JOSEN
A ride-on tank float with a working water cannon mounted on the bow. It draws straight from the pool, pumps by hand, and throws a stream about twenty feet, which is roughly the width of a backyard pool and therefore exactly the wrong amount for a quiet afternoon.
The hull is built like our river tubes rather than like a pool toy, because a float that exists to be rammed into walls and other floats needs the heavier material. The seat is a moulded well with a backrest, two grab handles sit where your hands land, and the cannon is on its own mount so it swivels rather than flexing the chamber.
Sized for one child or a small adult, and it works equally well as a straight ride-on float with the cannon ignored. This is the piece that reliably gets kids out of the house on a hot day, and the one most likely to still be in the pool at dusk.
Who it is for: the household where the pool is a battlefield. The cannon is the entire experience, and we have never seen one come out of the bag and go unused. It is sized for a child but the seat will take a light adult, which matters more than it sounds when somebody has to demonstrate the rules.
Empty the cannon barrel before storage, because trapped water is what makes a pump stiff over a winter. Rinse, dry, fold. Two of these are a birthday party on their own, and the hull is built to the same standard as our river tubes because a toy that gets rammed into a wall needs it. The first inflation guide covers the cannon chamber, which fills separately.
