In search of quality water...

[kinzel]

Really,
some things are just a necessity, and finding quality is hard. I'm in search of quality water guns.

For example, we need to have a water gun or two handy at all times. We have cats, you see, and water guns allow one to break up fights, prevent jumps to the counter, save the butter from quick licks.... you know the drill.

The problem is that we can't find quality water guns these days. The last *5* we've had have all leaked so badly that they needed/need to be kept in a bowl or dish. Sometimes even that doesn't suffice -- yesterday for example, Dulsey the young Maine Coon Monster was in front of the kitchen counter, transfixed... by the drips coming from the counter top and down (and behind!) the cabinet doors. It turns out the green Uzi was leaking again, and we had quite a flood to mop up.

Don't get me wrong, the green Uzi is acceptably accurate and has a good rate of spray. It's just that you can't leave it lying about -- it must be stored in a dish, which limits mobility.

Now me, I fondly remember a watertight Park plastic snubnose 38 -- several of them actually, since Miss Yingling, my seventh grade teacher, had a collection of them by the end of the year -- a shiny silver gem that one could carry all day and never have a water-in-the-pocket problem...

Anyhow, if anyone knows of a source for good, leak resistant water guns, I'd like to know of it. My writing is suffering without one.

Comments

[katymulvey.livejournal.com]

What if you took one of the fairly good ones, and used one of those spray-on rubber coatings that you can use for tool handles (one brand is Plasti-Dip)?

You'd have to be a little careful when it came to the necessary holes, but it might do away with leaks at the seams.

[kinzel.livejournal.com]

Alas, water seems to just *run* out of the muzzles on these things...

water guns for your cats

[(Anonymous)]

Instead of a water gun, try a spray bottle, such as are used for plants. They can be adjusted from a fine spray (which is great for plants, but no use on cats) to a nice long shot that goes quite a distance. Usually I only have to show it to my cats and they stop what they were doing.

I have Dulsey's grandmother.

[scaleslea.livejournal.com]

Doesn't Super soaker have a pistol-sized offering? I thought that they were fairly well sealed.

Doc

[oberon.livejournal.com]

Super-soaker (the brand-name version) is decent for sealing. I used to carry several around in my car trunk in the summer for impromptu water fights with the neighborhood children.

As an added bonus if you feel like pulling out a Kitty Tactical Nuke for those supreme corrective moments, they have some that'll spew 1.8 litres of water in 5 seconds flat.

Cleanup indoors may not be worth this, however, so they do offer smaller models.

[kinzel.livejournal.com]

Dunno --
Central Maine doesn't have much of a selection of toy stores...
I do see that the nearest Toys R Us is.... 59.05 miles from here. Mostly we have dollar stores and drug stores around. But hey, if I write a water gun int oa story I can go to Bangor on research!

[oberon.livejournal.com]

As a non-wet alternative, elastic band guns may do the trick. Have to pick 'em up afterwards, though, or at least in my house the cats will eat them.

[victorthecook.livejournal.com]

We've had pretty good luck with Super Soakers; we use them to discourage the squirrels from nesting in the eaves of our porch. They're non-leaky as long as you vent the air pressure.

[saruby.livejournal.com]

We usually just use water bottles with a spray nozzle. They sell them in most grocery stores and in garden stores, for spraying ferns or something. You can get them with an adjusting spray, from fine to pinpoint. Pinpoint is great with cats. These days I only have to wave the bottle to get the intended result. They also work well for flare-ups when grilling.

As for SuperSoakers. We used to keep a couple of the pump action rifles at the front door in the summer. One of the neighbor kids liked to ring the bell and squirt anyone who came to the door, so in self defense....

[alfreda89.livejournal.com]

I gave up and switched to plant sprayers. Good 2-3 feet on stream. But the cats do notice when I reach for it.

This does stop the behavior momentarily, but...

[kinzel.livejournal.com]

two to three feet is ... not enough. The pistol that leaks is dead-on accurate at up to about 10 feet; I've managed to shoot between the ears if the cat who is not doing wrong to hit the cat beyond who *is* doing wrong. Rolanni, too, is all-in-praise of the accuracy. But the intermittent floods are unacceptable...

at this point one of the momentarily cats stops errant behavior when I simply imitate the water gun noise.... but needs the reinforcement of actually getting wet.

[alfreda89.livejournal.com]

Sounds like you need a SuperSoaker with a needle drill tip...

Does canned air work at all? Mine run from the sound of it--doesn't even have to come near them.

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Hum? Well, when you find one that stays dry, I think you really need one of these boxes to keep it in.

http://www.toytent.com/TrueReplica/483.html

Googling for Tomi Gun Ray Gun Water Pistol shows that there are apparently a bunch of people out there who collect vintage water pistols, and that the wonders of outer space are well represented. Pricey, though.