DX-Robert's Content

#292200 Bfny 5

Posted by DX-Robert on 04 January 2011 - 01:13 AM in Nerf Wars

I will probably show up early just because it is so close. If anyone has a wye, gate valve, or first gen nitefinder, I'm looking to buy. Weather is calling for snow, I assume we're still on anyway.

#116432 Birthday

Posted by DX-Robert on 19 July 2007 - 12:08 PM in Nerf Wars

"ad" appears to be a typo, I think he meant "and".

#354330 Blasters to look out for?

Posted by DX-Robert on 17 June 2016 - 11:10 PM in General Nerf

Tough to say without more information about what you want out of your finds. Blasters to mod/use? Blasters to collect? Blasters to flip? Have a look through NH, wikis, blogs, Google, to see the different types of blasters that have been released through time, and decide what your preferences are. I run a Facebook group called "Nerf Thrifters" where we discuss exactly this sort of thing and post our finds, you may find that of interest. Good luck!

#352810 Blastzooka vs Big Blast?

Posted by DX-Robert on 14 April 2016 - 11:38 PM in General Nerf

Green and blue 4Bs can yield either tank style. 4B tanks are also available in the Berserker/Barbarian/Maniac and in both Spy Gear Signal Launchers. Berserker-based tanks are usually lever 2nd gen, but rarely can be lever 1st gen. SGSL-based tanks are standard pull 1st gen. They may come in a version with a round bottom and slightly less capacity than a true 1st gen. This tank is better for reshelling if you need 1st gen power, but also comes with a crappy stock pump, so you need to replace it.

Pump counts can be relied upon to identify 2nd gen tanks, but not 1st gen tanks. Bad O-ring seals may result in more pumps than is necessary, and some 1st gens have lower counts.

XBZs don't have different versions thus far, but they also don't have triggers, so you'll need to make one if you reshell the tank. It will fit into more shells with less work than 4Bs, but you'll also have a bit less power. I would definitely get a 4B if one is available for a decent price.

Beware that a new barrel may put stress on the tank stub, especially when changing it out, and if the stub snaps off at the seal, this cannot be repaired. Attach your barrel to the tank wall directly and only use the stub as a guide, filling in the dead space with the material of your choice. Do not rely on the stub for attachment.

#70027 Can Someone Help?

Posted by DX-Robert on 28 December 2005 - 10:28 AM in Modifications

I just removed the pegs and air restrictors from my maverick

Well there you go. The gun will NOT shoot if you took the pegs out, too. I just took out the restrictors on one of my Mavs last week, and had the same problem. With the pegs out, no good; with the pegs in, guns fires again.

But it sounds like you did other things to the gun and screwed it up. Can't tell without pics.

#308078 Canceled.

Posted by DX-Robert on 06 December 2011 - 09:59 PM in Nerf Wars

I might have to work that Saturday. Otherwise, I'll come.

#75286 Canon Ammo?

Posted by DX-Robert on 05 March 2006 - 07:07 PM in Homemades

His cannon sounds a lot like what I made:

Posted Image

Only he used 4" and 3/4" while I used 3" and 1/2". And you should definately put things in the barrel instead of over it, the best results come when the object is at the very bottom of the barrel near the valve.

For the cannon question, it [should be] for shooting at long range defensively. Stops the rush [at least until you take your one shot], allows you to hold a decisive position against approaching enemies for longer, etc.

#75322 Canon Ammo?

Posted by DX-Robert on 05 March 2006 - 09:48 PM in Homemades

My clan has a pair of full cannons, 3" PVC air chamber and barrel, both almost 6ft long. I tested filling the barrel with darts earlier today, actually, but did not have enough darts to get even close to halfway filling the barrel.

Reloading and priming takes about 30 seconds to a minute, bad if you are in "heavy traffic." We use ours for artillery, literally for shelling fortified positions from hundreds of feet away.

#75319 Canon Ammo?

Posted by DX-Robert on 05 March 2006 - 09:19 PM in Homemades

Read the posts in the middle of this page, which contain the following:

Edit: sistermol beat me to the fact that he didn't double post.

The first one is nerfer34 and the second one is sistermol. Nobody double posted.

Whoa, I didn't even notice. Damn people having the same avatars.

Now, was that really worth starting a quasi-flame war over? Jeez.

...Ompa and Sistermol evidently beat me to it.

