A water balloon or water bomb is a latex rubber balloon filled with water. They are commonly used in water balloon fights and as a practical joke device.
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The water balloon was invented by Edgar Ellington in 1950, while trying to invent a waterproof sock to solve the disease known as trench foot[1]. The design for the sock was a latex coating over a normal cotton sock. When the invention was up to his standards for testing he tried wearing the sock but then quickly found out the elasticity of the latex made it difficult to put on. After ripping several pairs of his waterproof sock he finally managed to successfully put the sock on by carefully heating the sock with a indirect heat source. He was thrilled with his success and had taken off the sock and filled it with water and tied the top to make sure that he had not accidentally ripped the sock unknowingly. When he did this he saw a small stream of water jut out of the plastic balloon, disheartened by his failure, he threw the balloon down and let it break over his table in his study. The satisfaction that he produced when doing so made him come up with the idea of a water balloon to which he would market to children. At first he marketed it as a water grenade, because his introductory idea was to aid soldiers in war, but later changed the name to water balloons to make the activity more child friendly.
Water balloons are similar to grenades in water balloon battles, or as projectiles when used with a balloon launching device.
Water balloons are very popular in celebrating Holi in India, Nepal, and several other countries.[2]
A thin-walled, transparent, and filled water balloon can be used to start a fire in a process similar to using a glass lens.[3]
Like other hand-thrown objects, water balloons are typically thrown or lobbed by a user at the intended target. Due to the fragile nature of some water balloons, less initial force may be required to prevent the balloon from rupturing prematurely. Some also opt to not completely tie a water balloon closed, instead merely twisting the end several times. Once thrown, the twisted end unravels and begins to expel water along the flight path. While this reduces the amount of water in the balloon at the end of the flight, more targets can be hit by water along the way.
There are many techniques used in throwing a water bomb.
Some choose to fill the latex balloons up to a larger size. This can be advantageous, as even if the bomb does not score a direct hit, there is still enough force and water to soak a good area if it explodes on the ground. One must exercise caution when lobbing low pressure water bombs as they have a good chance of bouncing off the intended target and falling to the ground, ready to be used again.
An alternative technique to ensure the breakage of large balloons and the delivery of water on target involves filling the water balloons to approximately 70 to 80% of full capacity and then holding a portion of the latex balloon tightly in a closed fist. The balloon is then thrown hard (like throwing a baseball) in the direction of the target while maintaining the grip on the latex balloon. The latex balloon stretches and breaks as the balloon is thrown forward, causing the water to be delivered rapidly in the direction of the target. (The broken balloon remains in the thrower's hand throughout.) Significant wrist strength is required for this technique (a.k.a. the Holloway technique), but can be readily used to throw balloons containing 4 to 8 L of water.
Some companies distribute tail fins for balloons; placing the fins on the balloon, usually the knotted end, can give improved accuracy over long distances.
Many water balloon games such as water balloon volleyball can be found in popular literature or online sites. Pitchbust[4] is an example of a water balloon dunking station activity.
One main accessory is known as the "water balloon launcher". It can be purchased at a toy store or homemade with surgical tubing and a piece of soft leather. The launcher can be used to project the water balloon several hundred feet toward a target, and even from a distance of around 100–150 feet the water balloon will have enough velocity to fracture a human orbital bone. There are also launchers that make used of compressed air to push a balloon out of a barrel such as the Balloon Bazooka.
Water balloons are typically filled at an indoor faucet, an outside tap, or at the end of a garden hose. Multiple types of filling nozzles are available on the consumer market and come in threaded (3/4" standard in the US) and non-threaded types. Non-threaded nozzles are called filling funnels and may be difficult to use. Some brands of nozzles are called loader instead of nozzle, but no differentiation exists between other types of nozzles. Nozzles may include a valve feature for turning the water source on or off as needed.
Homemade water balloon filling stations may incorporate water balloon nozzles or valves that are on the market or use common plumbing fixtures. These stations may have one or more nozzles or valves. Portable and fixed station designs each have distinct pros and cons depending on the location of use, number of system users, and the quantity of filled water balloons needed.[5] Multi-nozzle stations not only enable more water balloons to be filled for adults planning upcoming youth events or for preventing boredom in children upset with how challenging it may be to fill a balloon at a hose spigot, but greatly enhance group social interactions which is very important in toys for children and adult volunteers that work with children.
Tying water balloons is no longer a challenge. "Easy Fill and Tie" is a specially designed kid-approved device by SplashParty.com that provides a revolutionary to fill and tie water balloons easily, quickly and finger friendly. Even tying water balloons with just two fingles is possible now. Tie-not.com has invented and patented a new innovative way to fill and tie water balloons, fast and easy. Imperial Toy has a patent-pending balloon filling valve with an integrated tying post.[6] Water balloon tying devices (similar to balloon discs) are on the market or are under development, but are always more expensive than the balloon and are made of a harder material than the balloon as well.[7] A patent-pending design for a liquid activated water balloon seal means is under development as well.[8]
Gas balloons (air or helium types) may be used as water balloons, but are not typically preferred because the balloon wall thickness is different. A water balloon is designed to be filled up to the approximate size of a baseball in a pear shape (so as to be thrown more easily), whereas some gas balloons, when filled with water, may reach the size of a basketball; this is disadvantageous because those balloons are harder to handle, usually requiring two hands. Mainly for safety reasons, water balloon walls are designed to be thick enough to be held without bursting yet thin enough to burst upon impact.
Several innovative water balloon designs from Pioneer National Latex are: hand grenades[9] baseballs, cherry scented, and tye-dye.
In a similar process to gas balloons, water balloons may be molded into various shapes at manufacturing. One process involves a patented mandrel for making elastomeric articles.[10]
Water balloons are common in sizes from an inch and a half to four inches though larger sizes are available. Typically water balloons are sold in quantity and often include a filling nozzle in the packaging. Many of the low cost brands use small water balloons and generic nozzles which both tend to be difficult to use.
Another form of water bomb is a sheet of paper folded to form a roughly spherical container (Origami) capable of holding water.[11] These are then filled and used in a similar way to latex versions.
Yo-yo balloons are a common type of water balloon found at matsuri festivals in Japan. Typically small, round, and colourful, the balloons are filled with 1/10 of water and hung from a rubber band. This gives them enough weight and bounce to function as a yo-yo, earning them their name.[12][13] The balloons are often won in a game (Yo-yo Tsuri or just yo-yo[14]) where they are set floating in a tub of water, with an elastic band and a paper clip affixed to one end. Players "fish" for the balloons with another paper clip attached to another rubber band, or (more commonly), a twisted "line" of paper, which they then try to hook through the paper clip of the desired balloon.[15] As the paper line breaks easily, the game is often likened to goldfish scooping in terms of difficulty.
The Wii video game Ennichi no Tatsujin includes a virtual Yo-yo Tsuri game.
Guinness World Records maintains a record category for largest water balloon fight. The current holder is Brigham Young University.
| Location | Date | Number of participants | Number of balloons | Reports |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coogee Beach, Australia | April, 2006 | 3000 | 55,000 | Video of fight |
| UK Christian Student Fellowship | August, 2008 | 2,744 | 58,000 | Video of fight |
| Brigham Young University | July, 2010 | 3,927 | 120,000 | Video of fight |
In the season one episode of The Simpsons, Bart the General, hundreds of water balloons are thrown at Nelson Muntz and other school bullies.