[Question] Are You Brand Loyal?

[Twmccoy]

I'm not a brand loyalist. If brand X makes a disc I like in good plastic, I'll throw it.

What I look for when selecting discs to throw:

Plastic durability. I don't want the disc getting beat up and losing stability quickly.

Disc consistency. Are the flight paths consistent from disc to disc in the same mold?

Ease of replacement. Is a disc replaceable if you lose it?

How well a disc is made. Was any real thought put into the release of a certain mold? Does it work as well or better than other comparable molds?

I think limiting yourself to 1 disc brand is kind of myopic. Every brand will make molds that are unique and perform very well compared to other companies. The only people who really have a reason to be completely brand specific are those who are sponsored by said brand to throw and promote their discs.

 

[livextreme9]

My bag is almost all Discmania with some Innova fairways, Gator and Nova. My sponsor (small company) sells Discmania, so I am able to hand pick the discs I want to buy (I get a discount and some discs I get for free). I originally started with all Innova, but the older plastic became valuable and I did not want to keep throwing expensive plastic. I chose to sell off the old stuff and buy new molds from Discmania. It was a good decision in my opinion as I really enjoy my bag and discs I chose.

If I were offered a sponsorship from any manufacturing company I would switch with no problems. There are plenty of molds within a lot of the companies to be able to replace the shots in my bag.

 

[DoWork]

Ive gotten pretty high up in the game doing what Im doing. I highly doubt that switching brands is going to increase my rating or my abilities. A lot of the reason I have been able to be good for a long period of time is that over the past decade my bag has stayed almost the same with about half of my discs not changing at all during that time. I know my discs very well and I think that aids me a lot.

I think you're absolutely right in your particular position, my comment was more for those who are still discovering their game and the sport in general. If you have a system that works, I wouldn't mess with comfort and familiarity for anything except maybe when a go-to disc goes OOP etc. and perhaps a more readily available alternative could exist elsewhere. I know there are plenty of people who still bag CE eagles etc. but that type of dependency can become a serious financial burden the longer it's drawn out- still a personal choice though, and wholly up to the user- some don't care about the money they just want that warm blanket of familiarity and that's cool too!

I was speaking more in terms of those who are still figuring out what works for them. When I started out I gravitated towards Innova simply because they're everywhere, cheap used discs are a dime a dozen, millions of reviews exist for every mold and the flight numbers are easy to understand... Now that I'm more into it I'm bagging more Reptilian and Prodigy, Westside and Discmania but I had to figure out what I liked and didn't like in a brand I felt I understood before I could figure out where my journey's starting point was falling short of what I wanted out of a slot disc. Heck, I'm still back and forth between brands when I'm trying to find THE DISC for a slot and I am never done looking for a better alternative.

I hope that helps, and I'm certainly not one to encourage a one-size-fits-all approach in any sport, least of all DG haha- different strokes! :thmbup:

 

[Casey 1988]

I had to put I primaraly throw X but have a few other brands as the option 3 or less brands from different manufacturers was not one I could put for the poll. I use nearly all Innova(only Innova) and then Discraft with a single Lighting Upshot #2 or U-2 in Prostyle plastic now for upshots only in the putter category, though I may rotate my Jawbreaker Magnets to that slot.

This Using only Discraft and Innova came about as Innova and Discraft in the 2000's were the top two brands and everything else except the side brands from Innova and Discraft factories Most were behind in either plastic, number of disc molds, or that the company did not have a distance driver at the time, anything in the 9-10 speed range then the 10+ speed. Only Gateway was not missing any of the criteria but consistency with a few plastics made the company not worth my time to search for the right putter or midrange plastic.

 

[STL Flyer]

Im brand loyal, and heres why...I love gateways plastics all of them. Plus I live like 10 min from the factory so going to the store and getting a bunch of new discs and taking them to a field to find out how the fly. I know that gateways drivers dont have the greatest track record of consistancy but I enjoy that too honestly. I dont ever put a disc in my bag that I havent tested out to find out how it flies wether thats according to the flight numbers or not makes no difference to me. Personally I think it lets me customize my bag a bit more. Just another way for me too nerd out over something else. I know people are gonna read this and think WTF is wrong with you. But I have fun with it.

