Is this thing a toy or a lethal weapon? We’re not sure, but this video demonstration of a homemade water cannon is pretty impressive.


We all enjoyed water fights growing up. All good fun, right? Well, maybe not any more — what many fondly remember as a light-hearted childhood game has seemingly sparked a merciless arms race culminating in the creation of this behemoth!

▼ Not your brother’s Super Soaker

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A video featuring this terrifying, but admittedly really sweet-looking, homemade water bazooka is making the rounds after appearing on Japanese video-sharing site NicoNico and YouTube.

The video features an anonymous, lab-coat clad man wielding the cannon like some kind of latter-day ghostbuster while demonstrating the awesome power of the water gun as he targets various plastic objects.

▼ Behold—the “Impulse Cannon Mk.1” in action!

In addition to the requisite, slow motion footage of the gun being fired and looking awesome, the video also includes extensive description about the weapon’s design and firing mechanism.

According to the text that appears throughout the video along with technical drawings, the Impulse’s design is essentially the same as a water cannon designed for fire-fighting, employing compressed air to deliver a powerful blast of water. The cannon doesn’t actually fire that much water, but it still packs enough of a punch to shatter plastic, as demonstrated to devastating effect in the video.

▼ Not even going to pretend like I know what all this is!

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Yikes! Imagine bringing that kind of weaponry to a water balloon fight! The cannon even boasts a semi-automatic mode, allowing for repeated shots at a rate of one per four seconds. Not exactly the fastest, but sure to give any would-be opponent second thoughts.

Perhaps most humorously of all, the creator of the video nonchalantly reveals in its final moments that he originally set out to make a kind of flame-thrower by putting fuel into the cannon, but “compromised” for water because of possible safety problems (i.e. not wanting to be consumed by a giant fireball).

▼ Maybe he decided the flamethrower he made in March was dangerous enough…

Source: Net Lab
Top image: Niconico douga/Asp Nico_Tech
Images: Niconico douga/Asp Nico_Tech