ISO: Ideas on retrieving floating discs

[Grippenripp]

Ok fine edit wins. Still wtf? Im not bringing along a broom like a damn witch.

I personally didn't think it was that cumbersome. It could easily fit on the umbrella straps of my bag without losing the umbrella. I myself do not carry any of these devices, but could see myself carrying a Disctreever. IDK I like em

 

[F.Luke]

Dog.

This is my favorite retriever. Half Lab, half Catahoula, full P.I.T.A.

A little hard to command, not max weight but super overstable, always comes back.

 

[Chaz58]

All those crap discs I got sitting on a shelf because I really can't throw them (too high speed or OS for me) and I never bag are just perfect for those water holes. If I lose it in the drink it's no big deal. I also look at losing a disc as kind of the ultimate penalty to pay for making a really poor shot attempt. When we play casual if a guy loses a disc we won't charge him a penalty stroke if one is due (playing some OB's). We figured that the guy has already paid enough penalty for losing one of his regular discs.

p.s. Only floater I owned was a Lightning Discs #2 driver. Landed right in the middle of large stagnant pond covered with that nice thick algae-like muck. Couldn't get it to move to where we could retrieve it. Dude that put the course in and maintains it fished it out along with others one day. Saw mine in a picture posted on a Facebook page. If I am ever back at that course I got a bright orange, soft plastic floater waiting to be reunited with me.

 

[jakebake91]

I love the rc boat idea!

 

[zontar]

I love the rc boat idea!

great idea, but then you'll just be playing with RC boats instead of throwing plastic.....

 

[Blobfish]

I return later, when it's had time to make it's way to shore.

So a couple years ago, I was at the beach and this was right after I "learned" how to play this game. And I thought, "hey, open beach... like huge open beach with nobody to be seen... and at least 50 yards to the water's edge... I'm going to throw this driver I bought on craigslist"

Knowing nothing about stability, headwinds, heck, even about really throwing correctly... I
aimed up along the shore (even aiming slightly away from the water) and gave it my best and... griphooked it, watched it fly briefly, catch the wind, turn over and sail off into the ocean.

Thought it was gone forever...not like I really knew it because that was the first time I threw it.

Until the tide went out and my daughter came across it a few hours later, washed up on the beach. I still haven't bothered to throw it again though

 

[zendragon]

I had a blizzard Boss that actually flew well and floated that I took to Selah Ranch a couple years ago. Threw it into the pond 3 times total. The first couple times I swam out and grabbed it. That pond is huge though and the trip back while holding the disc was exhausting. I just left it to float the third time. Clearly it wasn't the best disc for me for clearing the pond anyway.

 

[Future_Primitive]

Had a buddy use a floater disc on a water hole, small pond not current, faded out into the pond. Had my golden retriever on me but wasn't going to help much for a floater. After a minute or two came up with the idea to empty (drink them) a couple store bought water bottles and tore some string off an old towel. We were able to fasten the two water bottles on the back edge of thre retriever to get it to float, standing above the water level gave me the angle to snag the floating disc and bring it back to shore. Was probably 25-30 feet out there. My disc golf MacGyver moment.

(Had it been a regular disc and sank we could have had it back much quicker and easier)

 

[art_vandelay]

Not all disc that float are designed that way, it just happens sometimes. I remember throwing my favorite Destroyer over a water carry and missing. It came in perfectly flat (headwind kept it from hooking up at the end) and skipped like a rock about 6 times and commenced to float. Of course I swam for it since the water was not gross. I've never seen a disc do that before or since that happened. Din't know Destroyers floated did you?

 

[JC17393]

Not all disc that float are designed that way, it just happens sometimes. I remember throwing my favorite Destroyer over a water carry and missing. It came in perfectly flat (headwind kept it from hooking up at the end) and skipped like a rock about 6 times and commenced to float. Of course I swam for it since the water was not gross. I've never seen a disc do that before or since that happened. Din't know Destroyers floated did you?

Unless it was a Blizzard Destroyer under 140g, it probably wasn't floating on its own. It was probably floating on an air bubble trapped under the flight plate. Just a dumb stroke of good luck for you. If it had sliced into the water at any sort of angle, it probably would have sunk to the bottom.

 

[art_vandelay]

Okay I should have said destroyers sometimes float. I understand what you are saying. That's why I started with "not all discs that float are designed that way". One degree of angle and that disc would have been lost.

 

[Keller]

You need to get a;
Ron Popeil Pocket Fisherman!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjCwtxao-XQ

And a treble hook.

 

[tylerc]

Original suggestion here: don't throw into water

 

[DavidSauls]

Not all disc that float are designed that way, it just happens sometimes. I remember throwing my favorite Destroyer over a water carry and missing. It came in perfectly flat (headwind kept it from hooking up at the end) and skipped like a rock about 6 times and commenced to float. Of course I swam for it since the water was not gross. I've never seen a disc do that before or since that happened. Din't know Destroyers floated did you?

I, on the other hand, have seen that happen many times. Owing to the amount of water I throw over, and watch people throw over---or, particularly in my case, not quite throw over.

These are the tricky ones (when we're not willing to swim). No idea how long they'll stay afloat, or whether clumsy retrieval method will sink them.

I once had a driver catch a bubble in a nasty cement pond full of geese (Hampton Park, if anyone played there). As I walked up to the edge to see if I could possibly retrieve it, the geese got the notion that I was walking up to toss them food, as park patrons do, so they came racing towards me---and my precariously floating disc. It was a tightrope to run off the geese before they ended my retrieval efforts, prematurely.

 

[Tripper]

I return later, when it's had time to make it's way to shore.

David I thought you said that boat would stay afloat long enough to get a disc. I guess I am glad we did not have time to test that theory.

 

[DavidSauls]

David I thought you said that boat would stay afloat long enough to get a disc. I guess I am glad we did not have time to test that theory.

We do, and now that the leak is fixed, it's not quite the mad dash that it once was.

But I rarely need that disc quickly---odds are it'll be days before I play again---and I know that (1) sooner or later, it will float to one shore, or another, and (2) nobody's going to take it. Guests, needing to hit the road, are welcome to it, though.

 

[Tripper]

Ok fine edit wins. Still wtf? Im not bringing along a broom like a damn witch.

I am with you. Unless I can get an actual flying broom. That would really help this old guy scout blind holes.

 

[pauldst]

I agree with this advice, though without the somewhat callous "move on" part.

Throwing floating discs near water is admitting defeat before you even start. When throwing over water, throw something you're confident you can get over the water. If you feel compelled to throw a floater, that means you don't think you can get over. Better off laying up or playing around.

I'm sure they're not as bad as plastic bags floating in the ocean, but I'd just as soon not fill up ponds with plastic discs. I know I won't make every water carry, and I know that I'm nowhere near good enough to never go in the drink when throwing close to water, so I'll stick to throwing floating discs most of the time when water is a significant risk.

 

[chevis]