[Vs.] Rate Disc Golf companies from first to worst.

[bfowler]

I think that most guys throw mixed bags, myself included, but many of us are partial to one company over another. I want to know in what order you like the major disc golf companies out there you buy from and why.

This list doesn't have to include all the companies, just the ones you might have experience with and something to add about them good or bad.

1. MVP - I tried an Anode and love it as my go to putter. I got my first ace with an Axis and then started trying all their stuff. I like the design of the discs. I think they're the most controllable discs out there. Like a race car that's really dialed in.

2. Latitude 64 - I tried an Opto River and fell in love with their plastic. I still think it's the best plastic on the market. The Fuse/Fury/River combo is my goto selection when I need something understable. I also love the glide.

3. Discraft - The first disc I have bought was an Avenger SS and a Buzzz. So Discraftis what I started with and I'm still partial to them. They make some good solid discs but I don't like their disc rating system and their plastic isn't nearly as nice as some other companies. Z-line is nice but their base plastic is the absolute worse I've ever used.

4. Prodigy - 2nd best plastic on the market and it's a close 2nd. I love my D4 and F7 but too many of their molds have been all over the place for me. At first I thought the rating system on the discs being like D1, D2, D3 etc was a simple good idea but it doesn't work as well when playing and looking for discs. All the stamps look the same. I like the variety and creativity of what other companies are doing better.

5. Innova - I love their Millennium produced stuff. The OLF is a fantastic disc. I never clicked with any Innova disc I purchased. I don't like their plastic although the newer gummy stuff is very nice. I hated DX plastic at first but that stuff beats into to magic butter. Feels great but then you get into the whole thing of cycling discs which don't really care for. And right or wrong Innova always comes off to me as very Corporate and evil empire like.

I want to try some Dynamic Disc stuff but have not had a chance.

 

[Titan037]

Dynamic Discs- This company has taken over my bag, i throw almost all their molds, the plastic is all great and the discs are perfect for my game
Lat 64- Only throw the XxX from them but its a great utility disc that replaced flicks for me
MVP- I used to love mvp but their lack of base plastic and distance driver pushed me away from them but all their molds are great
Discraft- They used to be so consistent between runs but something happened and between changing plastic blends and putting certain molds oop I have lost interest.
Innova- Lets just say they are my least favorite of any company and leave it at that

 

[BirdieMachine]

1. Innova/Mill/DM
2. Latitude/DD/Westside
3. Discraft
4. Legacy
5. Vibram
6. Gateway
7. Prodigy
8. Prodiscus
9. ABC
10. DGA
11. Daredevil
12. Ching
13. Crosslap
14. UB
15. Aerobie
16. Discwing
17. RIP
18. Lightning
19. DGK
20. Kastaplast
21. Wham-O
22. Quest
23. Salient
24. MVP

 

[Manimal]

1. Innova, they are the 1st and biggest manufacturer of disc golf discs, with every type of disc you'd want, in every type of plastic you'd want, they've also been very innovative, I mean Blizzard plastic has opened up the game to sooo many more types of throwers than ever before.

2. Discraft, they may sometimes be referred to as "Discrap" but they have good plastic, and the Buzzz and Nuke alone provide them with the #2 spot

3. Legacy, Awesome discs, Awesome plastics, just haven't been around long enough to get to the 1 or 2 spots

4. Prodigy, I like their plastic, it's super grippy, but I've heard mixed reviews regarding their consistency, especially with prototypes, but I think they have the ground work to be a really great company

5. Gateway, simply because they make the best putters in the business, I can't say much for their other discs, but SSS plastic is great for putters, and their Evolution plastic is pretty awesome too. Their draw back is their huge inconsistency with their plastics, which is also somewhat of a niche bonus, small batches of a particular disc may be awesome, the only drawback is you'll probably never see it again.

Honorable mention: MVP-They need max D drivers before I'll give them a vote

 

[Horsman]

1. Innova - Great molds, the Best Plasitc, love the inconsistancy. Its worked for me for years.

2 - Dynamic Discs - Great Molds, decent plsitc, great marketing

3 - Latitude 64 - Same as DD, I just like DD better

4 - Discmania - A couple good molds, great plastic and hella good marketing overseas.

5 - Gateway - 4 Amazing Molds, great variety of plastic and thats it.