#338399 City-Wide Nerf War

Posted by DX-Robert on 22 April 2014 - 02:13 AM in General Nerf

I was co-admin of a high school assassins game in 2007 that ran for 5 weeks. The game had been run several times in past years, so it was begrudgingly accepted by the town as usual. However, it was a 4 man-team format, and there were only about 28 teams, so less numbers than your proposal. Unlike lone wolf style, teams were assigned a known opponent to fight every week, like a bracket tournament. The team with more members alive at the end of the week advanced or they fought a duel if even numbers were alive.

The team version of assassins gives you some interesting dynamics to work with that aren't found in the solo version: partner ambushes, calling in backup, the chance to eliminate your opponents in a duel, awards for the player with the most kills, etc. I played in a solo version twice in college and it honestly was not nearly as fun. Note that if you make a single mistake with the initial target assignments, the whole game will fail at some point when 2 players end up with the same target. This doesn't affect the team version because all possible target paths are known.

What your area is like culturally will determine whether to even start. Some towns are very receptive to teenagers shooting each other with foam blasters in public and others are openly hostile, with many shades of gray in between. While opinions clashed in the local newspaper every time assassins was run, no one made any attempt to ban it. The police department knew when the game was running and altered their responses if someone called about people sneaking around with blasters in groups. Only one such call was made during the whole 5 week period, which I would call a success given the shenanigans that got pulled.

It is much harder to start an assassins game in a new area in 2014. I don't live very far from the former Sandy Hook Elementary School, I could never do it anywhere around here. Schools now have guards and buzz-in systems, they are paranoid and rightfully so. In my game, there was a "line-of-sight" rule where no blasters could be visible within line-of-sight of any school. However, this rule was broken all the time and in 2007, who cared. Players will bring their blasters to school, the smart ones will keep them in their cars, the dumb ones will walk right in with them, no matter what you do to dissuade that from happening. If your school is ok with that, then proceed. If not, stop right here, you're done. You can require that all blasters be concealed, left in cars, left off-campus, but you can't police 500 players every day. Obviously, blasters will need to blatantly look like toys, you'll probably need to ban certain types of mods and limit ammo to stock darts.

You will need very well-crafted rules - prepare for players to exploit every loophole and gray area imaginable. #1 recommendation is to ban "drive-bys" and anything to do with a vehicle. Make them safe zones, no shooting from a car and no shooting into a car. Other safe zones should be houses, places of worship, stores, banks, malls, etc. The outside of businesses, parking lots, parks, sidewalks, etc. are fair game.

Whether players can ambush each other in front of houses is controversial. You risk irate parents and worried neighbors if you allow this, but annoyed players if you don't. The leading method of elimination is to ambush a target when they walk in/out of their front door. High school students must make this journey twice a day at more-or-less predictable times, which makes it a feeding frenzy. Note that some houses can be ambushed with both of your feet standing entirely on public property, you can never fully ban house ambushes. The common sense rule should apply here, if something seems like a stupid idea, the player just shouldn't do it.

Be prepared to moderate for hours and hours every day the game runs. There will be a ton of "he said she said" arguments over eliminations. Like I said, players will exploit any and every loophole you leave open. You need to be firm, but fair, apply the rules consistently, and avoid changing them too much once the game is underway. The more players you have and the larger the city, the more complex it will be to manage the game.

#78822 Clan Directory

Posted by DX-Robert on 04 April 2006 - 10:15 PM in Nerf Wars

My clan [the Ridgewood Militia] is very unique in that we are a hybrid group. Basically, we switch back and forth between Nerf and Water wars. In fact, in theory we could have both types of wars on the same day. The only problem for us is that our Nerf wing was made pretty recently and we do not Nerf at the same level as we soak. Yet. You wouldn't guess that such a 2nd-rate seeming Nerf clan also happens to be one of the most successful water war teams in the US! So we are gradually building towards equal skill in both hobbies. We do have mods and homemades, and the crossover really shows in our tech. My homemades look like water balloon launchers only with a Nerf sized barrel.

Technically we are a clan of 28, but in reality only around 10 Nerf so far. Funny thing is we used to use the name CFM [Crescent Forest Militia].

We also carry over some water war tactics for use in Nerf, tactics are something we rank highly in. But our Nerf battles tend to be more "casual" - no camo, night battles, digging in, fortifcations, radio communication, artillery, or any of the stuff that makes us the 2nd most hardcore water war team in the US and 1st in the Northeast.

