BW12 Koosh Observations, Gen 3, 29th October 2015

Had a shipment of Gen 3 Kooshes arrive today, so here's my notes on them.

"Koosh" Darts Review and Testing

 

The "Koosh" dart is one of the few aftermarket non-homemade darts that is popular and recommended in many Nerf circles. It has gained popularity in many groups that use stock darts. So should you use Koosh darts over your stock of Elite darts?

Just as a quick note, "Koosh" is not their actual name. These darts have no "official" name and have no known company producing them. The name "Koosh" was given to it by members of the NIC for reasons I do not know.

Modification: Elite Dart Conversion

Ever wished that your streamlines were Elite darts but you're not bothered to buy a pack of Elites from your local Target? The answer is, make your own! Without using $8-12 on a pack of 30 Elite darts, use 2-5 minutes instead and convert your outmatched streamlines to more accurate darts for your Elite blasters!

Disclaimer: Mod at your own risk! Outback Nerf can't be held responsible for any damage to your darts/ and or blasters.

Anyways, on to the mod!

Nerf Vortex vs N-Strike Part 2

Continuing the long overdue post of N-Strike vs Vortex. In this post we'll be pitting the New Vortex Pyragon against the N-Strike Raider CS-35

Because I yet to have tested the Nitron, Stampede vs Nitron will have to be delayed until later in part 3 (which may never exist). Additionally, there will be a Barrel Break IX-2 Rough Cut 2x4 vs Diatron in part 4 (which again, may never exist).

Aesthetics:
The Pyragon somehow resembles a sci-fi laser weapon (as with most other Vortex blasters), while the Raider resembles older weapons with side magwells.
From the side, The Raider looks cool, but when you look at it from an angled view, it's really ugly.
I personally prefer the Pyragon's appearance because of the red and white colour scheme as well as its lines, but as always I don't score on aesthetics.
Accessories:
The Pyragon, comes with itself, a 40-disc drum, and 40 'bright orange' discs.
The Raider comes with itself, a 35-dart drum, it's special extendable stock and 35 streamline darts.
The Pyragon comes with 5 more bits of ammo and its drum holds more ammo, but the Raider comes with its own sturdy stock, thus equalising this round.
Range/Power:
The Pyragon, being a Vortex blaster, easily hits 15m+ and has a good disc velocity, almost having the same fps as dart blasters.
The Raider, because it's an old reverse-plunged blaster, barely breaks 10m, only getting up to 8-9m. A strange difference between the blasters is that the Pyragon is still consistent in range when slam firing, while the Raider gains a metre or two in range when slam-firing.
The Pyragon obviously beats the Raider easily.
Accuracy:
The Pyragon, as mentioned in the review, has very consistent accuracy, both in single fire and slam-fire, and seems to curve less than other Vortex blasters too (well, at least mine does)..
The Raider, on the other hand has bad accuracy, which is ordinary for clip (mag)-system blasters. Some darts spin away, and others get a straight line, but still with a twirl. Others 'helicopter' out and travel only a few metres.
The Pyragon wins, because its accuracy is far more consistent.
Usability:
The Pyragon is extremely smooth to fire and to prime, especially in slam-fire. It's drum never misfeeds and most of the jams are caused by user error. So far, I haven't experienced any jams relating to the blaster. On the other hand, the Raider is notorious for jamming, because the drum can't keep up properly and misfeeds. Although it doesn't jam as badly as the old Recon, there are few good-feeding drums out there but the majority of Raiders can jam easily. Additionally, over time Raider drums wear out and its feeding slows down, thus increasing the rate of misfires and jams. I've only heard that a few defective Pyragons jam.
The Pyragon wins this round easily again.
Rate of Fire:
The Raider is capable of 4-5dps, but most Raider's drums jam very easily at high rates of fire, so it's limited to a reliable rate of 2-3dps.
The Pyragon, on the other hand is capable of over 8 dps and the drum is fast enough to keep up with the ROF.
The Pyragon once again defeats the Raider with ease.
Capacity:
The Pyragon holds 40 discs in its drum, but the Raider only holds 35. The Pyragon wins a again, but only by a small margin.
Value for Money/Availability:
The Raider is available at most toy stores, usually at $35 or more. The Pyragon is also available everywhere, but it's more costly at $40-$90. Both blasters are found almost everywhere, but because the Raider comes with a stock and the Pyragon has better stats overall, this round is a tie.

Overall, the Pyragon has won 5 rounds, while the Raider has won no rounds, with 2 ties. The Pyragon is by far the better blaster than the original slam-fire blaster. It's not surprising how much better the Pyragon is than the Raider, considering it just got released this year, but it's surprising that there is no category that the Raider is better then the Pyragon.

So now Vortex is catching up with N-Strike. If N-Strike can managed to win just one more round, or tie both rounds it will win. For Vortex to win it has to win both rounds.
The score is now:
N-Strike: 3 : Vortex: 2

General Dart/Disc Usage Tips Part 1

This will be a small post about about how to use your darts. I will add more pages if I discover more.

Nerf Camo Ammo (Whistlers) Review

The Nerf Camo Ammo is a rather unusual addition to the N-Strike collection. It has 3 variants: Streamlines (grey urban camo), Suctions (green/brown woodland camo) and Whistlers (arctic camo). I have the Whistlers, as pictured. The kit comes with 50 camo darts, and a bag in a similar camo look. It's awesome.

Nerf N-Strike 2010 New Releases

This post is essentially a list of all the stuff released in 2010 that I'm aware of.