A water balloon or water bomb is a latex

Latex

Latex is the stable dispersion of polymer microparticles in an aqueous medium. Latexes may be natural or synthetic.Latex as found in nature is a milky fluid found in 10% of all flowering plants . It is a complex emulsion consisting of proteins, alkaloids, starches, sugars, oils, tannins, resins,...

 rubber balloon

Balloon

A balloon is an inflatable flexible bag filled with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. Modern balloons can be made from materials such as rubber, latex, polychloroprene, or a nylon fabric, while some early balloons were made of dried animal bladders, such as the pig...

 filled with water

Water

Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...

. They are commonly used in water balloon fights and as a practical joke device

Practical joke device

A practical joke device is a manufactured prop or toy intended to confuse, frighten, or amuse individuals as a prank. Often, these objects are harmless facsimiles of disgusting or terrifying objects, such as vomit or spilled nail polish...

.

History

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. 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.

Uses

Water balloons are similar to grenades

Hand grenade

A hand grenade is any small bomb that can be thrown by hand. Hand grenades are classified into three categories, explosive grenades, chemical and gas grenades. Explosive grenades are the most commonly used in modern warfare, and are designed to detonate after impact or after a set amount of time...

 in water balloon battles, or as projectiles when used with a balloon launching device.

Water balloons are very popular in celebrating Holi

Holi

Holi , is a religious spring festival celebrated by Hindus. Holi is also known as festival of Colours. It is primarily observed in India, Nepal, Pakistan, and countries with large Indic diaspora populations following Hinduism, such as Suriname, Malaysia, Guyana, South Africa, Trinidad, United...

 in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, Nepal

Nepal

Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...

, and several other countries.

A thin-walled, transparent, and filled water balloon can be used to start a fire

Fire

Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not included by this definition....

 in a process similar to using a glass lens.

Throwing techniques

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, 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 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.

Filling and tying devices

Water balloons are typically filled at an indoor faucet, an outside tap

Tap (valve)

A tap is a valve controlling release of liquids or gas. In the British Isles and most of the Commonwealth, the word is used for any everyday type of valve, particularly the fittings that control water supply to bathtubs and sinks. In the U.S., the term "tap" is more often used for beer taps,...

, or at the end of a garden hose

Garden hose

A garden hose is a flexible tube used to carry water. There are a number of common attachments available for the end of the hose, such as sprayers and sprinklers...

. 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

Valve

A valve is a device that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically pipe fittings, but are usually discussed as a separate category...

 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. 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. 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. A patent-pending design for a liquid activated water balloon seal means is under development as well.

Other types

Gas

Gas

Gas is one of the three classical states of matter . Near absolute zero, a substance exists as a solid. As heat is added to this substance it melts into a liquid at its melting point , boils into a gas at its boiling point, and if heated high enough would enter a plasma state in which the electrons...

 balloons (air or helium

Helium

Helium is the chemical element with atomic number 2 and an atomic weight of 4.002602, which is represented by the symbol He. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas that heads the noble gas group in the periodic table...

 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

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 in a pear

Pear

The pear is any of several tree species of genus Pyrus and also the name of the pomaceous fruit of these trees. Several species of pear are valued by humans for their edible fruit, but the fruit of other species is small, hard, and astringent....

 shape (so as to be thrown more easily), whereas some gas balloons, when filled with water, may reach the size of a basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

; 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 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

Mandrel

A mandrel is one of the following:* an object used to shape machined work.* a tool component that grips or clamps materials to be machined.* a tool component that can be used to grip other moving tool components.- Variants :...

 for making elastomeric articles.

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

Origami

is the traditional Japanese art of paper folding, which started in the 17th century AD at the latest and was popularized outside Japan in the mid-1900s. It has since then evolved into a modern art form...

) capable of holding water. These are then filled and used in a similar way to latex versions.

Yo-yo balloons

Yo-yo balloons are a common type of water balloon found at matsuri festivals in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. 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

Yo-yo

The yo-yo in its simplest form is an object consisting of an axle connected to two disks, and a length of twine looped around the axle, similar to a slender spool...

, earning them their name. The balloons are often won in a game (Yo-yo Tsuri or just yo-yo) where they are set floating in a tub of water, with an elastic band and a paper clip

Paper Clip

"Paper Clip" is a 1995 episode of The X-Files television series. It was the second episode broadcast in the show's third season. Paper Clip concludes the story regarding the agents' possession of a digital tape containing government secrets on extraterrestrials.- Plot :Continuing from the previous...

 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. As the paper line breaks easily, the game is often likened to goldfish scooping

Goldfish scooping

is a Japanese traditional game in which a player scoops goldfish with a special scooper. It is also called, "Scooping Goldfish", "Dipping for Goldfish" or "Snatching Goldfish". "Kingyo" means goldfish and "sukui" means scooping. Sometimes bouncy balls are substituted for goldfish. Japanese summer...

 in terms of difficulty.

The Wii video game Ennichi no Tatsujin

Ennichi no Tatsujin

Ennichi no Tatsujin is a video game for Nintendo's Wii console. It was a launch title in Japan.The game is composed of several minigames, all of which revolve around Japanese festivals. This is Namco's first Wii game...

 includes a virtual Yo-yo Tsuri game.

World record

Guinness World Records

Guinness World Records

Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...

 maintains a record category for largest water balloon fight. The current holder is The University of Kentucky Christian Student Fellowship. Christian Student Fellowship retook the title at 12:00 AM local time on August 28, 2010.

Location	Date	Number of participants	Number of balloons	Reports
Coogee Beach, Australia	April, 2006	3000	55,000	Video of fight
UK Christian Student Fellowship Christian Student Fellowship Christian Student Fellowship Christian Student Fellowship Christian Student Fellowship (or simply known as CSF, UK CSF is a Christian religious organization based on the campus of the University of Kentucky....	August, 2008	2,744	58,000	Video of fight
Brigham Young University Brigham Young University Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...	July, 2010	3,927	120,000	Video of fight
UK Christian Student Fellowship Christian Student Fellowship Christian Student Fellowship Christian Student Fellowship Christian Student Fellowship (or simply known as CSF, UK CSF is a Christian religious organization based on the campus of the University of Kentucky....	August, 2010	5,976	153,497	Video of fight

In popular culture

In the season one episode of The Simpsons

The Simpsons

The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

, Bart the General

Bart the General

"Bart the General" is the fifth episode of The Simpsons first season, which premiered on the Fox network on February 4, 1990. The episode deals with Bart's troubles with the bully, Nelson Muntz. Bart chooses to go to war with Nelson uniting the neighborhood children against him...

, hundreds of water balloons are thrown at Nelson Muntz

Nelson Muntz

Nelson Mandela Muntz is a fictional character and bully from the animated TV series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Nancy Cartwright. Nelson was introduced in Season 1's "Bart the General" as a bully but later turned into a friend of Bart Simpson, who is best identified by his signature laugh .-Role...

and other school bullies.