Glow golf for dummies

[Craig639]

LED lights > any glow disc. Period.

3M Scotch 33+ electrical tape > any other tape. Period.

Background, we play a weekly night round in the winter in Minnesota with temps as far at -15F and snow up to a couple feet. Nobody with this setup has lost a disc in several years. The LD only allows LED lights affixed with 33+ tape.

 

[Central Scrutinizer]

LED lights > any glow disc. Period.

3M Scotch 33+ electrical tape > any other tape. Period.

Background, we play a weekly night round in the winter in Minnesota with temps as far at -15F and snow up to a couple feet. Nobody with this setup has lost a disc in several years. The LD only allows LED lights affixed with 33+ tape.

Agreed on the LED lights. About that particular tape, I assume one would use it around the LED light structure but not covering the tiny bulb itself? Or do they make a transparent version of it?

I've always just used regular clear packing tape and have never had a problem. Then again, I'm not playing in -15F.

I will note that I use a lot of the packing tape, and this is underneath the Disc, not on top of it. I DID have a light fall off when I first got into this because I only barely covered the light apparatus. Now I use enough so that the strips of tape go all the way across the underside of the Disc.

I also don't notice any sort of ill effects on the flight of the Disc.

 

[Future_Primitive]

Agreed on the LEDs being the best way to go in all conditions. Being up north and having to deal with cold and snow part of the year I tape LEDs on my glow discs. Its a must in the snow and makes them real easy to find. I also use packing tape, nylon reinforced, and never had any issues even in the cold and snow.

The key to me, as ru4por stated, apply the tape in room temperature on clean, dry discs for best results. To often I see players show up right before tee off and try to apply tape to their discs in 30 deg weather. Then 1-2 holes later they hit a tree and the light and tape fly right off. I also have a dedicated glow bag so I dont mess with taking tape on/off all the time. After years of playing glow every week it just made sense to build a day bag and a glow bag for me.

As for LEDs, I would probably avoid the MVP tri-lights unless you want to use some Star/DX or ESP/X disc for glow. Those lights are crazy bright and constantly blinking they will distract you trying to throw at night. Prefer the normal red LEDs myself.

 

[Central Scrutinizer]

Yep, I have a dedicated night bag too. All champion/Z plastic so the lights shine right through them. I use the bright white ones so that they emit whatever translucent color the plastic is.

I got ten of the LED lights on Etsy for $15.

 

[roggenb3]

LED lights > any glow disc. Period.

Nah. Glow is better.

LEDs fall off. LEDs die.

 

[Craig639]

Nah. Glow is better.

LEDs fall off. LEDs die.

You must not play in the snow. Also, lights only fall off if improperly applied

 

[esdubya]

The right way to play night golf is to have the most fun. Not having to look for discs is part of that, unless you are really into a challenge. Ensuring all of your playing partners are on the same page also aids in the overall mission. Just get out there and figure out what works best for you, but the key is to get out there and have fun with it.

 

[roggenb3]

You must not play in the snow. Also, lights only fall off if improperly applied

Not in powder, no. But usually snow around here is crunchy and icy except like the first day it falls, so getting buried ain't a big issue. And anyways you can see glow through snow, too.

It's the cold that makes me not like LEDs - no matter how well you tape it on, it's going to fall off after 10, 20 tree smashes in 10 degree weather, unless you re-tape every single round, which is a total pita. So much less work to just grab a UV light.

 

[Craig639]

Not in powder, no. But usually snow around here is crunchy and icy except like the first day it falls, so getting buried ain't a big issue. And anyways you can see glow through snow, too.

It's the cold that makes me not like LEDs - no matter how well you tape it on, it's going to fall off after 10, 20 tree smashes in 10 degree weather, unless you re-tape every single round, which is a total pita. So much less work to just grab a UV light.

Just don't smash trees!
But for real, we remove the lights and batteries after every round. The only time we had a problem last year was the -20 or whatever it got to...the batteries were dimming. The Scotch 33+ didn't fail though!
Also, I'm not a big fan of what UV light does to the eyes. The red LED don't mess up the eyes to the point where you need minutes to adjust back

 

[tirepizza]

I am excited for glow golf. My club does weekly rounds of dubs Tuesday nights. I haven't thrown any of those discs since daylight savings and I am excited to bust them back out. And I have a new esp glo banger to add to the bag.