 

[Brockness Monster]

Im brand loyal, and heres why...I love gateways plastics all of them. Plus I live like 10 min from the factory so going to the store and getting a bunch of new discs and taking them to a field to find out how the fly. I know that gateways drivers dont have the greatest track record of consistancy but I enjoy that too honestly. I dont ever put a disc in my bag that I havent tested out to find out how it flies wether thats according to the flight numbers or not makes no difference to me. Personally I think it lets me customize my bag a bit more. Just another way for me too nerd out over something else. I know people are gonna read this and think WTF is wrong with you. But I have fun with it.

Your signature is perplexing. Either you are actually a secret Innova fanboi, or you are using your signature to throw people off of what you actually throw. If the latter is true, the cat is out of the bag now

 

[STL Flyer]

Your signature is perplexing. Either you are actually a secret Innova fanboi, or you are using your signature to throw people off of what you actually throw. If the latter is true, the cat is out of the bag now

Lol once upon a time I was, but I got bored of innova and switched to discraft then to legacy, then to MVP, then back to innova.honestly just never changed it. Ive really only been throwing gateway for about 5 years I think...I dont know. Im not really on here a whole lot. So I honestly forgot all about it. Just been sittin in the hospital with my new baby boy and wife on here when they are asleep. I'll probably change it in a bit.

 

[Brockness Monster]

Lol once upon a time I was, but I got bored of innova and switched to discraft then to legacy, then to MVP, then back to innova.honestly just never changed it. Ive really only been throwing gateway for about 5 years I think...I dont know. Im not really on here a whole lot. So I honestly forgot all about it. Just been sittin in the hospital with my new baby boy and wife on here when they are asleep. I'll probably change it in a bit.

Oh Sh!t. Congrats man

 

[Casey 1988]

I'm not brand loyal but I don't throw Disccraft (aside from a buzzz I found). Their rating system means nothing to me compared to the four number system most others use.

Now this year they put the 4 number on the non Pro D plastic of new discs.

 

[Casey 1988]

I had to put I primaraly throw X but have a few other brands as the option 3 or less brands from different manufacturers was not one I could put for the poll. I use nearly all Innova(only Innova) and then Discraft with a single Lighting Upshot #2 or U-2 in Prostyle plastic now for upshots only in the putter category, though I may rotate my Jawbreaker Magnets to that slot.

This Using only Discraft and Innova came about as Innova and Discraft in the 2000's were the top two brands and everything else except the side brands from Innova and Discraft factories Most were behind in either plastic, number of disc molds, or that the company did not have a distance driver at the time, anything in the 9-10 speed range then the 10+ speed. Only Gateway was not missing any of the criteria but consistency with a few plastics made the company not worth my time to search for the right putter or midrange plastic.

I will go on to say that I could switch to an all Discraft or an all Innova bag with the discs I use using the equivalent from the other brand. If I were to go all Innova I would have to make my main putters get broken in from Innova as the Hydra tends to be more overstable then the Magnet when new. Also if going all Discraft the Shark is hard to replace as the Buzz is like a 3 top version of the Shark I use for true midrange so I would use a Comet for the long approach/short midrange disc, driving putter, and see if it works for a windy day putter.

 

[Casey 1988]

Your signature is perplexing. Either you are actually a secret Innova fanboi, or you are using your signature to throw people off of what you actually throw. If the latter is true, the cat is out of the bag now

Could be he needs to update his signature, his discs are out of date then if he is now a full on Gateway user.

 

[discerdoo]

Could be he needs to update his signature, his discs are out of date then if he is now a full on Gateway user.

I bet he's been on a lengthy journey through lots of different manufacturers, threw mostly Innova when he did his signature, hasn't been on DGCR much recently, but maybe got a little down time to check in here. Perhaps he'll update his signature soon.

 

[Casey 1988]

I bet he's been on a lengthy journey through lots of different manufacturers, threw mostly Innova when he did his signature, hasn't been on DGCR much recently, but maybe got a little down time to check in here. Perhaps he'll update his signature soon.

Yeah, I threw a few brands before finding the two main ones I use now. I keep thinking about whether or not to retire a putter mold from my bag once a disc brakes in enough for that spot and rotate main putters or to keep using the discs I have in my bag the way they are with two main brands and a disc from an old brand that is for the moment not making new discs.

 

[STL Flyer]

Oh Sh!t. Congrats man

Right on man, thank you!! Im super excited. He's #4 and the second boy.

 

[rhatton1]

I was mold loyal out of pure laziness for many years. Who could be bothered to go out and break in new discs when you knew what you had worked? And you know, Archer Vs Arrow, they all fly the same really etc. etc.

I had the wizards because back in the 00's, well, DGR told me too and they were right.