6 - Westside discs - Decent molds, decent plastic

7 - Millenium - Alright molds, great plasitc

8 - Legacy - Great R&D to make great molds, great plastic, great owners

9 - Prodigy - Decent Plastic, alright molds

10 - MVP - Solid discs they just need to make a baseline plasitc

11 - Discraft - Good Molds, horrible plastic. Bad plastic is the reason I dont throw discraft.

12 - DGA - Yea I dont know what to say here but the company is just a flop

13 - Vibram - Good line up of discs, rubber is mehh, Steve Dodge is an idiot

14 -

15 -

16 -

17 -

18 -

19 -

20 - Salient - Great plastic, one alright disc, horrible customer service, horrible marketing, will never buy from them again.

 

[bradharris]

It's really hard to rank them because they all have their strong points. But I'll give it a shot.

1. Discraft - It's number 1 for me simply because my bag consists of primarily Discraft molds. With a full lineup of molds and plastic options, it's hard to go wrong with Discraft.

2. Innova - The only other manufacturer currently in my bag gets the number two slot. Like Discraft they have a full lineup of molds and plastics. Innova also has the best collector market.

3. Latitude 64 - Latitude gets the third spot primarily based on looks. They're plastic is awesome, some with very artistic stamps. I like to use a full Latitude lineup for fun casual rounds.

4. Vibram - I carried a few Vibram molds in the bag for a while. They definitely have a unique feel and have carved out a nice niche in the disc golf world. What Vibram does best though is promote the growth of the sport. Steve Dodge is definitely a forward thinker and is not afraid to try new things to push the envelope.

5. Legacy - Legacy makes some nice molds. The fairway drivers in particular really work well for me. But they're not good enough to step out of the shadow of discs like the Teebird or XL.

6. MVP - They certainly have found a nice niche. I even had a few of their molds in the bag for a bit. In the end I can't help but feeling like I'm throwing a gimicky toy though. A lot of people like them, and I think they run a great business, it just doesn't work for me.

7. Discmania - They have a nice lineup and really help to promote the sport in Europe. However a lot of their success is from standing on the shoulders of Innova, so that's why they are so much farther down the list.

8. Gateway - The Wizard keeps them going, and the Magic and Voodoo are liked by some. But limited plastic types, and a hit-or-miss lineup puts them low on the list.

9. Prodigy - It started with the great exodus of 2013. The team-first mentality bothers me. It certainly is an interesting experiment, but so far seems to have been a PR disaster. The equipment itself is okay, but nothing extraordinary. The company's attitude alone is enough to put them at the bottom spot on my list, the fact that they've produced no equipment of real value (in my mind) helps keep them there.

Others - I have limited experience with a few other companies, but not enough to really judge them, those include: Westside, Dynamic Discs and DGA

 

[dekdo]

1. Innova/Discmania
2. Prodigy (great plastic, and some really solid molds...I think they are here to stay)
3. Lat64/DD/Westside

 

[jcburton24]

1. Latitude 64
2. Dynamic Discs
3. Westside discs
4. All others

I just love all the plastic from the trilogy and their molds just seem to fit me good.

 

[tampabay]

20 - Salient - Great plastic, one alright disc, horrible customer service, horrible marketing, will never buy from them again.

opcorn:

 

[kevdiv48]

1. Innova- The orginators of some of the greatest discs in the game. So good in fact, that the discs I throw from other companies some of their best discs are based off Innova discs (Wasp- Roc, Rival- Teebird, Warlock- Beadless Aviar, PD- modified Firebird, to name a few)
2. Discraft - Easily the best mid range lineup on the market. Solid variety all around.
3. Legacy - Great molds in superb plastic. Huge potential in my opinion.
4. Gateway - Arguably the greatest putter available sustains this company. They must being doing something right. They also make an Aviar PnA clone in vastly superior plastic to any DX blend Innova has ever whipped out.
5. Discmania- Solid all around. Most of its success is due to tweaks of Innova molds and discs.
6. Millennium - Underrated. Great lineup of control discs. Again, great use of existing Innova molds to create solid tweaks of existing discs.
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MVP, Lat64/DD/Westside, Vibram, Prodigy- No opinion. Never really had any interest to throw anything from these companies.

