Awesome Stuff: Rubber Band Guns

from the weapons-of-minor-destruction dept

Sat, Jan 4th 2014 9:00am — Mike Masnick

For the first awesome stuff post of the new year, we decided to go with something fun: rubber band guns. Not sure exactly why, but it just feels appropriate.

First up we've go the Palladium Gun, a rubber band gun kit that lets you create a basic rubber band gun that can hold 10 rubber bands. The project is only about 30% funded with two weeks to go, so it might not make it. There don't seem to be any updates or comments, so it's not clear how engaged the creator really is with the project. Still, a simple, straightforward rubber band gun for about $30.
Of course, one reason why the Palladium might not be getting that much attention is... because of the Rubber Band Machine Gun with unique Fast Charger -- or the RBMG, for short. Rubber band machine guns are not a particularly new concept. And, in fact, there was another one on Kickstarter just a few months ago. But the RBMG seems to have gone bigger and better than many of the previous designs -- and costing less than many comparable rubber band machine guns. The damn thing can shoot 672 rubber bands in a single go -- releasing all of them in about a minute. Oh, and the other useful bit is the "fast charger" device that he's offering with it, because without it, I imagine that spending the time to load up 672 rubber bands might not be that much fun. The project has shot way past its $5,000 goal and is currently over $70,000 with a little under two weeks to go. Since the guns are mostly being hand made by this one guy in the Ukraine, I would imagine there may be some concerns with his ability to actually build 600+ of these things and get them out in any reasonable time period. The other oddity is that he did a rookie Kickstarter mistake, and didn't include shipping fees in the tiers, telling basically everyone they have to pay $30 more than the tier actually requires for shipping. I'm sure many will pay it, but it may lead to problems for those who don't. Still, it's a pretty impressive project, at a good price (~$130 to $140 once you pay the shipping) compared to similar rubber band machine guns. That other one that was on Kickstarter a few months ago was a lot cheaper, but held many fewer rubber bands.

That's it for this week. Don't shoot your eye out.

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Filed Under: awesome stuff, rubber band guns

18 Comments

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out_of_the_blue, 4 Jan 2014 @ 10:09am

Finally
Thanks for making me actually have to press 'play', no this is not sarcastic i was being driven crazy by auto-play videos every time i come to this site
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Techanon, 4 Jan 2014 @ 10:41am

I'm sure they wont be too popular in the vicinity of TSA employees.
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Jan 2014 @ 12:51pm

Think of the children and school boards' zero tolerance policy.

Possession of a rubber band gun should be good for at least 20 years in a place where the sun don't shine.
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- John Fenderson (profile), 6 Jan 2014 @ 3:21pm
  
  Re:
  Impossible. There's no room up there, what with it already being filled with administrator's heads.
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DB (profile), 4 Jan 2014 @ 2:18pm

Call me cynical, but the first one says "packaged in Providence".

That's a bit of a red flag. There have been a rash of kickstarter "projects" that are really reselling existing imported items.

Given the construction, laser cut plywood and hardware store nylon fasteners, this probably is a legitimate kickstarter.
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Jan 2014 @ 8:21pm

Office warfare will never be the same.
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NCMcKay, 4 Jan 2014 @ 8:48pm

Hindu Invasion
These might be a useful weapon to repel the next wave of 124k plus Indians getting ready to descend on the Silicon Valley in 2014.
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- TCMckay, 5 Jan 2014 @ 5:45pm
  
  Re: Hindu Invasion
  "What's happened over the last two generations is that the economic heart has been ripped out of what once was a thriving middle class. A concentration of wealth brought with it enormous political power which has inexorably tilted the playing field the .1%er's way."
  
  And this is why the h1-b program exists.
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  - John Fenderson (profile), 6 Jan 2014 @ 3:24pm
    
    Re: Re: Hindu Invasion
    On the other hand, at least in certain segments of the software industry, it really is incredibly difficult to find qualified software engineers.
    
    I know where I work there has been a worker shortage for a few years, as the vast majority of US applicants aren't anywhere near qualified to do the work. If it weren't for the h1-b program, we'd be absolutely screwed.
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    - Henry Kumar, 8 Jan 2014 @ 5:05pm
      
      Re: Re: Re: Hindu Invasion
      Ah. The theory of the magic Indian. Most Indians receive little more than a DeVry Institute education. Why not use Americans for these positions?
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Jan 2014 @ 6:12am

Just don't let your child be caught with it at or near a school, or they might get life in prison.
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- That One Guy (profile), 5 Jan 2014 @ 8:52am
  
  Re:
  Still waiting on that 'Sad(Or in this case 'Insane') but true' button...
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PopeRatzo (profile), 5 Jan 2014 @ 12:06pm

Kickstart this
Rule of thumb: If you're trying to make money off your rubber band gun, you're probably a douche.

Any non-douche who invents a decent rubber band gun would put the design on the internet so anyone can 3D print their own.

I'm starting to hate the very idea of kickstarter. If your idea is worthwhile, you shouldn't need charity. It's why God invented the selling of shares of stock. I hate the beggy nature of kickstarter, where you're supposed to give someone money on the promise, no takes-backsies, that you might someday produce the product and that if you give extra money, you're going to get moral starbursts from the twenty-something who's paypal account it is.

Just look at the damage that kickstarter has done to the gaming world. Nobody can finish a game any more and a ton of really crappy games with wonderful trailers have flooded the market. Every game that looks decent is coming out in the fourth quarter of "next year" and now established companies, who goddamnit should be able to raise the capital are starting to hold out their cups, too. And not one game of the first order has been produced out of kickstarter origins.
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- John Fenderson (profile), 6 Jan 2014 @ 3:29pm
  
  Re: Kickstart this
  Any non-douche who invents a decent rubber band gun would put the design on the internet so anyone can 3D print their own.
  
  A thousand time this.
  
  I disagree with part of your reasoning about Kickstarter, though. Kickstarter is, conceptually, no different than selling shares (they're both equally beggy). The advantage to it is that it levels the playing field -- incorporating and selling shares is not a trivial or cheap thing to do, so that approach is unavailable to a lot of people who have great business ideas. Kickstarter gives them a way forward.
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No, please NO!!!, 5 Jan 2014 @ 7:14pm

It's NOT "the Ukraine"!!!!
"The Ukraine" refers to the time when Ukraine was a captive pet of the Soviet Union. The name of the independent country is simply "Ukraine". People in Ukraine get annoyed at the very least (and hopping mad sometimes) when their country is referred to as a captive pet of the Soviet Union.

It's like referring to the US as "England's colonies."

Please - use the right name - don't insult Ukraine, even unintentionally.
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Ninja (profile), 6 Jan 2014 @ 2:07am

Too much epicness in that machine gun for me to express in words. To think I used to use my fingers to shoot one at a time...

On another news...

"TEEN TERRORISTS ARRESTED WITH MASS MURDER RUBBERBAND GUNS WHILE SHOOTING EACH OTHER IN THEIR YARDS"
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Jan 2014 @ 10:37am

Just don't show it to the TSA unless you want to suffer an invasive patdown to make sure you aren't smuggling any other pieces of dangerous weaponry onto the plane. Seriously, those things have annihilated flies! And they sting! A lot!
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Imtiaz Ali, 4 Mar 2014 @ 5:49am

Nice Rubber band :)
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