Geyser Tube

If you're looking for a perfect and fun Father's Day present then look no further than firebox.com where you can buy an amazing array of unusual presents for the Daddy in your life. One such item is the Geyser Tube which can be purchased for just £4.95 which is well worth it for the fun and laughs it produces.

A Geyser Tube is a clever little plastic device that screws onto the top of a standard 2 litre bottle of fizzy pop in place of the lid. You then need to slot a pin through the two holes located towards the bottom of the plastic tube and slide a handful of mints into the tube, when you remove the pin the mints will drop into the pop and within seconds a tall geyser of pop will fly out of the tube and into the air.

You can use any type of fizzy pop for this, the instructions that came with the Geyser Tube said that diet fizzy pop works best, so I went out and bought a few bottles of the awful Sainsbury's Basics lemonade as this is only around 20p a bottle. Remember that each geyser you want to produce will waste a bottle of pop and practically a full pack of mints so do buy the cheapest possible brands. I find this cheap lemonade works just as well as a bottle of 7-Up I had in the cupboard so there is absolutely no need to go out and buy bottles of pop costing over £1 just to have them spray all over your garden.

Playing with the Geyser Tube can be a sticky business, once you have pulled the pin you have only a few seconds to dart back up the garden and avoid the pop shooting up and then splattering down. The frothy geyser of lemonade will go up the tube in a perfectly straight line and it is also fairly accurate when it comes back down again so shouldn't cover your entire garden with sticky froth, but because this is basically just a simple plastic tube there is always the possibility that the geyser will shoot sideways if your lawn isn't level but then the worst that can happen is you'll be covered in lemonade and will need a shower. There is some degree of force behind the geyser, but not so much that it will hurt if the liquid hits you.

This clever toy works because something in the mints reacts to the fizz in the pop and believe it or not I think it's educational as well as fun. My 9 year old daughter was entranced and wanted to know how it worked from the very first geyser, this has resulted in her having more of an interest in science matters and led to me buying baking soda and a bottle of Cherry Coke to show her a more sedate version of the geyser in a glass.

We all had such a laugh when we first used the Geyser Tube, my fella didn't move quite quick enough the first time and ended up drenched in lemonade (which eventually resulted in a wasp sting!) and that was so funny that we all fell about laughing. It is fun to watch and when you see your very first geyser you'll be absolutely amazed. According to the box the geyser can reach up to 30ft, I think our highest was about 20ft but that is still massive considering the tallest person in the garden was my fella - he's 6ft and the geyser was waaaaaaaaaaay above his head!

The Geyser Tube gets very sticky so will need washing out after each use, this is easy though and just involves a soak in hot soapy water followed by a quick scrub with a bottle brush. Allow it to dry naturally and next time you use it the Geyser Tube will be in tip top and clean condition.