Bushes, trees and garden furniture are all excellent sources of cover in a water fight. Not only will you avoid getting hit, you'll also keep out of sight and can ambush your enemies when they least expect it. We'd certainly recommend this water gun for the littlest ones in the water fight, but older children would probably prefer it as a side-arm.

You'll have to make those shots count, however, as despite having a capacity of more than a litre we only fired it seven times before it needed refilling. This may be partly due to how much water is wasted during pumping, as it dribbled a lot of water out of the end of the barrel when we were pumping it up.This surprisingly powerful soaker completely kept pace with competing models that are geared toward older kids. The Dino-Soak effectively shot streams of water slightly over 25 feet, making it a formidable piece of artillery. It was also surprisingly lightweight, so younger kids really felt like they were at the top of their blaster game.

Its fast-fill technology puts kids at the top of their water combat game. For smaller kids that don’t have the muscle to handle the X-Shot’s 34-ounce water capacity, the Nerf Super Soaker DinoSquad Dino-Soak Water Blaster ( available at Target) ran a close second. You only fire once between each refill, so you've got to make it count, but that one shot comes with plenty of range and firepower. A distance of 9.6 metres made this the winner of our range test, and if you're unfortunate enough to get caught in the fire of this blaster you're sure to get soaked.We then fired each water gun from a couple of metres away, ensuring that the whole shot hit the tester's overalls.

Speed and agility are important in water fights, so you'll want to avoid being weighed down by heavy, absorbent clothing. Nothing says summer fun like an old-fashioned water war. From Super Soakers to water pistols, water guns have come a long way since we were kids, and they just keep getting better. This summer we did some serious testing to see which of these bad boys are truly the best water guns for kids.

We then took photos of how drenched they were and judged how much soaking power one shot from each water gun has. There's no fiddly trigger to pull as the Microburst 2 fires as you pump it, and 20 shots is plenty for a water gun with such a low overall tank capacity.

You might be tempted to don your army fatigues, but you'll be at a major disadvantage. Light clothes that won't absorb too much water are best for keeping you agile and speedy in the heat of water-based battle. 5) Get to cover One of the water guns, the Nerf Super Soaker Fortnite HC-E, was unfortunately broken on arrival, so we were unable to complete testing for that one. Soaking power But this water gun did come up the shortest in our range tests and it can't be relied on to get your opponents especially wet. Overall, we think this is a superb water gun that'll make everyone want to be on your team for your next water fight. Don't shoot at point blank range – foam darts are soft, but if you get hit by them at very close range they might sting a little. The darts won't have any chance to slow down in the air, so at that range they'll be hitting you as hard as they can.We filled each water gun, pumped it up to full power if required, and then fired them several times from a few different angles. First and foremost, when we tested for the best water guns we looked for playability; we tested the distance and the velocity of water streams for each.