soaker Media]
March 15th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
you could adapt a paint ball air tank (3000/4500)
to provide you the air source much smaller
or you could build a launcher with one