Watch out when we do get in rhythm Nerf-wise!

#78879 Clan Directory

Posted by DX-Robert on 05 April 2006 - 05:43 PM in Nerf Wars

Water wars? Awesome. How do ya'll know you're 2nd in the nation, are there national competitions?

An observation based on what other teams post about themselves and what guns they have. For all I know, there could be better teams with better tech out there somewhere, but they haven't appeared online. We've got a LONG way to go to reach the same level in Nerf, though. :rolleyes:

#199701 Coin Collecting

Posted by DX-Robert on 30 December 2008 - 12:12 AM in Off Topic

Fun hobby. I specialize in middle-aged American coins, generally between 1890 and 1964. Buffalo nickels, mercury dimes, indian heads, wheat heads, morgan dollars, and especially normal dimes, nickels, and quarters in pre-1965 silver. I've found several in circulation, it takes a collector to realize that an off-color coin in your pocket change contains silver. They are clad these days, but the silver ones are out there.

Personal favorites include the steel wartime pennies, mid-1950s European coins cast in aluminum, a series 1950 $10 bill, an unknown 1844 coin from Italy, and an 1861 large cent recovered from a field in Maryland.

#125549 Competion

Posted by DX-Robert on 08 October 2007 - 11:56 PM in General Nerf

Nerf on or Fuck off!

Mod because you enjoy it, not because there's a pointless contest for it. At the very least set a prize other than bragging rights. We have enough hot shots as it is. If someone wants to post a mod, let them do it on their own sweet time and with natural motivation. A contest will also decrease the amount of fresh modding after its run the way sex drains you of dopamine. Basically, people are a product of their choices. If they want to spice up activity, they will take their own initiative. You cannot artificially keep content coming in for very long. Believe me, I've been down this road before from the other side of the fence. You can only do so much to generate activity - forums have natural flow that cannot be altered to any significant degree. You cannot just eliminate the slower periods of time. They are going to happen whether you have one huge contest or a million. I'm not saying that having a modding contest is a bad idea, but I am saying that the purpose should be different. These are observations, not opinions. I tend to avoid judging things based on opinions because observations tell it as it is and not how you think it should be.

Many of you have absolutely no idea what a slump in contributions is. Spend a couple years on small forums that go long stretches with nothing at all. NH is buzzing with fresh contributions in comparison. Anyone who has a long and storied experience with multiple online forums can see that we're doing just fine right now. Others need more time. 1 year on 1 forum is not nearly enough for you to judge what is good activity and what is bad. 2 years may not even be enough. This is also an observation rather than an opinion.

#125017 Concerning Gun Ranges

Posted by DX-Robert on 04 October 2007 - 01:45 PM in General Nerf

Measuring from the tip of the muzzle is the only honestly acceptable way. Personally, I measure using 4ft sidewalk blocks and a tape measure. 0 distance lines up with a fence, so the barrel can be placed exactly at 0 and exactly at level angle. Measuring from you are standing isn't measuring range, period.

#268315 Connecticut April Madness!

Posted by DX-Robert on 07 March 2010 - 03:04 AM in Nerf Wars

Whoa, there's been an explosion of Connecticut nerfers recently. Pretty cool considering that our state's been virtually devoid of Nerf for the past half-decade. I am a maybe depending on date and location, makes it hard to commit if they keep changing.

#344625 Connecticut Nerfers

Posted by DX-Robert on 27 January 2015 - 11:08 PM in Nerf Wars

This: CT Nerf is where the CT nerfers hang out these days. It's become a decent-sized scene with frequent wars in New Haven. We haven't planned wars for the spring or summer yet, but there will definitely be a good amount of them.

#301641 Connecticut Nerfers

Posted by DX-Robert on 16 July 2011 - 12:43 AM in Nerf Wars

There are plenty of nerfers to start a war, just takes some initiative. Aka, if you're burning to have a war here, talk to people and get some buzz started. It doesn't look good when a war is posted with just the host on the attendance list in the initial post. With a good venue, a reliable host, and an open date, a Conn war could draw Jersey, PA, Mass, and NY participants easily. Feel free to PM me if you want to discuss options, it would be nice to unleash some foam instate for a change.

#124864 Converting Water Guns>?