 

[smarkquart]

1. Innova - They are the powerhouse and have the largest selection. This means that if there is a stability or type of flight I want, I am almost certain I can find it in what plastic I want. Also, the older molds are definitely stalwarts and I am constantly finding myself coming back to tried and true discs are trying out other discs. You can lump Discmania in here with Innova because they are more aggressively promoting their discs, touting them as counterparts to Innova discs, than the DGA and Discraft partnership.

2. Latitude - This encompasses Westside and Dynamic discs. I love the direction they are going in and it seems for the most part that most new discs they are introducing are good discs. If anything, my high value of them comes from the quality of plastic they produce. I lump Westside in here because I actually like their discs more than Latitude, but they play well together. Dynamic gets in here too because I like the business model they created and their DyeMax discs are second to none in regards to graphics.

3. Discraft - Their midrange lineup is second to none. Everything else, I can pass on. I am not saying their putters and drivers are weak, but they are not necessarily anything more than serviceable. There are months that I like Predators, Forces, Nukes, etc, but I found myself soon gravitating away from them because I found a slightly better flight or attribute in another disc. What they are going for them is the complete lineup. This is helpful because if I am going to carry multiple molds with each having a different feel in my grip, I want all the same plastic so the feel is the same. That is one less variable to worry about.

4. MVP - I was so let down by their drivers, especially the Volt. It is tough to give something a try, even tougher to invest in multiple back-ups, when the discs are so expensive. I understand the economics, so I know they cannot simply lower the prices, but I was not going to give up something that is proven in my game on a gamble. I know it works for other people, and I am not saying they are horrible discs, but I was turned off of their drivers after realizing how much I spent on a Volt and that it did not fit right in my hand. MVP's saving grace is their mids and putters. The Tangent has remained in my bag and their is no better driving putter on the market than the Eclipse Soft Ion.

Unrated and in no particular order:

Gateway - You cannot argue with the popularity and the versitility of the Wizard or Voodoo. Yet with their different grades of plastic and one bad experience I had with customer service communication, I find it hard to stay with them. Find an identical disc in different runs is impossible.

Legacy - I was so high on them early on. I was getting great distance with the Pinnacle Cannon and for a while I truly thought the Pinnacle Rival and Icon Ghost could replace my TeeBirds and Rocs respectively. Their drawback is their incomplete lineup. I understand the need to make sure you are releasing quality products instead of just flooding the market to complete a lineup, but this market has suddenly become incredibly competitive amongst the manufacturers that are not named Discraft or Innova. Being slow to deliver is going to turn people to other manufacturers (hence the advantage Latitude has by having three brands under their wing).

Vibram - Thank goodness they are not solely a disc manufacturer. They can weather storms and still be there when people come around to their expanding lineup. Their initial putter offerings (Summit, Ridge, and VP) were almost like mids, and their Ibex mid is almost like a fairway driver. Now that their lineup is expanded with a wider spectrum of discs, their fanboys are speaking louder, getting more people to notice. It will definitely help if they loosen their grip on retailers in regards to how they can sell their discs.

 

[teemkey]

Prodiscus anyone? The Jokeri is an indispensable member of my bag.

I'm more a mold lover than a manufacturer lover. Even within a mold and at the same weight, some individual discs fly better than others -- and that's for all manufacturers I've tried.

 

[A rod]

Innova. Love the selection, love/hate what it takes to get what you want, but its always out there, for a price. You can't replace a roc or teebird, without a roc or teebird.

Dynamic discs. Love the plastics, love the flights, love the warden. Quickly taking up the majority of my bag, or trying.

Mvp/discraft. Started out throwing some of their staple molds but eventually settled elsewhere. Mvp hasn't produced a base plastic or a driver, as mentioned which kind of had me looking around. Discraft just really never sold me on anything but their mids.

Lat/westside. Cool line of discs, never even considered any of these discs until I tried out stuff from dynamic. Finding some useful molds, there's still some gaps, but I love the fuse, and my gf loves the river.

Prodigy/legacy - nice discs and plastics, just never really meshed with me. Too firm or unappealing visually from legacy. Prodigy has nice plastic but boring names and I dont find that their discs do anything I can't get elsewhere.

