Foam dart blaster

The first foam dart blaster produced was Sharpshooter in 1992 by Nerf, owned by Hasbro. Nerf had earlier produced blasters that fired foam balls, starting in 1989, and many foam dart blaster producers continue to produce blasters that utilize different projectiles such as disks or balls. ==Types==

While there exists a variety of priming mechanisms for foam dart blasters, the two major ones are spring-powered, typically being manually powered, and flywheel, typically requiring batteries. Spring-powered In a spring-powered blaster, the spring connects to an air plunger that, when the blaster is fired, releases the air to a sealed tube to blow the dart down the barrel. Flywheel A flywheel blaster has a set of rapidly spinning wheels, that upon contact propel the dart forwards. Drain A drain blaster requires the user to manually compress air using a bicycle pump mechanism. This air is released when the trigger is pressed. The prefix 'drain' comes from the typical majority of these blasters being made from PVC pipes. By this definition, a 'drain blaster' includes older compressed air Nerf blasters. Homemade drain blasters are a lot easier to make potent blasters, and are typically regulated at Nerf wars due to variable muzzle velocity. ==Harm==

A key risk is that of eye injuries due to projective striking in or around the eyes. The can cause severe blunt ocular trauma and permanent visual loss, particularly in children. This should always be prevented by wearing eye protection during play. ==See also==