Water Balloon Catapult

Make a wicked cool catapult that shoots water balloons really well without them exploding right away! You can buy water balloon shooters in stores, but they never work well and explode the water balloon as soon as you let go.

Step 1 Gather materials

You will need an old towel, or some sort of rag that you can cut up. You will also need a length of surgical tubing, exercise tubing will work here as well. Lastly, you will need two small scraps of wood and some duct tape. You will also need scissors to cut the rag.

Comments

[slimguy379]

where do yo get surgical tubing?

[the walking stick]

some ace hardware stores carry tubing like this. or medical supply stores may as well.

[35Timmy]

do you mean like this kind http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100183224/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053
i know it says latex hose however it's really latex tubing.remeber this is for constructive and reponsible use

[the walking stick]

yeah thats it. very useful stuff

[sory24712]

store

[slimguy379]

thank now i know what one to get it from, thanks

[sory24712]

no problem

[ShNitZulll]

@backyardpyro217 that's because, assuming that they launched the balloon at less than the balloon's terminal velocity, the balloon would be going roughly the same speed at which it was launched when it landed.

[dsmith1]

Instead of the rag and duct tape pocket to hold the water balloon in, i used the top half of a coke bottle, and just roll the cut edge to stop the edge cutting the balloon and it strengthens the cup ring to attach the bungie cord to. Drill holes through the threaded end and thread a some cord through it to make a loop to pull back the balloon cup. These work awesome.

[alex4646]

sorry to get technical on you but this is a slingshot, not exactly a catapult

[fozzy13]

Haha my thought exactly!

[adamnsmith]

can it shoot more than water balloons... like fire crackers?

[backyardpyro217]

what about grenades and molotovs? MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA! i actually know a guy who made this with a few of his buddies, they were able to launch a water balloon about two blocks and still take out a window XD

[Hitman227]

HeHe... I made one like this ( used a funnel instead ) and it can take bark off trees at about 200ft, it's a little to powerful to use on human targets. =( Great job!

[CosmicBrambleclaw]

Wow that would sting like heck if it hit somebody

[Hitman227]

Yeah, mostly for firing at stationary targets. =(

[everyones a chump]

I have a store bought one, and it works fine, never had any problems with it. Also, if you tie one end to something, in my experience with multiple launchers, there is a good chance that the balloon won't leave the pouch and will come back at you. I highly recommend having to friends hold the ends of tubing much better and actually safer.

[inst_it_ironic]

depends on the friends especialy mine.

[skidude28]

I have a feeling that if I told my friend to hold one end, he'd either get pulled over when I pull back, or he'd just let go and I'd go flying back. Either way, it would end badly.

[johnlin118]

how did this get so dirty?

[popa27272]

im building a balista for a phsics project too this will be alot of help because i was wondering how to keep the pocket open

[payount_slay]

this is gonna be fun can u use a huge rubber band that can stretch 2 like 20 feet

[payount_slay]

dude this is sweet now i can shoot my 2 sisters thanks man

[Matrix-technician]

AWSOMENESS!!!!!! I wish i had one of these to soak my buddies!

[Mine!]

Sweet! I think I'm going to try it... MWAHAHAH!

[mikesty]

Not bad, but I'd definately mount either end of the tubing to a pair of trees or posts. Maybe it's just because I don't really trust my friends. Or maybe I don't have any? Where did you get the surgical tubing from? Regardless, I'd like to order 50 of these and have them sent over to Iraq :)

[soapdude]

i just recently bought surgical tubing at a medical supply store the common in mini-malls.

[smurfsahoy]

If you tie it to two trees, it significantly limits where you can aim the thing at. A friend can move around so that the pouch is always right in the middle of the tubing, for a clean shot. Also, what would you use them for in Iraq? In WWI, people used to throw hand grenades with catapults, but that was made obsolete by mortars.

[trebuchet03]

My local Home Depot Sells it :P Its in the isle that has other plastic tubing...

[intoon]

I just had the surgical tubing lying around. Exercise tubes will work too and can be easily found at any sports store.

[thegunthing]

nice job. i might try to make one out of bike tubing instead of surgical tubing.( you cay attach this between 2 trees or poles if you need some "alone time"

[drummonkey92]

hey, did you make one out of inner tubes? was it any good? i've got sum lyin around so it would save me money if it works well

[bumpus]

I made one of these a while ago, and last week I reluctantly let my accident-prone friend try it out, he pulled it back, let go, but the balloon didn't go out, instead it shot backwards and hit him in the inner thigh, instantaneous bruise it was hilarious

[bowmaster]

MAXIUM LOL

[mr.dr.prof.joel]

insted of tubing could i just tie a ton of rubber bands togeter.

[zaro12345]

you'd need like a whold TON of rubber bands

[DaNerd11]

na, that prolly wouldnt work, unless you have reeaally good rubber bands theyre prolly gonna snap pretty fast, i made a slingshot about 6 ft tall that shot pebbles about 150 ft using rubber bands, they snapped after 50 uses or sumthing like that, so i dont suggest it.

[emac]

this is cOOOOOLLL good instructable tooooo

[littlewit]

very cool

[thermoelectric]

Good, but basic I love it.