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Squirt

Materials Tools
Plastic film canister
2" thin tube
2" thick tube
30" thick tube
1" metal tubing
1 bulb
1 PVC ring
foam or paper
Knife
Leather punch
Paint/markers
hot glue

See the Film Canister Chapter for more instructions, hints, tips, and ideas.

This is my favorite slide. The challenge of making this slide is obtaining the thin tubing and the bulb. By making it this way, you can have one bulb and many film canister slides. The film canister part is interchangeable.

The film canister is easy to get at a photo store. The thick tubing is used in aquariums and is about 1/4 inch outside diameter. The metal tubing is the correct diameter to fit snuggly inside the thick tubing. Pet stores that carry tropical fish supplies will have the tubing and also connectors that can be used instead of the metal tubing. The thin tubing can be found in nose sprays, pump hair sprays, and perfume atomizers. The bulb can be found in two places. They can be purchased as part of ear wax removal kits. They are also used to clean out the noses of infants. You might try to locate a nurse who could obtain several bulbs for you. By making this slide in two parts as illustrated, you only need to find one bulb and can make as many varieties of film canisters as you like.

film can illustration
bulb illustration
Inside a squirt
Inside the film canister

Decorate foam or paper (treat paper with Thompson wood seal to water proof it). Some ideas are: a fish scene, "Smile if you want to be squirted", a beach scene, a whale, thunderstorm scene, clown, desert survival kit, "Reconstituted dehydrated dihydrogen monoxide", and "H2O". The trick is to have one place near the horizontal middle of the foam/paper that you can put a hole without it being too conspicuous. The hole could be hidden in a dark part of the scene, bubbles from the fish, blowhole of the whale, dot of the "i" in a text messages, clowns nose or mouth. If the hole is at the bottom of the scene the thin tube can be replaced by simply drilling a 3/64-inch hole.

Secure foam/paper to film canister using hot glue.

Using a leather punch of the correct size to make a tight fitting hole for the thin tube. Make the hole in an inconspicuous spot near the middle of the foam/paper. The water will squirt out straight from this point so if you put it off center it will shoot off to the side. Insert the thin tubing.

Attach the PVC ring with hot glue. Be sure to roughen up the ring and film canister before gluing.

Using the leather punch of the correct size to make a tight fitting hole for the thick tubing. Make the hole to the right or left of the PCV ring. Insert the 2-inch piece of thick tubing. One trick is to cut the end of the tubing at an angle so that it will slip into the hole more easily. You can also grab the tubing with needle nose pliers and pull it through.

To make the bulb part of the slide, get the metal tubing wet and insert it into the end of the 30 inches of thick tubing. Then insert the bulb into the other end of the tubing.

Only use this slide during the warm season as it tends to drip a little and both you and your victim will get wet. Insert the metal tubing into the thick tubing in the film canister. Put the slide on your neckerchief. (This is a fairly heavy slide when filled with water. You may want to use a rubber band to secure the slide as described in the General Tips section). The tubing is concealed inside your shirt and goes down over your belt and into a pocket where the bulb part is hidden. I use my left pocket for Cub Scouts and the right pocket for Boy Scouts. That way I can squirt while shaking hands. It is important that the tubing not be kinked or squeezed. Test without water to make sure air gets through the thin tube; make any necessary adjustments. Fill film canister with water and you are ready for action.


Copyright © 2001 Vincent Hale