If there’s one thing we like as much as an all-out Nerf battle, it’s showing off our blaster skills. And that means trick shots — target blasting from a distance, or maybe around a corner, or while you’re hanging upside down from a tree. Honestly, the limit of a trick shot is your own creativity. Here’s some inspiration and guidance for your own tricks.
Welcome to Gizmodo’s Nerf Week! We’re celebrating everything Nerf, from innovation, to history to the awesome blasters you can get right now. It’s time to lock and load.
When you’re dreaming up a trick shot to try, it’s best to dream big — whatever you do will be more impressive as a result. The sky’s the limit. If you’re trying Take physics into account when you’re aiming at your target, of course — what’s the wind like? Should you aim up slightly to give your darts a little extra distance? Learn the maximum range of your blaster and work near that — it’s more of a challenge and the challenge is what we’re here for.
If you’re planning your own trick shots, you really don’t need much. At a minimum, you’ll want some targets — some small balloons inflated to near bursting point are a great start, or some balloons filled with water. If you want to add a little flair, you could make your own paper targets with soft crepe paper taped to a paper plate or bowl — it doesn’t have to be anything special.
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- Kmart
- BIG W
- Target
- Toys R Us
- Mr Toys Toyworld
- All good toy stores
You’ll also want something to film your blaster action with. Anything from a smartphone upwards will do — you could use a phone, or an action camera like a GoPro — but the ideal would be a digital SLR or mirrorless digital camera with a zoom lens. That way, you can frame your shots no matter where you’re blasting from.
At the same time, either a tripod — for one angle while you’re blasting — or a camera-person. If you’ve got a few friends with phones, having them strategically located around your target at different angles and distances. Obviously make sure that none of them are going to be in the path of your dart; not only will you hit them, but you’ll also muck up your trick shot.
And, of course, you’ll want a good Nerf blaster. Depending on the kind of tricks you’re thinking of pulling off, you can either go long distance with something like the Strongarm, which has a range of up to 21m.
If you want to get close up, you could do a lot worse than our ol’ reliable sidekick the Alphahawk, which uses Nerf’s new super-accurate Accustrike darts.
Extra darts are going to be a necessity for your trick shots, too. We’ve got plenty handy here at Giz, but you’d be smart to pick up a couple of refills — as bright and colourful as they are, we always seem to end up with a few less darts than we started out with at the beginning of the day.
The guys at Dude Perfect have two of the best trick videos on YouTube — one up the top, and one down below — so enjoy them both and find a bit of inspiration. And good luck with your aim!