Posted by DX-Robert on 02 October 2007 - 11:32 PM in General Nerf

If you are going to convert, use an air pressure gun, such as a Max-D or an XP. Don't use a piston gun as they are too weak and don't use a CPS because they are too monetarily valuable. Select a gun and a mark of that gun, if applicable, that you know you can open easily. Why waste effort opening a gun with glued pump caps, glued outer nozzle covers, and the such? Marks are well documented, but you won't find that information here. You'll also want to disable the pressure release valve, which is not quite the same as plugging a typical nerf one. Water gun PRV's generate a hell of a lot more pressure, meaning you can't get away with anything weaker than epoxy. Even with good epoxy, it may be blasted out multiple times. The PRV might also not be immediately obvious, as all water guns have two and their sizes/shapes vary. Cut the wrong one and you're done.

A word of caution: not every water gun has been converted, so if you don't work with their internals regularly, I'd suggest sticking to a gun and a mark of that gun that has already been converted by someone. Either that or doing some research about particulars. There are certain guns which may be converted without even opening them, while there are others which really aren't worth the effort [the CPS 4100 mk2, 2100 mk2, 1200 mk2 and 4, XP 310 mk2,and all Max-D mk1's come to mind].

#125016 Converting Water Guns>?

Posted by DX-Robert on 04 October 2007 - 01:40 PM in General Nerf

That article is severely out of date.

Newer Method of Disabling PRV's

List of Methods [new and old]

#305786 Countdown Gametype

Posted by DX-Robert on 12 October 2011 - 08:27 PM in General Nerf

Is a player that got shot immediatly in the countdown, even before counting ?

It's never been an issue, but they would have to be counting already. You get hit, you accept the hit, start the countdown, and then any hit during that period would eliminate. It's the same kind of timing as if you'd been hit in a deathmatch. A cheater could get hit and then wait a while to start counting. A fair player says 20 right when they accept the fact that they got hit.

So, it takes two consecutive hits to die?

If you are in normal status, a hit takes you to limbo and the countdown. You have to be hit again during that countdown to die. Otherwise, you return to normal status and the next hit brings you back to limbo. So, in theory, you could be hit a dozen times and live, provided that you haven't been hit while counting.

#306084 Countdown Gametype

Posted by DX-Robert on 17 October 2011 - 01:26 PM in General Nerf

Definitely - 2 individual, intentional shots. Arrows, balls, and discs could still count, but with the same rule. Double barrel guns would still be able to get the 2nd hit as long as the player shoots one barrel, waits, then shoots the other.

#305777 Countdown Gametype

Posted by DX-Robert on 12 October 2011 - 05:58 PM in General Nerf

What's to stop someone from counting as fast as humanly possible?

Sportsmanship, I'd hope. The same count spacing as if you were clearing for a deathmatch. Though, it would be up to the war host to determine what they'd allow. At BCNO we tried to space the count as fairly as possible, like counting approximate seconds. It works if no one tries to game the system, at which point the host should step in if people want to cheat.

I always thought that you had to at least wait for a player to get their tape on in Gunslinger, but evidently some treat it as a formality for those who witness the hit. I've played several rounds of it where no relief was granted.

#306082 Countdown Gametype

Posted by DX-Robert on 17 October 2011 - 12:56 PM in General Nerf

So, we did end up playing this at NJNO 2. However, by the time we got to it, it was late in the day and a lot of people had already left. The result was 4v3 which wasn't the greatest test. However, it was fast-paced and fun. With so few people playing and this topic already in mind, the audible counts were pretty fair. People had a good idea about the speed at which to count, except that one unlucky soul who was eliminated at the very beginning

#305824 Countdown Gametype

Posted by DX-Robert on 13 October 2011 - 04:32 PM in General Nerf

On a side note, why would you post the game type on Project Nerf with the hopes that it would get played at Apoc? I created a thread SPECIFICALLY for discussing potential game types that I might run at Apoc. It'd be like putting a hamster shaped but plug in the toys for tots bin next to Brit Nerf Mogul's mail slot; you missed the obvious choice for vigorous use.

It wasn't for this year's Apoc. It got put on the back burner and had no serious push, there were a lot of other things going on. Now that I reflect on it, it's not something I should have proposed for any Apoc, having only been tested at BCNOs. It's also possible that it might not work as well with a lot of people. It's been played in the 12-18 participant range, never with a large turnout. I'd assume that not much would change, but it might present more opportunities to cheat.

