Stargate fans, I was thrilled to see the Rival Staff Blaster’s first version posted almost a year ago. I was not able to purchase one due to the circumstances. Several changes of address later, one of these showed up as a gift from my fiancee. Conclusion? My conclusion?
INDEED
Impact 498 took the blower + flywheels concept in a somewhat different direction than the HIRricane and Proton Pack. He chose to use a hopper or loop tubing to increase capacity. Instead, he used a long section instead of a hopper and decided to go with the aesthetics. However, this means that the entire thing must be shipped in a very long box with lots of padding. Which worked well for the most part part of the blower fan casing did break in shipping, but with a replacement on the way after a quick message, it wasnt much of an issue. One checkmark in customer service.
Unfortunately, the performance of the blower fan unit was not affected by damage to its casing during testing at home or at war.
Aside from the length of 3 cm PVC, the staff blaster consists of three distinct units. In addition to its decorative duties, the head houses a unique 3-motor flywheel cage as well as a motor-driven feeder. The rear of the blaster houses the blower fan for pushing the balls toward the head; it also has the loading port and cap for adding ammo. The lipo battery is contained in a small door with thumbscrew (supplied by user).
The control box is located in the middle of the blaster, and there are triggers on both sides. Interestingly, Impact 498 opted to use cutouts in the 3d printed casing; pressing down slightly activates the internally mounted switches, and the thick plastic is springy enough to go back to its resting position when you let go. It is very helpful to color code the rev trigger (blue), and firing trigger (red).
My entire staff has 70+ balls. It’s enough to fight with, provided that you aren’t trigger happy. It’s far too satisfying to let it run wild and just send Rival ammo downrange. This is one you have to be careful with!
Performance And War Testing
How well this blaster fires continues to shock me.
I’m hitting speeds of 162 fps at first, with averages of 148 fps using a 3S Lipo. I also average around 11 balls per minute, should I decide to let things fly. I do not currently have a 2S battery (I will update those numbers later), but it should be safe enough for Humans v Zombies.
The blaster was very satisfying to use, and the length of the stick meant it wasn’t too heavy. However, it was not necessary to be with a large group of people.
Future Plans
The versatility of this blaster design hasnt escaped me. With everything mounted on 3 cm PVC, it means that I can remove the head and other parts with the loosening of screws and some plug disconnects. In theory, I couldtake things apart for more mobility (at full length, it barely fits in my car). You could mount them to a shorter pipe. Which sounds like a bad thinguntil you decide to hook that shorter pipe up to a Proton pack or similar device
