I used to have a passion for NERF blasters. I bought a couple of blasters and while they are fun, I have to admit, the range was never NERF’s strongest suit. Not all hope is lost though because NERF Ultra is here to offer more range and power to anyone who wants them, or you could ditch NERF altogether and go for this: HC Diana Brushless Flywheel Soft Foam Dart Pistol.
Before we get on with it, I have to clarify that I have no idea the origin of this fun, powerful soft foam dart blaster. From my shallow research, I believe it hails from China where powered foam dart blaster has quite a large following and the company responsible for Diana is called Hare Technology aka HC.
It appears to have surfaced in the market about a year ago. The HC Diana Brushless Flywheel Soft Foam Dart Pistol is the flagship and possibly the only product of the brand. The product name pretty much says what it is: it is a foam dart blaster powered by a brushless motor flywheel system to launch the darts.
In addition, it has foam orthotics that reduce short dart dispersion. According to Hare Technology, it is a medium-sized pistol, measuring 207 mm (8.14″) long, 50 mm (1.97″) wide, and 175 mm (6.89″) tall without attachments or accessories.
It claims to have a muzzle velocity of up to 45 m/s (148 ft/s) and is capable of putting 15 darts downrange per second, or 900 rounds per minute. Based on the information posted by Hare Technology a year ago, the HC Diana is outfitted with an integrated bl32s ESC that allows it to precisely control the start, and stop, as well as the speed of the motor.
There is a chip that provides precision control over the timing of the electromagnet push and rebound to ensure a consistence rate of fire. Even more interesting is that you can realize “double-tap” in semi-automatic mode if you pull the trigger the second time before the motor initiates the braking sequence.
The original Diana has a crosshair that has a built-in LED which also doubles as a battery warning indicator. The light will warn you of low power and if an incompatible battery is plugged in.
Other notables include a coil spring magazine with a replaceable expansion base, a built-in cooling system, grip anti-slip texture, extension ports for flashlight, laser, and whatnot under the gun, and an interface on the top for red dot sight, et cetera.
Because this little big guy looks like an actual pistol, buying it could be an issue for some people. If you are in Singapore, Black Raisins is the official distributor, or so I heard. You can also check out Frontlinefoam [US], BlasterTECH [AU], and Out of Darts [US] if you are interested.
The price for HC Diana varies from store to store. Before you proceed, you may want to check out a review by Australia-based NERF Blaster and Gel Blaster reviewer Bradley Phillips.
Images: Hare Technology (HC)/Frontlinefoam/Black Raisins [SG].