I had Rocs because it was Roc vs Buzz back then and for me Roc won.

I had a teebird, 'cos Teebird. Firebird because Firebird.


Wraiths because they were the cool new thing.

Destroyers and Bosses because I started playing just before Destroyers and Bosses came out.

The Innova numbering made more sense to me instinctively than Discrafts.

Flash forward about 8 years I started to stock discs to sell.

People kept asking me how things flew so I thought I should finally stop being lazy and find out.

Turns out they fly differently and some of them fly better. Trace and Shryke really took me by surprise. MVP/Axiom molds especially in the more understable molds that never tree hit into too understable really opened my eyes. What as long as I don't lose it I don't have to worry about cycling it? Yes please!

And I found the Jokeri and the Sparta. Prodiscus make the best driving putters. I'll fight you.

Some of the Prodigy discs were excellent but I found the molding too inconsistent to trust (these were quite early runs I suspect they are better now) The A series are really interesting discs.

And still i didn't try Discraft because of the numbering and issues long ago with the consistency of molds. Looks like I may have to give them another go. My stratus is my longest serving disc now I believe.

And whilst it's totally the Archer it's really nice to have some arrows that do different things.

 

[RocBottom]

From time to time I'll throw a bag of one company just for fun. Unless I were a pro there is no need for me to throw one companies discs all the time. There's just too many good discs out there from other manufacturers for me to be brand loyal.

 

[ajcloutier]

I appreciate normality in the context of disc golf. So, for me, if the discs did not come out of Wixom or Walled Lake MI, its not in my bag. Being from Mid MI I have a certain fondness for Discraft/ DGA products because of how prolific and attainable the stuff is. If I put a Force into a pond, no sweat... Ill go in after it and probably find mine and two others in different plastics "owner pending of course." Plus Discraft is big enough to sustain brand loyalty. The only exception I make is for the Firebird.

Everything stated above could be said for MVP now, but when I started playing back in 2011 those guys were just starting to sell the prototype Ions out of the backs of car trunks.

 

[SD86]

The Innova numbering made more sense to me instinctively than Discrafts.

This was a HUGE reason that I bought Innova and Trilogy over Discraft in the early days of my DG hobby. The four-number system isn't perfect nor truly standardized, but it's a good system that gives good information. That one-number Discraft system didn't tell me anything at all..( and remember that newbies just getting into the game might not know the difference between a mid and a fairway driver).

Because of that one-number system, I did not even bother looking at Discraft for a long time. I've gotten to know some of their discs (Thrasher, AvengerSS, Buzzz, Hornet, Zone, Challenger, APX) now, but it took Paul McBeth's recent Jomez video to introduce me to many of Discraft's faster discs.

Discraft is going to the four-number system now, and that's going to be a very very good thing for them... almost as good as signing a good pro or two.

 

[Alexplz]

I would not say I'm especially loyal to any of the companies I throw - I acutally carry a very mixed bag, but prefer to group similar slots into the same company for the sake of plastic options mostly. Like if I decide I want to throw Comets, I'll throw a Wasp over a Roc3 alongside it if only for the sake of having that familiar Z plastic to rely on. Same for a Mako3/Roc3 combo.

I am finicky about what companies I don't throw - I skip Prodigy outright #1 because of the naming system/flight numbers don't resonate with me and #2 because I never liked the feel of the plastic. No Legacy - they take themselves too seriously, I guess. Also the marketing again just hits a sour note with me - I think the kids these days would call it "extra af." Finally, Gateway makes good putters but their drivers seem like a blast from the past, and not in the good way. Also, miss me with the American Indian imagery; not a good look in 2018.

 

[STL Flyer]

I bet he's been on a lengthy journey through lots of different manufacturers, threw mostly Innova when he did his signature, hasn't been on DGCR much recently, but maybe got a little down time to check in here. Perhaps he'll update his signature soon.

I have been on a lengthy journey. I nerd out with my frisbees. I take stacks of them to fields and attempt to throw them all with the exact same angle of release and level of power to see how each disc in a specific mold flies in headwind then tailwind then both crosswinds. After each throw I write down what I see, even to go so far as to draw a picture of the flight if it is drastically different than expexted. I do this for just about every mold gateway makes minus the stupid overstable ones like the demon or spirit they pretty much all just go left and only left no matter what, same for the devilhawk. I honestly throw all gateway molds and for a couple of my main courses around STL I have discs for every drive depending on which direction the wind is blowing. Like I said I nerd out on this stuff.