Why not make them say the numbers out loud so everyone can hear them? Also when you get out for good why not then be judges for everyone else. This way someone can keep track eventually?

Countdowns are said out loud, which in theory would make it very obvious if someone is rushing the numbers. And like I said earlier, it would be up the host to enforce no bullshit at their war. Maybe even also the players in general, peer pressure style, in order to ensure that all players are being honest and trying to count fairly. I mean if you're in a mid-size war at-range, you can hear most of the people on the field when they go to count. It wouldn't be difficult to exert a bit of peer pressure to make people cut the crap and play more seriously. It's one of those things that can work if people want it to work.

Dead players could help watch, but it would get boring to actually judge since the game can go as long as 4-20 takes when you make the game more challenging.

Hey, if you want to give it a try this weekend, go for it, I'm just not completely sold on it. I wouldn't want to be locked into playing it all day, but I was asked to bring some carpe stuff, so it doesn't look like that will be a problem.

I wouldn't be worried, Hero calls plenty of good old fashioned deathmatches at his wars. It's up to him. If he wants to try it, we'd play it maybe once or twice, only more if people enjoy it.

The feedback is helpful. You can tell that cheating is not really an issue at the wars I attend, so ways to game the system have not been threshed out all that well. I'm used to mature players who care more about making games work than winning (I mean after x amount of wars and years winning a round really doesn't matter compared to whether said round was "fun" or not). That's the goal here, to have something that can be a staple round, while still being about straight up elimination, that can add more fun and variety to wars. An alternative, not a replacement, to deathmatch.

Why not add another twist: You can use time as a form of currency.

It sounds cool, but I'd rather keep the game as simple as possible. It's already confusing enough if you try to change the length of the countdown, people tend to forget which number to start at. If people are starting at different numbers for different guns, there's a lot of opportunity for confusion. The length of time is really intended to affect the tempo of the game as opposed to rewarding different gun choices.

#305768 Countdown Gametype

Posted by DX-Robert on 12 October 2011 - 03:32 PM in General Nerf

Countdown Gametype
Legit, Tested Alternative to 3-15 Deathmatch

This is a gametype developed by Zack the Mack and me, tested/refined at several BCNOs. I posted it at Project Nerf a while ago for possible inclusion at a future Apoc, but it wasn't noticed. It's too fun to let die, so I am reposting it for the general NIC to see and hopefully try out.

Countdown was developed to be a primary gametype like deathmatch, to have aggressive East Coast style elimination, and to naturally break up long range standoffs. It has few, simple rules, no equipment necessary, and can be adapted for faster/slower gameplay and more/less challenge. A typical round in a mid-size war with the standard rules takes about 20-30 minutes to play through.

Core Rules:

1. 2 teams, all players have 1 life

2. When hit, a player enters "limbo" and counts down out loud from 20 to 0 (you can yell "clear" instead of "0")

3. If a player is hit during the countdown, they are eliminated from the round

4. If they are not hit during the countdown, their status returns to normal

5. When only 1 player remains on a side, it becomes sudden death for the larger team and normal countdown rules for the single player. This ensures that their last player still has a legit chance to win.

Rule Options:

- The countdown period can be made longer or shorter. More time spent counting makes the game run faster and vice versa.

- Like in Gunslinger, a player in limbo can be hit immediately and by the same shooter. To make it more challenging, it can be required that a different shooter makes the 2nd hit.

- Players can still move and fire when in limbo. To make it more challenging, this can be altered to not being allowed to move, or not being allowed to fire, or both

Countdown devalues pot shots, lucky shots, and running away, while rewarding teamwork and offense. It breaks up standoffs by forcing players to go for the limbo hit, usually resulting in a lot of close or mid-range activity whenever someone starts counting. All types of guns have a place in this gametype, since it is not just about range or ROF, but how you use both.

This does not replace deathmatch, but it is a great way to mix things up while keeping elimination as the goal. So, I really hope you try it out at your next war. You might like it. It's a lot of fun!

Edit: Each hit must be separate and intentional. Shotgun blasts, double feeds, etc. only count as one hit.

