Wetlev 2 Water Jet Pack Marginally Less Lethal Than Prior Version

wetlev2-test-run

You’ve got to admit the thought of tooling around the lake on your own personal water jetpack is a seductive proposition. This is the second summer in which [Toby Gardner] has been trying to work out the kinks on his build. Last year he got out of the water, but the jetpack was pretty hard to control. Over the winter he redesigned the nozzles of the water jets and they seem to be doing quite a bit better.

The fact that the build will be in frequent contact with water makes it a bit harder. They need to have parts that won’t corrode but can stand up to the pressure. Stainless steel was the obvious choice, and for the refinements they were able to get quite a few off the shelf parts to start from. He built a mold for forming the backpack and took it out for a spin. We don’t get a great look at the new version from afar. But watch the videos below and you’ll see last year it tried to drown him, this year it seems to float.

Why is he building rather than buying? Have you seen the price of the original version?

Version 2

Version 1

9 thoughts on “Wetlev 2 Water Jet Pack Marginally Less Lethal Than Prior Version

  1. I saw a guy down in Destin with jet boots on. The amount of control he had was quite stunning. Search on youtube for “water jet boots” or maybe the brand name “Flyboard”. What I saw in person was every bit as amazing as what’s in those videos. But the whole time I couldn’t help thinking, “At any point I’m going to see this guy get paralysed from the neck down.”

  2. A helmet – even a pushbike one – would have been a good idea, in case of collision with the trailing power unit, or the nearby jetty, or even coming down in shallow water.

Leave a Reply

Please be kind and respectful to help make the comments section excellent. (Comment Policy)

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.