Now that the semester is over, I have time to write about Nerf again!
Nerf’s answer to Xshot Fast Fill is the Dunk Fill line, designed to be able to dunk into buckets or pools to fill the reservoir. Last year saw models like the Mega Dunk Fill and the Mini Dunk Fill, which were decent models. They did have some shortcomings, however, due to the need to allow air to escape the reservoir when dunking.
This year’s Dunk Fill+ largely solves that issue, making for a much better experience. The reservoir is a bit large to empty out simply with your trigger finger, but if you just want to fill the reservoir once and use the blaster for casual play, it’s perfect.
More Ways to Fill!
Previous Dunk Fill blasters had extra holes at the back or top of the reservoirs. This was for a simple reason: if you’re dunking the filling valve into a body of water, the air in the reservoir needs to go somewhere. However, that design choice made it impossible to fill the reservoirs from a faucet or hose, and it meant you couldn’t angle the blaster up too much without water draining out of the body of the blaster.
Now, there’s an extra rattle within the blaster when you pick it up. That’s because there’s a simple, weighted valve in place of that open hole! Within reason, changing the angle of the blaster won’t cause water to leak out. More importantly, that valve gets closed off when you’re holding the blaster vertically to fill from a hose or faucet. That makes this design far more useful than the ones from last year. Additionally, it comes in pastel colors, a two-pack, and a patriotic version for America’s 250th anniversary, should you be feeling the mood.
Dunking the blaster gets you close to the listed capacity (~358 mL is listed), but that depends on how long you’re willing to hold the blaster under water to let the level rise in the reservoir. Filling from a faucet, I maxed out at 400 mL. Either way, the listed capacity is reasonable, and the translucent reservoir makes it easy to see how much is left.
The Dunk Fill+ fires ~0.8 mL in each shot. Depending on angle and trigger speed, range maxes out at 28 feet, with the stream breaking up at around 15 feet into a spray of droplets. I’ll list 28 feet as the range, but be aware of your limitations.
What Improved?
Inside the blaster, there’s an extra plastic assembly above the reservoir. Inside is a hinged door, along with a steel ball bearing. When you tilt the blaster back, the ball bearing lodges in place against the door, sealing off the reservoir. This is what allows you to actually hold the blaster vertical without leaking out all of your water.
If you swing the blaster around and rotate enough, it’s still possible to force the reservoir to drain out that hole. But for 99% of use cases, it solves the problem.
Last Thoughts
This amount of water is hard to empty out with just your trigger finger, so as far as squirt pistols are concerned, this is likely the upper limit. Even so, $10 for an improved version of last year’s offerings is a decent ask, especially when it comes to arming young kids.