This is a how-to on how to make your own rings for the Koosh Vortex line of guns. Anyone who owns one of these is well aware of the uniqueness of their ammo, but if you are not, read up then come back. They are very cool, practicality aside, but rings can be difficult to come by, and if you are foolish enough to use a Koosh gun in a Nerf war, the oddzon you being the only one with such a gun are extremely high, meaning that no-one will be shooting ammo you can use back at you. I play indoors, and my group has a very low tolerance for modified guns (nothing we have shoots more than 50 feet flat), so there is a niche open for guns that shoot a long way but do so at wussy velocities, and Koosh guns fit the bill, as they can hit 60+ flat and are brutally accurate. However, I need more than a few rings to compete with darts (which we have entirely too many of). So I figured out how to make my own. Matter of fact, I am shocked, SHOCKED that I could find no-one who has tried this yet. Has anyone? Anyway, I could possibly keep the directions to myself and sell them for a pretty penny, but that isn't how the Internet should work. Here is what one of my rings looks like, with some actual rings for comparison.
It took me many hours to perfect the design, but these are, properly made, identical in performance to official Koosh rings. They hurt the smallest bit more, but nowhere near as much as my poorly-singled 70-foot-shooting Titan, so don't worry. No war ought to ban them. Their war practicality is debatable, but I use them to pin down distant covered opponents; I'll probably miss, but they don't want to risk a ring to the face if they try to make a break for it, and they perform admirably at this, mainly because the blasters are accurate enough for people to believe that I might hit them. Many just like these guns for their curiosity value, but even these people might like to have more ammo, and the cool thing is you don't need an actual ring to make these, in case someone has a Koosh gun they're not using because they don't have ammo. Here's how.
Keep in mind: Rotational symmetry. If you add tape on one point on the ring, add an equal mass 180 degrees across from it. The more symmetrical, the better.
Weight. Too heavy and the ring falls quickly. Too light and it flied upwards and stalls. Weight of an official ring is a bit over 4 grams (I don't have that great a scale). Keep it about there, maybe a tad heavier.
Airfoil shape. This is how they fly. If your ring's cross-section is a circle or a ribbon it won't work.
Aerodynamicism. If there's too much friction with the air, as by things sticking out or being messy, it won't fly well.
Step 1: Making the blank.
Take a roll of duct tape (The roll I use is about 4.8 cm wide but this shouldn't matter unless you have absolutely massive tape) and cut a strip of it to a good size. The actual circumference should be about 14.4 cm but cut a bit more so you can overlap it. Make it into a loop, as in the picture.
Then cut thin strips of duct tape and apply them at 90-degree intervals along the ring (the overlap is at 0 degrees) to balance the weight.
Then cut it in half crosswise, into two loops. Throw one away. Or you could use it to make another ring.
Then, in the middle of each quadrant cut a slit, leaving about 1.6 cm of material to the bottom. Fold the new flaps over, as in the picture.
It will probably look squarish and odd, so cut a few smaller strips of duct tape and put them over the slits to form it back into a circle.
Step 2: The Weight Belt.
This step adds mass to the ring, and that's about all it does. Cut a strip of tape longer than the ring's circumference in half lengthwise,
then fold it almost in half, leaving a thin strip of adhesive visible at the bottom.
Wrap it around the ring with the adhesive line towards the bottom of the ring, sticking it down as you go.
Then trim the excess and use a small strip of duct tape to cover the seam. Add small strips of duct tape at 90-degree intervals from the seam to balance the weight.
< Intermission>
Stay tuned for the thrilling conclusion! (i.e. Don't post 'till the second half is up)
Edited by Noob 001, 23 April 2009 - 04:37 AM.