#177251 Crazy Prices You Bought Your Guns

Posted by DX-Robert on 13 September 2008 - 11:14 PM in General Nerf

I have not really had the good fortune of stumbling on deals, but I did get my Maximizer off Ebay for $28. That's about the price of a stock longshot and pretty good compared to what a Maximizer is probably worth.

#68641 Crossbow

Posted by DX-Robert on 30 November 2005 - 07:40 PM in General Nerf

The consumer may be getting ripped off, but it's extremely smart for the seller. All I can say is be thankful for the prices you have. A nerf gun of "legendary" status sells for $60. Big deal. The two "legendary" water guns, the CPS 2000 and Monster XL, sell for up to $250 on Ebay, the highest BIN I've ever seen was a whopping $750. Obviously that gun didn't sell at the BIN price, but the seller dared to set it that high!

#97491 Crossbow : Where To Buy

Posted by DX-Robert on 31 December 2006 - 10:23 PM in Modifications

When I opened my longshot for the first time, I took out my laptop, found a picture of the internal assembly, and kept it on the screen so I wouldn't screw up the re-assembly. After a while, you get so familiar with the internals that you could practically assemble them with your eyes closed. As long as you are careful and resourceful the first time, opening a longshot is no more a big deal than any other gun.

Dropping $60 on an Xbow isn't as painful as it sounds. I only say that because nerfers hardly know how good things are. Only $60 for a premier gun? In water warfare, the premier gun [CPS 2000] gets jacked up on Ebay, $250-300 during the spring. The record this year was $375, not even NIB and not counting shipping! And that's for a freakin water gun. $60 for a crossbow looks pretty damn soft in comparison.

A longshot for half the price of a crossbow is really not a bad deal. You can still get 100ft of range without expending much money or effort. 100 is plenty of range for just starting out and for long range practice. After all, there are ways to counter long range, athough the longshot is great against the rush due to the clip.

#97556 Crossbow : Where To Buy

Posted by DX-Robert on 02 January 2007 - 07:28 AM in Modifications

Yes, if you sell at the height of the season [late spring/early summer] and if your auction is "good". The quality of the pictures and item description can cost or add a lot of money. You should be able to get at least $200, although closing prices in the $225-310 range are becoming a lot more common.

#97673 Crossbow : Where To Buy

Posted by DX-Robert on 03 January 2007 - 11:12 PM in Modifications

There was a HUGE argument about the ethics of posting links to cheap Ebay guns way back in early 2004 [not here, but on one of the other forums I'm on]. In the end, we decided that exposing links was perfectly acceptable, as no one has any right to one auction over another. Ebay only understands one language, money. I'm not sure how most nerfers swing on this issue, but the fundamentals of the argument were drawn out over so many pages that it's not worth digging to re-hash them.

I search Ebay specifically for "hidden auctions" and the such, wherin for some reason, an auction goes unnoticed or gains little to no popularity. Dirt cheap prices are the name of the game, even during improbable times and with coveted items. Usually, the item I am looking for is listed under a different keyword, has a spelling error in the keyword, ends at an odd hour of the day, etc. Just because an auction has a ton of time left does NOT automatically mean that the price will rise. Those last minute bids are anything but a given. In this case, the linked xbow will probably go up, especially in the final 5 minutes. But there are always exceptions and they occur far more often than one would expect.

#68395 Crossbow Tactical

Posted by DX-Robert on 26 November 2005 - 10:54 PM in Modifications

Im not trying to be mean or any thing but its kinda ugly.

Substance over style, man. I would take the worst looking gun imaginable if it shot 100 ft vs the best looking gun if it shot 20.

And a weapon that big might not serve u well in urban combat becosue its not like your going to nerf in a huge office building but you will be nerfing in your own home, It will be a tight squeeze for that gun good luck anyway.

Sorry guys i didnt say it was a bad integration, its just im a bit picky about my weapons.

A: You have no idea where he might use this thing. It could be in the woods, in a building complex, a neighborhood, almost anywhere can accomodate a large gun. It isn't even that big to start with, and I am willing to bet that it is pretty light and comfortable.

B: It isn't even your gun, so how does that sentence matter?

#69008 Crossfire And "new" Tech Target Available Online

Posted by DX-Robert on 10 December 2005 - 08:44 PM in General Nerf

Looks? How can they be focusing on looks when both of these guns are fugly ugly! They both look horrible!

