Watch: This is what a home-made water cannon looks and sounds like

In what can only be accurately described as ‘stark-raving bonkers’, this Japanese inventor has gone ahead and built a portable, havoc wreaking, water cannon.

At this point you may wonder, “So how much damage could a water cannon do, really?” The answer to this can only be fully comprehended when seeing it in action. The ‘weapon’ appears to resemble an M230 Chain gun, and seems like something straight out of a steampunk/Ghostbusters mashup.The entire contraption, called the Impulse Cannon, is 800mm long and weighs in at a solid 12Kg.

The system is based on a miniaturized compressor that is rigged to hydraulic chambers that generate very high amounts of air pressure--enough to eject a barrel-full of water at frightening velocities. The ‘ammunition’ in this case, is in a tank carried on the wearer’s back, which is piped into the cannon assembly itself.

And be sure of the fact that this is no innocent summer poolside plaything--it can literally disintegrate hapless objects like CDs and shards of plastic in a single shot.

The video is in Japanese, but it’s still a blast to watch.