Adventure Force Tidal Striker Quick Review

The competition for “cheap” soakers remains fierce, with plenty of options in the $10-$15 range. This year, Walmart got Buzz Bee Toys to make the Tidal Striker, a derivative of their “Steady Stream” type blasters that have seen variants for over a decade. However, this is perhaps the lowest capacity I’ve seen from this kind of blaster (only 18.5 fl. oz), and the pump volume is low enough that the “Steady Stream” mechanism may as well be useless. It would seem in this case, too much was given up.

Low Capacity, Inferior Shots

The Tidal Striker follows the format of many previous Buzz Bee Toys soakers, including the more recent Adventure Force Triton. A spring-loaded piston serves as a buffer of sorts, meant to both make shots more consistent and long-lasting. When you manipulate the pump, water is first directed into the spring-loaded chamber, then our the nozzle. Since the nozzle is narrow, that excess water ends up pushing back the piston and compressing the spring, temporarily storing the energy of the user pumping. Assuming you pump fast enough, that means the spring will continue pushing water out the nozzle while you’re extending the pump to draw in more water and start the process over. The end result is literally supposed to be a steady stream.

Sadly, in this case, the stream is not longer as steady as it was.

When testing the blaster, I found that the overall pump volume had been reduced to around 14.5mL. (Yes, you’re seeing mixed units in this post, but measuring in metric is way easier). Past blasters, if I’m remembering correctly, had at least 17-18mL of volume being moved with each pump stroke. Given the same firing chamber and nozzle (and I’m 95% confident that part of the blaster hasn’t changed – why retool the core of your blaster), that means that even when I’m trying to pump as fast as possible, there’s not enough volume to actually support having a steady stream. Partway through extending the pump handle, I simply run out of shot.

Without the central feature, what’s the point?

In addition, the reduced reservoir volume compared to years past (18.5oz compared to 36 for the Triton) means you simply have fewer shots before reloading. Had the steady stream actually worked, it wouldn’t have gone for nearly as long as years past.

Finally, in testing, I realistically only saw a maximum range of 30′, significantly less than the 38′ advertised. In years past, I’ve seen ranges test at least close to the package claims. So I’m disappointed in this year’s testing.

Last Thoughts

I realize there seem to be two trends in soakers – high end ones with cool features, and low end ones that aim to be as inexpensive as possible. In this case, however, racing to the bottom meant the main feature no longer works fully as intended. The blaster works for simple pump-and-shoot action, but at that point. there are things with much more capacity for the same price.