Little kids may think they look cool. Oh, the colors! Hasbro does aim for a young crowd. The company has still released good guns for the Nerf Community, so I wouldn't complain. I can't say the same for the water war community, which Hasbro has lowered their target age to basically infants. I have boycotted their last 3 lines.

Hasbro, like other big companies, tends to trim preformance if it means wider profit margins and cheaper production costs. They also rely on gimmicks, colors, and other external elements of their products. If you don't like it, the best alternative is homemades. I've been telling people that for at least a year, and many have listened. Nerf homemades especially have a hell of a lot more potential than most realize. Get innovating! ^_^

#300866 Dart of War 4: Home is Where the Dart Is

Posted by DX-Robert on 01 July 2011 - 02:01 PM in Nerf Wars

I would definitely go if I can get a carpool from the CT/NYC/Northern NJ area.

#329634 Dart-related Nerf war accidents and dart safety tests

Posted by DX-Robert on 11 May 2013 - 12:13 AM in Darts and Barrels

Nibordude's BCNO hit used to be infamous among NIC old-timers. It might be one of the better data points if you want to contact him about it. Long story short, he took a direct hit to the eye from a Crossbow in an era where weights and heads were not well-regulated. I'm not sure if the dart was a 5/0, 3/0, or slingshot weight. It sent him to the Emergency Room and I believe he has some permanent damage in that eye. However, I no longer remember all the details.

#354639 DCHAP-3

Posted by DX-Robert on 28 June 2016 - 02:29 PM in Homemades

And we keep getting flack from safety-minded air builders for allowing PVC tanks and fittings at all (from a conversation with Doom and torukmakto4 on Reddit the other week). They'd prefer all-metal rated fittings, and I can't fault that. It's just super expensive to do.

As a long-time PVC and air blaster tinkerer, I agree with them, all or mostly metal. Well, at least for designs intended to be built by the masses. People are weird and find all manner of ways to screw things up. They can't be trusted even with a fully step to step guide. Rated and even some types of unrated PVC are quite safe, but only if the user knows what they are doing and understands things like the impact of temperature upon the material.

The problem in wars to me isn't the technology, it's the user. You need a mature, experienced air blaster user who understands the relationship between power and pumps. As you increase the power and approach a certain threshold, you must flatline the number of pumps or decrease them, else, adding more power makes the blaster *less* effective. Above that threshold, more range and velocity gives you literally no advantage, while the increased pump count saddles you with disadvantages. It's the kind of situation where you'd trade 30ft of range for 1 less pump in a heartbeat. This is the kind of master user that I trust with homemade air in a war (the same goes for HPA). They know what they are doing with their construction methods, the pressure they are running, the band of values it will chrono at, etc. Ultimately, homemade air is about creativity and durability, not about power. The discontinued and breakage-prone 4B is not a long term viable platform vs homemades built to last.

I've found that air homemades are unpopular for several reasons, mostly involving blanket bans out of fear, and lack of understanding about how they work. You'd be surprised at how many people look at air and think magic, yet they are far simpler and easier to construct than springers.

My QEV arrived today, so it's time to start moving on that. Price is definitely a barrier to entry, but this valve was $22 and American-sourced, NPT, which is pretty decent. These things are probably not going to feel as nice as a 4B or anything with an injection-molded shell, but there's room to explore.

#299778 DCNF

Posted by DX-Robert on 13 June 2011 - 01:53 AM in Nerf Wars

I am still interested if there is a concrete date and committed, worthwhile turnout. Last thing I want to do is make that 6 hour drive through the trafficbelt and not have it be worthwhile.

#310882 DCNF 3

Posted by DX-Robert on 07 February 2012 - 10:54 PM in Nerf Wars

I don't particularly care where it ends up being. Just really hope that Doom's available because otherwise I'd have to leave at about 2-3 AM to get there by 9. I've seen crazier things done for wars though (like NC to NY to MS), getting there is not the concern...it's getting back that sucks.

#310422 DCNF 3

Posted by DX-Robert on 31 January 2012 - 12:28 PM in Nerf Wars

I would still love to make it back to the DMV area for a war, but I'd have to spend both Friday night and Sunday night with a host. It's a punishing drive from CT, before factoring in any traffic.

#311624 DCNF 3

Posted by DX-Robert on 22 February 2012 - 10:45 AM in Nerf Wars

I am now a definite.

By content type

See this member's

Sign In