 

[R-Ogre]

Just don't smash trees!
But for real, we remove the lights and batteries after every round. The only time we had a problem last year was the -20 or whatever it got to...the batteries were dimming. The Scotch 33+ didn't fail though!
Also, I'm not a big fan of what UV light does to the eyes. The red LED don't mess up the eyes to the point where you need minutes to adjust back

Truth be told, I'm a little leery of getting Amazon/chinesium UV direct light anywhere near my eyes. Who knows what other cool spectra those give off. I figure reflected off of stuff like dirt and trees shouldn't be too bad.

 

[roggenb3]

Truth be told, I'm a little leery of getting Amazon/chinesium UV direct light anywhere near my eyes. Who knows what other cool spectra those give off. I figure reflected off of stuff like dirt and trees shouldn't be too bad.

Truth. I yell at people when they charge their discs up haphazardly and shine everyone in the face. So annoying. I just hold mine at my waist, shine downwards, and look away.

I also think glow discs are generally easier to follow through the flight. Especially putters or high speed drivers. Sometimes, if you throw at the right angle, all you can see of the disc is the rim, which the LED light struggles to get through. Not an issue when the rim itself is glowing.

 

[Future_Primitive]

It's the cold that makes me not like LEDs - no matter how well you tape it on, it's going to fall off after 10, 20 tree smashes in 10 degree weather, unless you re-tape every single round, which is a total pita. So much less work to just grab a UV light.

Truth be told I only tape them up once, plus + sign pattern underside, and the tape stays on until the battery eventually dies a year or so later. Rain, snow or whatever it is very rare that the tape comes off during play. Turn LED on for throw, turn it off once retrieved to make battery last. Usually put a fresh LED on the discs at the start of fall/winter glow each year.

Truth. I yell at people when they charge their discs up haphazardly and shine everyone in the face. So annoying. I just hold mine at my waist, shine downwards, and look away.

:clap: This most definitely, please be aware of others on your card or on the course when charging. I do the same, put the light right on the surface of the disc and look away as I run it around a few seconds. Frustrating when someone else is careless and blinds everyone else while charging.

 

[air show]

I like to use mostly transparent discs... champion plastic... for my glow discs that way if the disc lands upside down it still shines in the dark. I found some two inch wide clear Gorilla tape which I found works best for taping the LED lite to the top of the disc. Also I found if you just push on the bottom of the disc it is much easier to turn the lites on and off.

 

[dysmike]

Truth be told, I'm a little leery of getting Amazon/chinesium UV direct light anywhere near my eyes. Who knows what other cool spectra those give off. I figure reflected off of stuff like dirt and trees shouldn't be too bad.

You should be. UV light is bad for your eyes.

 

[R-Ogre]

Picked up a 166 DX Glow Valk today. What a sweet flyer in DX plastic, and the glow blows the socks off my Comet and Buzzz.

 

[shakatak]

Picked up a 166 DX Glow Valk today. What a sweet flyer in DX plastic, and the glow blows the socks off my Comet and Buzzz.

Yeah, I don't know why but every Discraft glow disc I've ever had has been pretty lousy at glowing.

 

[R-Ogre]

First round last night. In case anyone cares, here's the takeaways:

-for some reason, the fossils that run the league are anti-lit-baskets. This, to me, almost ruined the night. It's just not fun pitching at the basket blind in the dark woods and 4-putting.

-glow discs work great, so far I see no need for lights. The Discraft glows weren't amazing but never spent any appreciable time looking for them.

-for an OS/forehand driver I used a Star Thunderbird with glow tape. The glow tape glowed better than any of the glow discs. It was a dry night, we'll see if the adhesive holds up to rain golf.

-The Thunderbird also fluoresces under UV, which is great for finding it, but also means you're liable to blind yourself while charging the glow tape.

-every one of the "UV" lights that people used still has a LOT of visible spectrum light, which means you're going to get your night vision trashed by people charging discs, and even if you don't....

-...everyone brought their umpteen billion lumen LED white flashlights instead of a more appropriate dimmer, red light for pathfinding, and used them all the time, so night vision never really got a chance.

Overall, I had fun, but especially the two elements of the un-illuminated baskets and the idiots with flashlights really put a damper on the experience, for me.

 

[R-Ogre]

Oh also, had a good showing of Aurora when we got back to the parking lot. But after taking 3 hours to play 18 and 4-putting the last hole, I wasn't in much mood to watch.

 

[dysmike]

Overall, I had fun, but especially the two elements of the un-illuminated baskets and the idiots with flashlights really put a damper on the experience, for me.

Welcome to glow.