Find the snow that is perfect. You need perfect snow to make the perfect snowball. Find snow that isn’t too wet or too dry for the best snowballs. If it’s too wet, you’re just going to end up making slushballs, which are rocks. Unless you’re looking to kill a man, not a good thing for snowball fights.
While light, powdery snow is great for skiing, making snowball is not conducive. This powdery snow is formed by colder temperatures. Due to its low content of moisture, powdery snow will not pack. If you only have powder snow, however, there are a few things you can do to make it suitable for snowboarding.
First, look for snow in slightly warmer places like near the street where cars have been driving or near houses where heat from inside can warm things up a bit.
Next, use your bare hands to stack the snowballs. The warmth from your hands will warm up the snow and build ample moisture to hold it together. Naturally, if the fight for snowball lasts several hours, you may lose a few of your digits.
Third, wait until you start your snowball fight in the middle of the day. This will give the sun time to warm up a bit of the snow and create the moisture needed for packing the snowball.
Don’t wear mittens, wear gloves. You will need all the finger dexterity you can get when packing snowballs. It’s hard to pack a snowball with a pair of flippers while mittens keep your hands warm and toasty. It’s not impossible; it only takes longer and more attention. But that extra time can spell the difference between getting stuck with a snowball in the face and being able to start a pre-emptive strike.
Interestingly, the power of the mitten to keep your hands moist is its weakness to make snowballs as well. More water streams out of a mitten. But for snowball packing you need a little heat, especially if you only have dry snow. So go with gloves instead of mittens. You’re going to have the flexibility to shape snowballs easily, and just enough heat to produce the moisture needed for proper packaging.
Packing your ball of snow. You’ve found the perfect snow and you’ve got your gloves on; now it’s time to start the snowballs. Go a few inches below the surface with the snow when selecting snow for your ammo. This snow has already been packed by the top layer. It makes your job a little easier to use pre-packed snow. Fill with snow both of your cupped hands. Start bringing your hands together to compact the snow as you turn them. Every time you put your hands together, more and more pressure is applied. The snowball will just fall apart if you start with too much pressure.
The snowball is ready when you start to feel any resistance from the snow as you prepare. Stop pressing and start smoothing out the ball so if a nice spherical shape is formed. Ba-da-bing! You have a top-notch snow bomb for yourself.
No soakers (unless you want the level of pain) are snowballs dipped in water. The water causes a bit of snow to melt and ice up, transforming into a cold, hard ice ball a nice fluffy snowball. Getting hit with a soaker is like having a baseball hit. With these treacherous projectiles, I’ve been hit for a long time, and it hurts like hell. Never use soakers with kids and little old ladies in friendly snowball fights. But if you and your buddies want to make your annual winter capture-the-flag game a little more fun, i.e. more difficult, make it a game that’s just soaker. If your wife asks why you’ve got a bunch of welts on your body, tell her that you’ve got a Yeti fight.
Build one or all of your snowballs at a time? Strategy determines the choice of method. If you’re lacking cover and barred with snowy projectiles, you’re going to have to make them one at a time. Nonetheless, before you begin your assault, if you have enough protection to protect you from attack, build up an ammunition stack. You can fire two or three snowballs at him when the enemy stops to make his one snowball.