As far as I’m aware, most gel balls are made of sodium polyacrylate and are 7-8mm in size. Sodium polyacrylate isn’t very biodegradable, so I’m looking for alternatives that are.
One idea I have is to use tapioca pearls or sago pearls, which can be purchased in 7-8mm sizes (some hunting required, most are 8.5mm). Tapioca pearls are usually pretty firm and don’t crumble the way gel balls might, while sago pearls are more delicate, but still chewy. Before I commit to my experiment (I don’t own a gel blaster yet), are there any obvious reasons as to why this wont work? Are there any modifications that I could make to a gel blaster to mitigate predicted issues?
Because of my limited knowledge of gel blasters, the main issue I can imagine is the tapioca pearls being too inconsistent in size or shape for the blaster. However, this could very likely be a non issue depending on the boba/sago pearl manufacturer’s quality. Another issue I can imagine is the density of tapioca or sago pearls being too different from traditional gel balls and potentially affecting FPS or accuracy. But this could possibly be mitigated by purchasing different types of pearls, or messing with how long they are cooked.
In case weapon internals play a part in % chance of success: I was thinking of buying a CYMA M4 v3 w/ metal gears & metal inner barrel due to its low cost in case this doesn’t work out.
Lastly, any other ideas for ammo alternatives? If this fails I might just have to go with laser tag
For starters they would need to be able to withstand the sudden increase of pressure/force when being shot.
There’s a big variety in “firmness” for gels, some you can crush with very little force others almost impossible with just your fingers.
Blasters with a low fps like kids blasters or springers will take pretty much whatever you put into them but when you get into the higher end like 300fps+ those softer heels can’t stand the air pressure and just explode in the barrel so you need “hardened” gels for that.
Also hardened gels will typically be more accurate because they warp less in flight, that’s partly why airsoft bb’s are so accurate if they’re a solid mass and can’t deform so are much more consistent.
Thank you for the insight! I suppose tapioca pearls would be more likely to work compared to sago pearls due to their higher firmness. I’m only going to be at around 250 fps for now, but I still wonder about the tapioca pearls deforming in air. Perhaps not cooking them all the way through will give them more structure . Seems like I might want to just bite the bullet and give it a shot (puns not intended).
Well… if they weren’t biodegradable my yard would “grow” quite a bit every time it rains!
And it rains quite a bit here in summer, usually only notice gels appearing in the yard for a few rain days after dumping some, then they just stop re growing and or break down.
There would have to be billions of gels worth in my yard at this point. 6 years of testing blasters into the same spot, throwing out old and bad gels, and emptying my gear bag of gels after a game etc.
Sodium polyacrylate is literally used in some fertilizers as a water retention agent that releases water over time after watering or rain… so not sure what you are so concerned about.
Anyway… can’t see why your alternatives would not work if they have been sized… otherwise there are no obvious reasons why it wouldn’t work. They may not work well though?
Weight difference might be either an issue or benefit. Your main issue is going to be sizing, you might waste a lot filtering out under and over size, so I would say the main factor is going to be time and cost.
In any case, gels are pretty cheap and do break down, trust me… there would not be many people with the amount of gels in the same spots in their yard as me!
I always laughed at night time, seeing huge grassed testing area in the front yard glowing bright green with all the War Interest Glow Gels that I used for testing at night after work.
Yes they break down eventually through sun exposure and drying out into a very fine powder that eventually gets absorbed into the soil, making a great water wetting agent!
I’m going to have to talk to my agronomist about this. Get an exemption for a 3000 acre gelball war to improve my soil. It’s green and eco friendly. Surely the tree huggers will love it…
. Seems like I might want to just bite the bullet and give it a shot (puns not intended).