 

[jrawk]

1. Innova/Mill/DM
2. Latitude/DD/Westside
3. Discraft
4. Legacy
5. Vibram
6. Gateway
7. Prodigy
8. Prodiscus
9. ABC
10. DGA
11. Daredevil
12. Ching
13. Crosslap
14. UB
15. Aerobie
16. Discwing
17. RIP
18. Lightning
19. DGK
20. Kastaplast
21. Wham-O
22. Quest
23. Salient
24. MVP

Concur with this, although i would move MVP to #8 and push everything else down and then end the list at 10. I would group DGA with Discraft tho.

 

[BirdieMachine]

Concur with this, although i would move MVP to #8 and push everything else down and then end the list at 10. I would group DGA with Discraft tho.

Yeah I realized my mistake of not grouping DGA with Discraft after I posted.

You are not allowed to move MVP up to #8.

 

[dx_roc]

1. Innova/Mill/DM
2. Latitude/DD/Westside
3. Discraft
4. Legacy
5. Vibram
6. Gateway
7. Prodigy
8. Prodiscus
9. ABC
10. DGA
11. Daredevil
12. Ching
13. Crosslap
14. UB
15. Aerobie
16. Discwing
17. RIP
18. Lightning
19. DGK
20. Kastaplast
21. Wham-O
22. Quest
23. Salient
24. MVP

I haven't thrown a single one disc from any of these.

 

[jswoods1984]

1. Legacy (amazing plastic, great molds, started strong and going strong)
2. Innova (Very full line-up of molds w/o gaps, good plastic at times, thumbtrac!!!)
3. Discraft (full line-up, consistency, some very reliable molds)
4. Salient (Love the innovation, Amazing plastic, Will be a strong competitor once they start to pick things up)
5. Ching (Great plastic, invented the thumbtrac and the TANK!!!)
6. Wham-O (Love my 86 Softies)
7. Dynamic Discs (Lots of great plastic, some pretty good molds, solid line-up)
8. Latitude (Great plastic, some solid molds (love the bolt))
9. Vibram (Rubber eh, was interested but none of them made the bag)
10. MVP (Hate to hate on a Michigan company, just really not impressed. Plastic feels toy like and hard to grip, every MVP lover feels like they invented the overmold, no distance drivers)

 

[Dan Ensor]

Concur with this, although i would move MVP to #8 and push everything else down and then end the list at 10. I would group DGA with Discraft tho.

Since it's disc golf companies, not disc manufacturers, the two should be separate. DGA makes some of the best baskets. DGA's rank should be based on things other than Discraft molded discs, though.

Discraft
Gateway
Innova
DGA
Legacy
Dynamic Discs
Prodiscus
Prodigy
Vibram
MVP
Latitude 64

 

[Golden Tuna]

This is based on my own personal trial and error and what has worked for me and what manufacturers get the biggest percentage of my money and take up the most space in my bag.

INNOVA (Discmania, Millennium)
Other companies model their molds after some of the most successful Innova discs. There is only one Teebird, no matter how many others try to copy it. That said, I'm very disappointed in the recent blend of Champion plastic. I would much rather have fewer molds available and pay a buck or two more per disc for the good plastic -> See 11X Champ Teebirds for sample of what plastic should be...


DISCRAFT (DGA)
I never really clicked with any of their drivers, but their mids cannot be replaced. At one time or another, I have used a Buzzz SS, Buzzz, Wasp, Hornet, Drone and Zone. I've since taken the wasp and hornet out, but still rock the Buzzz SS, Buzzz and Drone. I also love the Challengers, I just wish they would make these available in more plastic blends.

LATITUDE (Westside, Dynamic Discs)
I love their plastic and really like the direction of this company. I only use 2 molds right now (Striker and Villain) but really like where they're headed. Great things are on the horizon with Lat64, especially now that they have Feldberg on staff.


GATEWAY
The Wizard has really kind of set the standard for all other putters. And, though the Warlock, VooDoo and Magic are not as popular, its clear that Gateway has really carved this part of the market out for themselves. If they could find a driver mold that has the type of popularity as the Wizard, then they would be a lot more successful. Though I understand inconsistencies through smaller runs, I'm not sure I understand why finding 2 identical discs, in the same batch is so hard.

THE REST
I have limited or no experience with ABC, Ching, Daredevil, Legacy, MVP, Prodiscus, Prodigy or Vibram, etc.

 

[Jukeshoe]

1. Innova
2. Discraft
3. All those other guys.